IN THE BEGINNING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26707, 28 February 1948, Page 4

IN THE BEGINNING

Otago was Founded In Faith and Strife

The birth-pangs of the Otago Settlement were severe and protracted, No enterprise of such grandiose conception but humble beginnings could have been brought forth without difficulty, and difficulties in great measure beset the early planners, in Scotland and in London. In the beginning there was a clashing of ideas, as o'f personalities; religious disagreement both threatened and nurtured the scheme; money and support were hard to come by. In this article the Director of Centennial Publications has written for the Daily Times an account of the events which, in their fullness, brought to the shores of Otago the first organised class settlers, strong in courage, firm in faith, poorly-prepared for the struggle before them.

By A. H. McLintock

The history of the Free Church Settlement of Otago begins with George Rennie, sculptor, politician and agriculturist, who came of a family long renowned in Scotland for its achievements in many fields, notably science and art. A reformer in politics, George Rennie was naturally interested in the appalling social problems of his day, and like many others of his class, was strongly influenced by the ideas of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, the apostle of systematic colonisation.

siastically and in October, 1843, it was stated that the choice of minister for New Edinburgh had fallen on the Rev. Thomas Burns, who, until the Disruption, had held the living of Monkton, Ayrshire. Like Cargill, Burns was a man of mature years with considerable strength of character and tenacity of purpose. From the moment that he entered the scheme, therefore, he bent his will to the task assigned by Providence of guiding the spiritual destinies of the young colony in a direction which he himself was firmly convinced would be in accordance with the Divine Plan. Exit Rennie

No doubt Rennie had long given serious thought to this problem, but it was not until July, 1842, that he addressed a letter to the directors of the New Zealand Company outlining the special featmes oi his scheme which was intended, above all, to relieve the distressed condition of the poorer classes. “To remove without transferring distress, to preserve the race of the country, to save, the institutions of England from being swe.pt away in an uncontrollable rebellion of the stomach, it is necessary,” he argued, “that we should resort to some immediately effectual means of providing for the unemployed and destitute masses.” With these ideas in mind, Rennie therefore proposed that as soon as an eligible site on the east coast of the South Island were selected —and he seems to have expressed a preference for Port Cooper, the modern Lyttel-

Unfortunately, at this juncture Burns and Rennie came into conflict over a matter which in itself was apparently trivial, but which involved issues too significant to be brushed aside < The question concerned the appointment of a schoolmaster who, as Burns saw it, should most certainly be a member of the Free Church, thus making New Edinburgh an out-and-out undertaking sponsored by the Free Church authorities. Rennie took the wider view. He desired the colony to be Presbyterian in a truly national sense, and he maintained that the remoteness of New Zealand from the religious upheaval in Scotland offered a favourable opportunity to the promoters to found there a Presbyterian community such as had existed in

ton—a preliminary expedition of surveyors, civil engineers, artisans and agricultural labourers should be despatched to prepare the way for the main body of emigrants. The land would then be divided up into urban, suburban and rural allotments, and the proceeds of the land sales would be devoted in the main to furthering emigration and public works within the colony. Systematic Colonisation As Rennie conceived it, the beauty of the scheme lay. iii the fact that it represented scientific and systematic colonisation at its best and avoided all appearance of hasty and premature planning. Rennie’s plan engaged the public attention from the outset and, though some critics felt that it would be unwise to establish a further colony in New Zealand at a time when the earlier settlements of the New Zealand Company were making disappointing progress, in general it may be said to have met with a very favourable reception. , But if the scheme were to be sponsored by the New Zealand Company, little more could be done until the directors came to a decision on the matter. In August, 1842, they announced their willingness to suppoit the enterprise, provided that the Government would consent thereto “ upon such terms as shall afford the company a reasonable remuneration for the responsibility and risk of the undertaking, and provided no insuperable difficulties be found to arise out of circumstances now unforeseen.” In effect, then, the approval of the directors did not amount to a great deal in practice, for by their proviso it was shown that they were fully aware that the consent of the Colonial Office to another New Zealand settlement was not likely to be easily obtained. Moreover, the directors were most reluctant to enter into further negotiations with the Government and consequently it was made plain to Rennie that the onus of obtaining “ an assurance of the approbation of her Majesty’s Government was to be his responsibility, not theirs. It was almost a hopeless task, for Lord Stanley, the Colonial Secretary, was anything but cordial and as month followed month with little achieved, it seemed that Rennie’s scheme was doomed from the moment of its birth. During this time of obstruction and disappointment, Rennie was fortunate enough lo be encouraged in his efforts by a small but faithful band of enthusiasts. Among these was a former army officer, William Cargill, who had for some time past been interesting himself in the question of emigration. At this time Cargill was in the late fifties and, although he had reached an age when many men would begin to make plans for retirement, he seems to have taken up the cause with almost youthful enthusiasm. Rennie and Cargill This alliance between Rennie and Cargill soon produced results and so, in May, 1843, the Directors were again requested to consider a plan which differed in some important particulars from the earlier one. It was suggested that the new settlement should be eligible to all classes of Scottish society that, in short, it should be a New Zealand settlement primarily for Scotland. In addition, the plan of the colony which Rennie named New Edinburgh, should include provision for religious and educational purposes in connection with the Presbyteiian Church of Scotland and the entire Emigration Fund arising from the sale of the company's land should be devoted to furthering the emigration of labourers from Scotland alone. The Directors of the New Zealand Company again approved and eventually, on July 1, 1843, the revised propositions of the New Edinburgh colony, or Terms of Purchase, as they were called were submitted to the public. It was the first step forward. And circumstances which for so long had seemed so unfavourable, now took a happier turn. For m May, 1843, incurred the Disruption when the seceders from the Established Church struck out boldly to form the Free Church of Scotland. To the promoters of the New Edinburgh scheme, this stirring event seemed to. offer a golden opportuntiy for enlisting the Free Church in the p’-oiect. Rennie thereupon went to Edinburgh and begged the Rev. Dr Candhsh, one of the foremost leaders of the movement, and Cargill’s brother, Robert, to bring the whole plan before the Acting Committee of the Colonial Scheme of the Free Church of Scotland and inform them of the generous provisions for church and educational endowments made by the directors of the New Zealand Company, out of funds accruing from land sales. The proposal was taken up enthu-

