Nelson Evening Mail SATURDAY, APRIL 14, 1928 THE FOUNDING OF OTAGO

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 14 April 1928, Page 6

Nelson Evening Mail SATURDAY, APRIL 14, 1928 THE FOUNDING OF OTAGO

IT is i" Gcorgo Ronnie that niusi he given the credit of conceiving the idea of founding a Scorch "colony'' in i InSouth Island of New Zealand. It was in 1342 that he wrote his first letter to the Directors of the New Zealand Company, propounding a plan in conformity with I'".. Gibbon Wakefield's suggestion of founding religious settlements, and proposing that one such settlement. should bo founded by the Scotch. Mr Ronnie's plan found no favour at the Colonial Ofl'.ce, which was hampering the New Zealand Company in every way possible. so thai it was fully six years hrfori George Ronnie's plan was able lo be completed. During that limn the Disruption of Ihe Church of Scotland ton!; place, and (ho result was that. Bennio's broad ly-basorl plan, which included Scots of various denominations of religions thought, was superseded by plan formed by Captain Cargill and the "Rev. Thomas Burns, restricting Iho proposed Scotch

"ociony" to members of the Free Kirk. Though Ihe Company preferred the (wonder plan of George Ronnie, it gradually was persuaded lo countenance the more restricted scheme of the adherents of the Free Kirk, because it. inspired greater enthusiasm and attracted more colonists. So Rennio retired from tiie leadership, and Captain Cargill took Ins place. Captain Cargill was a retired soldier who had served with honourable distinction in India, and in Spain during the p.iiinsular War. He was a man of in dornitable courage and perseverance, and of deep religious convictions which admirably suited him for ihe leadership of the body of Free Churchmen who proposed to emigrate to New Zealand. The Lay Association of the Free Kirk and the New Zealand Company came to an agreement. The latter was to purchase and survey the lauds of the proposed settlement-, to charter vessels and convey the emigrants lo their destination, lo ship lo the settlement all tin) stores requited by Ihe settlers, to erect buildings for the reception of (he first settlers and lo make roads, bridges and nnv other public requirements J and the former was lo select the set Hers and see that the principles of the Free Kirk were adhered to. and to control the. sale, of the properties which were to be .acquired 11,rough ihe agency of Ihe New Zealand Company. For the purpose of selecting the site of the proposed Scotch "colony the New Zealand Company chose, its Chief Sin v nor. Mr Frederick Tuckett, who had played so important a part in establishing the Nelson Settlement, and had barely escaped with his life from ihe Wairau Massacre. Strangely enough Tuckell passe I over the great Canterbury plain, as being unsuitod lo Ihe Scotch seniors. At the time of his investigation it was unoccupied, though destine.! shortly to bo used for the. purpose of an Anglican Church "colony." lie preferred the more southerly lands

of Otago lor Ihe Scots, and there is no doubt that his choice was most judicious, lot as an eminent Dunedinife, Dr. T. M. Hoc-ken, has written, "no part of New Zealand has a. more bracing climate, fertile soil, and magnificent scenery than flint of bis (Tuckett's) choice." Tuckell purchased from Ihe Maori owners the Otago lands, in .1844, and at once began the work of surveying them. By 1847 100,000 acres had been surveyed, and preparations had been made for the reception of the pioneers of -Dunedin, and it was towards the end of November of ilie year last mentioned that (hey set sail. ' They left in two parties, and from different places. The first body, of nearly a hundred souls, sailed in the "John Wvelifi'e" from Cravesond, and the second and bigger body of 247 people sailed from Greenock in the "Philip Laing," which made the voyage in 140 days, and arrived in Otago Harbour on 15th April, 1348. a month after the "John Wye.liffe." ha« made that port.

These brave and practical Scots lost no time in beginning their task of making a home ; n the wilderness, and of turning its unproductiveness to fruitfnlness. We quote from Ihe account wi-illen by .lames Adam, one of them: — On iiiv leasehold there was a clump of maple. I roes, but before cutting them down, 1 stretched a line through them for the ground-plan of my house: trees which coincided with (his line I left, standing, merely cut ting off (he tops, .and those which were nut of Ihe line were cut. down and pill in line by digging holes. . . . The natives then put small wands or wattles across the uprights about twelve inches apart, fastening thorn firmly with strips of llax. and over all they laced Ihi-. long grass lo the wattles, did the same over the roof, and at the end of four days my house was habitable. At the Olago Heads there was a small English settlement which had originated

as a whaling community, and these people did much during the earliest years of Dnneilin to supply the Scotch emigrants with food. As in the other ...itlctnenis of British folk hi New Zealand, the grit and optimism of the Dunedin pioneers overcame every dillienlty.

