Scandinavian Footprints

(Paperback)

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With the economic depression of the 1870s stalling progress, the New Zealand Government turned to Scandinavia for help. Swedes, Norwegians, and Danes (lumbermen, farmers and carpenters) arrived to take up the challenge of clearing bush from Wairarapa, Manawatu, and Hawkes Bay so roads and railways could be built. In 1866, Swede Bror Erik Friberg and his young wife arrive to this scene and Bror Erik was soon appointed by the government to act as an agent with a focus on the Scandinavian settlers in Hawkes Bay. This story tells of Bror Erik's early life in Sweden and the concerns for the difficulties his countrymen face. Having arrived heavily in debt to the government these immigrants strive to survive in a country where nobody speaks their language and where there is plenty of sickness and little or no medical care.