Samuel Duncan Parnell

Samuel Duncan Parnell was an early New Zealand settler often credited with the establishment of the Eight hour day in New Zealand. He was born in London, England, on 19 February 1810. Parnell's father was a gentleman named James Parnell, and his mother Joan Parnell.

Early years

Parnell trained as Carpenter's apprentice until 1834, when he took a job at a Joinery on Theobald's Road in London. As carpenters in London routinely worked twelve to fourteen hours per day, the problems with such long working days would have been painstakingly clear to him. Parnell argued about the length of the working day with his colleagues. Around the same time, a Grand National Consolidated Trades Union was being formed, and Parnell asked the union to support the shortening of the working day. The union did not agree, and so Parnell did not join the union, but instead set up his own business.

On 6 September, 1839, Parnell married widow Mary Ann Canham, and only eleven days later, the newly wedded couple set off together for New Zealand. For £126, Parnell had secured the boat fare, and the right to 100 acres(40.5 hectares) of country land, and convert|1|acre|m2|sing=on of land in the area then called Port Nicholson and now the city of Wellington, New Zealand. The couple left on the Duke of Roxburgh on September 17, 1839, 11 days after their marriage, and landed on Britannia (Petone) beach on February 8,1840.

1840-1841

Parnell met a shipping agent named George Hunter on board the ship. Soon after arriving in New Zealand, Hunter asked Parnell to build him a store. Parnell agreed, on the condition that he would only work eight hours per day. Hunter was initially reluctant, but Parnell argued, now famously, that "we have twenty-four hours per day given us; eight of these should be for work, eight for sleep, and the remaining eight for recreation and in which for men to do what little things they want for themselves. I am ready to start to-morrow morning at eight o'clock, but it must be on these terms or none at all". Hunter pointed out how different this was from London, but Parnell replied "We're not in London". However, as there was a severe shortage of skilled workers in New Zealand, Hunter was forced to accept Parnell's terms on the spot.

Parnell greeted ships coming in to Port Nicholson, and told all new migrants not to work more than eight hours a day. In a worker's meeting at October 1840, it was agreed that people should only work 8 hours a day, which must be between 8am and 5pm. Anyone accepting less favourable working conditions were to be thrown into the harbour. The eight-hour day was cemented when, in 1841, road-builders in Hutt Valley, New Zealand went on strike after being told to work longer hours.

1842-1890

In 1842, his first wife Mary Ann died, and in 1843 Parnell sold his Hutt Valley country land, and started an animal farm in Karori. On the 12 December 1851 he married another widow, Sarah Sophia Brunger, with two children.

While a farmer, Parnell still did some carpentry work, and built a home for the local judge.

In October 1873 Parnell returned to Wellington, and lived in Cambridge Terrace. Parnell never had any children, and his second wife died in 1888. The by-then much honoured and respected Parnell died on 17 December 1890. Thousands of people attended his public funeral three days later.

Parnell's namesakes

*Samuel Parnell Road in Karori.
*The Auckland suburb of Parnell, New Zealand

External References

* [http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/P/ParnellSamuelDuncan/ParnellSamuelDuncan/en Samuel Parnell in the 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand]
* [http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/E/Eight-hour-dayMovement/Eight-hour-dayMovement/en Eight Hour Day Movement in the 1966 Encyclopaedia of New Zealand]
* [http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/default.asp?Find_Quick.asp?PersonEssay=1P7 Essay on Samuel Parnell]