ABSTRACT
From 1941 to 1948 young women from the Cook Islands were recruited for positions in domestic service in New Zealand homes. The government administered scheme operated in a colonial context. Mobility, modernity and the decolonizing context provide important frameworks for considering this episode in the history of domestic service. The connection between migration and domestic service evident in this Pacific history is part of a broader global pattern from the mid-twentieth century identified by scholars such as Janet Henshall Momsen. In June 1941 the Resident Commissioner in Rarotonga, Judge Hugh F. Ayson, was instructed to assist in the selection of young women deemed suitable for domestic positions in New Zealand households. The employment of Cook Island 'housegirls' in New Zealand occurred with the sanction, encouragement and substantial support of the state through the officials and resources of the colonial administration. Wartime strategic and labor priorities enabled domestic service to continue in pockets rather than shrink away almost entirely.
