HISTORY OF OTAGO

OTAGO Anglicised corruption of Otakou, a Maori Village on the Otago Peninsula

DUNEDIN Dun Edin (" Edin on the hill "), the original Celtic name for Edinburgh. Dunedin (Gaelic name for Edinburgh) was the focal point for early settlement in the Otago region

Founded in 1848 by Settlers of the Free Church of Scotland ( a break-away group from the Presbyterian Church ), Dunedin has very strong Scottish roots.

The first residents of Dunedin were the Anderson Family (whom Andersons Bay was named after). They came to Dunedin from Nelson and lived in Dunedin for a year before the ships the Philip Laing & the John Wickliffe brought immigrants from Scotland to New Zealand in 1848, landing at Port Chalmers, on 23 March of that year.

247 passengers were onboard the Philip Laing and 97 were on the John Wickliffe when they set sail for a new land.

There had been European contact with the Otago Region well before the arrival of the Philip Laing & the John Wickliffe. This contact had been in the form of Missonaries, and Whalers.

OTAGO PENINSULA.
Otakou on the Otago Peninsula was home to a Maori settlement and Missionaries came to Otakou, circa. 1841, one of the first being the Methodist James Watkin. Watkin was suceeded by Charles Creed in 1844.
Much of the local Maori population had fallen victim to diseases introduced through European contact by the 1840's.