By .legt i (-a.VS Dr. Hnekeii) hi He houses sprang up in every direction, the usual order of architecture being r,f "wattle and dab:" saplings were iixoil side by side, and the interstices Idled with clay, the roof was thalchod wilh lussac crass, which everywhere abounded, or with shingles, Ihe chiuincv was a huge clay ingle, to which the house was appended, and was well Miiled to the consumption of huge lags. Glass was scarce, so windows were small Furniture was scanty and primitive a bunk in the corner for aLed. the 'section of a. tub for a chair. ~,- •, |,..' or a whale's vertebra brought IVoi.t Ibe Heads. The clean, yellow eluv made the best of Itoors, attfl two,.,,,,'ims. a "bid and a ben." made the whole mansion.

Such were the beginnings of Dunedin, ~,„| i, is well that New Zeala nders of 10-dnv. when walking up and down Princes street, should recall the hard jjf ( , .>f ihe pioneers who founded the southern city, and made, possible the prosperity and comfort which its eiti-

/ens now enjoy. Thus it, was that Ed .v.ud Gibbon Wakefield, who kept, care,'u] watch over the new horn "colony'' in Otago, wrote of those staunch Scotch pioneers:—"l hear that Bellairs" —(one of the energetic, members of the New Zealand Company, who interested himself in the .selection and despatch of the Canterbury pilgrims)—"is very pleased

...Hi the Otago people, and I have, my elf -:onici gratifying proofs of the inflex ,ble worth of the Scottish people who .ite ihe great majority. The patriarch Cargill is firm as a. rook in the principles and ideas with which he started. and he is the trusted leader of that settlement."

Eighteen months after the pioneers landed there were in the "colony" 83 houses, 9.3 families, and 444 people. In 1851. it contained 1,800 people; in 1854, .-L400: in 1850. the population was 3.800 people; in 1860, the number had grown io .12,901. Until the year 1856 the, ,-ettiers went through a time of hardships and struggle, helped, however, by the fact that politically the management of their affairs was in their own hands. Fortunately they were not beset by Maori troubles, such as bad hampered tlie Company's first settlement. The year 1850 is generally regarded as the turning-point, in Otago's history. After that date the settlement began to thrive. Principal among Ihe factors which con iributod lo its prosperity were the dis,overy of Hold and the pasturing of .sl.eep In 1860. there, were. 717,000 sheep in the province, and in IL-61 the discovers- of ibe amazingly rich gold-field of Gabriel's Gully lurried Otago—scornfully termed ihe Cinderella of the Now Zealand set tlemenls—into the most. prosperous and important of (hem all ! Since thai time the progress of Duniiiin ami the province of which it is the capital has been steady and continuous. till today the flourishing southern city may well be considered a worthy daughter of the great and ancient. Scottish capital, after which, though favouring Iho Celtic form, it takes its name. Then- is no doubt, that to Captain Cargill must be given the honour of living the founder of Otago. Not only was he chiefly responsible for (ho selection of the emigrants and the oversight of them after they were established in their new home, but ho was the firstSuperintendent of the Province of Otago, and in that capacity laid the foundation of the prosperity which the province has ever since enjoyed. An ..Id mar. when he undertook this important work, he indofaligably laboured for the good of the community which be had founded, until in 1859 he found that extreme ago necessitated his resignation of the office of Superintendent. Captain Cm-gill's ideal was to form a Scotch ' colony." and to keep it Scotch. As he himself said, "As like draws like, so the solid and respectable elements in the first selections have attracted and put in motion a progressively increasing stream of emigrants from the old country of a similar character." Dunedin and Otago generally have preserved their Scottish character to this day, so that in their people are exhibited The same high dualities of fixity of purpose, solid

worth, and determination lo overcome, material difficulties, which characterised Captain Car-gill's staunch pioneers and the stock from which they sprang. Today Captain Cargill's memory is held in high honour in the city and province which he founded: but the greatest honour that can be paid him is the adherence to his principle of keeping his cily and province Scotch. This is a thing which should be within the bounds of possibility by taking advantage ol the British Empire Settlement Act, under which a sum of £3,000.000 is aliocated annually for the encouragement of Empire settlement, but so far has not been spent. Here surely is an opportunity which will he appreciated by the Scots of Dunedin and Otago.