Scotland previous to the unfortunate secession. When.' therefore, the Free Church interests had been safeguarded by the appointment of Burns as spiritual leader, it seemed desirable to Rennie, in order to avoid conferring on the colony an exclusive and sectarian character, that a person holding the principles of the Established Churcn should be nominated for the position of schoolmaster. By the adoption of such a policy, it seemed to Rennie that they would thereby take the broader basis of Presbyterianism for their gyide and thus unite, in their little community, all classes of their countrymen. , . . But Burns and Cargill refused to accept this argument, and the former in particular was convinced that the fusion of such diverse elements was impracticable. Thus Rennie, conconfronted with an uncompromising situation, gradually withdrew from the scheme he had fathered and, in, October, 1845, renounced the leadership of the New Edinburgh colony. Although Burns had gained his point, it was a victory dearly bought. By means of his high social standing and personal prestige, Rennie had won very considerable support for his scheme which, with his resignation, was at once withheld. Burns and Cargill, therefore, were forced to look for‘support primarily to Free Church interests if the “exclusive” character of New Edinburgh was to be preserved. Fortunately, at this juncture they received the cordial co-operation of Dr Aldcorn, of Oban, a high-minded humanitarian and an ardent member

of the Free Church. By this time, too came the news that Frederick Tuckett, who had been entrusted with the responsibility' of choosing a suitable site in Ihe South Island, had passed by the Port Cooper area in favour of Otago. And with this change of site went also a change of name and the town which Charles Kettle was to survey at the head of Otago Harbour was to be known, not as New Edinburgh, but as Dunedin. For all this, however, the Otago scheme was making but poor progress in Scotland. Burns and Cargill both thought that it would be better if their colony could be divorced entirely from the New Zealand Company, but finance remained the stumbling block. As an alternative, it was felt that the wisest course to follow would be to form an association of influential laymen of the Free Church who, by status and wealth, would be the ideal sponsors of the movement. Thus, on May 16, 1845, in Glasgow at a meeting but poorly attended, was born the Lay Association, with Aidcorn as its honorary secretary. Once again the Otago project seemed most promising, and Burns could write hopefully to Cargill: “Were the company once agreed with' Lord Stanley and the title to hand, we might move with spirit and persevering energy till the affair was established.” Unfortunately, the company was involved in serious difficulties with the Colonial Office, and the coveted title to Otago land remained as elusive as ever. Further Difficulties By September, 1845, the situation had again improved to such an extent that the company felt justified in entering into a most satisfactory agreement with the Lay Association, which was officially recognised as the agency for promoting the colonisation

of Otago. It was entrusted with the task, of organising the scheme on Free Church principles, of selecting emigrants of proved moral and religious standing, and of effecting the sale of properties to respectable purchasers. On the other hand, the company, as the- colonising body, was responsible for purchasing and surveying the land, chartering the emigrant vessels as required, and organising at Otago a scheme of public wprks. Moreover, the company granted the association a term of five years in which to dispose of 2000 properties, an arrangement which to members of the Lay Association appeared most generous and advantageous. Thus, by the beginning of 1846, Otago’s prospects seemed bright. Yet few came forward to support the scheme and although earnest and moving appeals were made to Free Church congregations scattered throughout Scotland, little was achieved. Support from Free Churchmen with money to invest was not forthcoming and, worse still, few Scots evinced any interest in emigration to New Zealand. Burns almost lost heart, and Aldcorn at best was lukewarm, not from any lack of personal enthusiasm, but simply because there was nothing he could do. Only Cargill, a lone figure in London, continued to fight for the scheme. When, however, things looked thenworst, Peel’s Government was overthrown in June, 1846. and in the new Ministry Earl Grey, friend of colonisation, became Colonial Secretary. While this was a source of encouragement to the directors of the New Zealand Company, it produced little practical benefit to the Otago promoters who knew that from Scotland, and Scotland alone, could come the support they desired.

