Countdown to Christmas
| Kia ora! Welcome to our community! We hope you enjoy your visit. Te Marae is a New Zealand themed forum designed to share the alluring qualities of the country and its people. Our friendly members welcome you to join our community regardless of your nationality, especially if you wish to learn something interesting about us! Please browse our forum in guest-mode until your heart's content. If you choose to register you'll have access to special members-only sections. (It's pretty awesome!) We are happy to accomodate members with busy schedules who still love to chat with others, so don't let this be a reason to remain in the shadows. Don't be shy, join in on the fun! Have you already made up your mind? Great! Register Now Already a member? Sign in below: |
| Colonisation of NZ. | |
|---|---|
| Topic Started: 9 May 2016, 10:10 PM (130 Views) | |
| Sandy | 9 May 2016, 10:10 PM Post #1 |
![]()
Administrator
![]()
|
When the country was first colonised, it was done so by predominantly the British, Scottish Welsh and Irish also came here.. My great great grandfather was scottish and came here in 1842, he spent 3 months travelling by sail ship to Wellington, the port was in Petone at that time which is on the northern end of the Wellington harbour, Petone is the southern end of what's now known as the Hutt Valley, or in Lower Hutt.. A lot of people stayed in Wellington after they arrived here, possibly I suspect because it was such a long trip from England, I know my GG Grandfather stayed in Wellington for some 6 months before deciding to travel north to the Coromandel to live and work, others went further afeild to places like Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin.. Once those centres were settled some of the smaller towns and cities were also slowly settled, the main 4 centres were settled early, like from the 1830's onwards, with other towns getting settled later as more people arrived and more land was needed.. By about 1840 the country was reasonably well settled although more towns did get settled later.. Areas like around the greater Nelson region were still being surveyed and settled later, my great grandfather lived in Nelson, but surveyed the areas from there through to places like Murchison, Takaka, and even over to the Tasman Park area, he also surveyed towards what is now Blenheim, there's now a number of small townships between Nelson and Blenheim, all of which is pretty rugged country, except for the coastline of course.. These settlements were really there for servicing farms which sprung up as well as fishing and forestry.. Back in those days goods were transported by horse and cart, so they needed places to stop overnight and get fresh horses, and repairs to carts and horses, so the small townships served several purposes.. |
| Offline Profile | Quote ^^^ |
| Sandy | 10 May 2016, 06:56 PM Post #2 |
![]()
Administrator
![]()
|
I don't know about other countries, but we have a number of places with the same name, one example is 'Havelock and Havelock North, Havelock North is here in Hawkes Bay while 'Havelock' is about halfway between Blenheim and Nelson at the top of the south island.. I believe Havelock was named after one of the early settlers and as a stopover point in the early days for the travellers going to and from Blenheim and Nelson.. Palmerston and Palmerston North are another example, Palmerston is about 35 miles north of Dunedin while Palmerston North is about 120 miles south of Napier, I'm not sure as to why we got 2 Palmerston's though.. I quite enjoy having people on about these 4 places, they say they want to go to Havelock or Palmerston, so I ask if they want to go to the north or south, lol.. I know that Palmerston is quite an old township, I think the population is only a few hundred now, but in it's day it was quite busy down there as it's on state highway one which runs the entire length of the country, so tended to be a layover for fresh horses and travellers when travelling either north from Dunedin or south past Dunedin.. |
| Offline Profile | Quote ^^^ |
| Sandy | 25 May 2016, 10:46 PM Post #3 |
![]()
Administrator
![]()
|
Some areas were surveyed and settled in the 1850's and 1860's, my great grandfather for instance lived in Nelson in the late 1860's early 1870's and surveyed quite a large area between Nelson and Murchison to the south and the Nelson parks area to the west, he did it with the help of a couple of the local maori and was quite often away from home for 6 months or more at a time tramping through the bush finding routes and such.. I seem to remember being told he also surveyed part of the way between Nelson and Blenheim, most of the area was really dense bush and really hilly rugged country, and still is of course.. I think he got as far south as a place called Springs Junction which is now a stop for fuel and lunches in the cafe there.. From Springs Junction traffic now goes either to the west coast or to Hanmer and Christchurch, the surveying my great grandfather did helped the government decide where roading was going to go, so the work he and others like him did was fairly important.. It must've been pretty hard being away from home for a minimum of 6 months and upwards of a year at a time, judging by the countryside down there they'd have to be really fit too, especially to get from Nelson to Springs Junction through unknown country over a distance of some 100 plus miles each way, and carrying all their own gear.. My great grandfather took the local maori with him as they knew the country a bit, and how to live off the land if need be, so I reckon the men would've been a lot fitter than most these days.. No doubt the few weeks off he and others got when they finally got home was a welcome break... |
| Offline Profile | Quote ^^^ |
| Sandy | 26 May 2016, 06:46 PM Post #4 |
![]()
Administrator
![]()
|
Back in the days when the likes of my great great grandfather came to settle in NZ the Wellington port was at Petone, so it was a 12 plus mile ride into Wellington after they got off the ships, there wasn't a real road as such, so getting belongings into Wellington was a mission in itself.. My great great got here in 1842 with I believe at least one other ship load of passengers and possessions, so it was a real job getting all those folk into town and to where ever they were staying.. Most people brought everything with them, I have my great great grandfathers grandfather clock that came from Scotland with him, no doubt it could tell a story or two.. Most came with the idea of staying here and didn't know if they could replace things if they sold or parted with them before leaving, so brought everything with them so they had things to start up in a new home.. Nowadays the port is on the edge of the Wellington CBD, so it's a lot easier to get to and from it.. I'm not sure when the port was shifted from Petone into the city, but I have vague recollections of it being shifted some time around the 1890's or there abouts, certainly when it was finally shifted it made getting north a lot easier as the main highway north ran past the port and had easy entrances and exits... |
| Offline Profile | Quote ^^^ |
| funnysis | 1 Jun 2016, 07:39 AM Post #5 |
![]()
|
That is interesting. A lot of history there. |
| Offline Profile | Quote ^^^ |
| Sandy | 1 Jun 2016, 06:06 PM Post #6 |
![]()
Administrator
![]()
|
I'm trying to remember more at present, no doubt something will jog my memory soon enough and more will get added... |
| Offline Profile | Quote ^^^ |
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
| « Previous Topic · General discussion. · Next Topic » |






2:03 PM Jul 11