A Last Appeal

During the early months of 1847 little was done to further the project, which again seemed so nebulous that Burns and Cargill were convinced that, unless a decided effort we’re made before the autumn of that year, the Otago colony, would never become a reality. Accordingly, the Lay Association, whicn had been more or less dormant, at length bestirred itself and, at a meeting held at Glasgow in August, it was decided to launch one last appeal. in order to publicise the scheme as widely as possible, the committee decided to employ a full-time secretary whose duties were to canvass Scotland for settlers and bring before the public in every possible way the special merits of the proposed settlement. Thus John McGlashan entered the Otago project and on his shoulders rested the responsibility of organising the departure of the first party. Never, indeed, was there greater need for action.

Although plans had been made for a sailing in October, as yet no emigrants were forthcoming. So serious was the situation that, but a few weeks before the vessels were due to sail. Cargill was forced to admit that, with one exception, the whole of the original party was broken up and scattered to the four winds. As far as land purchasers were concerned, no one of any standing was prepared to emigrate, for those who had in the first instance been attracted by Rennie’s personal advocacy to enlist under the banner of liberalism had long since lost interest in what had become a personal affair for Burns and Cargill. Nor did leading Free Churchmen offer more practical support though, had good wishes alone prevailed, the success of the scheme would have been more than assured. Burns, however, had the courage of his convictions, and. in the certainty that the expedition would sail, resigned his Portobello charge to busy himself in preparation for the fateful exodus. McGlashan drafted the Institutes of the Free Church of Otago, which declared that the Church of Otago, with the school attached thereto, was a branch of the Free Church of Scotland, and subject to its doctrine, policy, and discipline. In London Cargill had the responsibility of supervising the purchase of supplies and the like which were to be shipped on the John Wickliffe, the store ship of the expedition. These included provisions, -building materials of all descriptions, carefully-selected sets of books, and very full stocks of tools for the various trades. Specie, too, to the value of £SOO was stored on ’ board and placed under Cargill’s care. Meanwhile, at Greenock, the Philip Laing, which was to carry the main body of emigrants, was also preparing for the voyage. The Emigrants Assemble

In spite of much that had been said about the unique character of the Otago undertaking, it is clear that the emigrants who were assembling' at Gravesend and Greenpck did not even remotely form a balanced colony m Wakefield’s conception of that term. It is true that they were about to carry with them, as any other group of colonists had done, many of the finest institutions and traditions of their native land. But by no stretch of imagination did they represent a complete segment of * its society since—and it is not to their* discredit—they were drawn almost entirely from the poorer classes of the community whose qualifications for the sterner task of founding a colony were tragically inadequate. It would be most unjust to attribute this to McGlashan’s negligence, for it was apparent that, had a rigorous selection been imposed, the expedition would have proved a fiasco. The Otago scheme, for all the lipservice paid it by leading Free Church-

men, was not popular with the adherents of that body while many who might have been tempted to give the enterprise their support were probably restrained from taking that step by reason of the religious 'tests imposed. The purchasers of property—those men of substance who were to occupy the upper stratum of society and bring prosperity to the colony by their generous investment of capital—were conspicuous by their absence and there were too many who, having procured their titles, were content to remain at home and view the experiment from a comfortable distance.

Thus the burden of pioneering fell upon the humbler members of the party, those endowed with little money and less experience, also, however, by way of compensation, possessed the inestimable gift of youth. Nor did their occupations in the old land fit them for the rigours of life in early Otago. A few farmers and farm labourers appeared among a miscellaneous assortment of tradesmen, weavers, storekeepers, and the like, who were, all in all, considered a “ mixed lot,” both as regards their aptitudes and general character. Little wonder, thereore, that in the first few years of the settlement agriculture languished. In addition, a fair minority of the emigrants were English, a fact that in itself foretold the doom of the “ class ” settlement. Unquestionably the great majoritv of these early emigrants to Otago’s shores belonged to what Wakefield called “ the anxious classes ” —men and women whose life in the homeland promised little beyond a soulless drudgery, who had little or no capital, and „who could contribute nothing beyond their labour and industry. They turned to emigration primarily as a means to begin a new life in the economic sense, and they sought by voluntary transportation to

escape the almost übiquitous threat of poverty and unemployment at home. They may have been interested in Wakefield’s philosophy of colonisation, though indeed this is most unlikely; they may have been zealous Free Churchmen, and this is in many instances certain; but it was primarily in an endeavour to ameliorate “heir lot, to build afresh in a new country which knew not the social e.vils of the old, that Otago’s first emigrants set forth from their homeland in November, 1847.