The city of Dunedin, New Zealand has played an important role in the history of New Zealand. Archaeological evidence points to the area having been long inhabited by the Maori prior to European arrival and the establishment of a settlement in 1848 by the Free Church of Scotland. Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, located in coastal Otago. ... Te Puni, Māori Chief Māori is the name of the indigenous people of New Zealand, and their language. ... 1848 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The discovery of gold inland from Dunedin in 1861 led to the new city becoming the colony's main industrial and commercial centre. The successful export of frozen meat from the city provided an extra impetus to the city's importance and growth, as did the establishment of the country's first university. General Name, Symbol, Number gold, Au, 79 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 11, 6, d Appearance metallic yellow Atomic mass 196. ...

Though the city's fortunes waned during much of the twentieth century, it is now again experiencing growth and is seen as a centre for tertiary education, eco-tourism, and culture.

Pre-European history

Modern archaeology favours a date round 1100 AD for the first human (Maori) occupation of New Zealand with population concentrated along the south east coast. A camp site at Kaikai's Beach, near Otago Heads, has been dated about that time. From this Moa Hunter (Archaic) phase of Maori culture there are numerous sites in the Dunedin area, including ones interpreted as permanent villages at Little Papanui and Harwood Township in the 1300s. With reduced moa numbers the population slumped but grew again with the evolution of a new Classic culture producing fortified villages (pa), the one at Pukekura (Taiaroa Head) being established about 1650. Te Puni, Māori Chief Māori is the name of the indigenous people of New Zealand, and their language. ... Taiaroa Head is a headland at the end of Otago Harbour in New Zealand, overlooking the mouth of the Otago Harbour. ...

In this period there were Maori settlements in what is now central Dunedin (Otepoti), above Anderson's Bay (Puketai), on Te Rauone Beach (Te Ruatitiko and Tahakopa), around Otago Harbour. There were also settlements at Whareakeake (Murdering Beach), Purakaunui, Mapoutahi (Goat Island Peninsula) and Huriawa (Karitane Peninsula) to the north, and at Taieri Mouth and Otokia (Henley) to the south, all inside the present boundaries of Dunedin. Otago Harbour consists of a long, much-indented stretch of generally navigable water separating Otago Peninsula from the main urban areas of Dunedin, New Zealand. ... The seaside settlement of Karitane is located within the limits of the city of Dunedin in New Zealand, 35 kilometres to the north of the city centre. ... Henley is a township on New Zealands Taieri Plains, presumably named after the rowing centre Henley-on-Thames in England. ...

Central Dunedin was still occupied about 1785 but was abandoned before 1826. Purakaunui and Mapoutahi were abandoned late in the 1700s and Whareakeake about 1825.

Maori tradition speaks of Rakaihautu excavating Kaikorai Valley in ancient time, of Kahui Tipua and Te Rapuwai, ancient peoples of shadowy memory, and then Waitaha, followed by Kati Mamoe, the latter arriving late in the 1500s, and then Kai Tahu ('Ngai Tahu' in modern standard Maori) from about the middle of the 1600s. Personalities from this time and later, such as Taoka and Te Wera, Tarewai and Te Rakiihia are identified with events at Huriawa, Mapoutahi, Pukekura and Otepoti and have descendants known in the historical period. Te Rakiihia died and was buried somewhere in what is now central Dunedin about 1785. Ngāi Tahu, or Kai Tahu, is the principal iwi (tribe) of the southern region of New Zealand. ...

The sealer John Boultbee recorded in the 1820s that the 'Kaika Otargo' (settlements around and near Otago Harbour) were the oldest and largest in the south.

The arrival of the Europeans

Captain James Cook stood off what is now the coast of Dunedin between February 25 and March 5 1770 and named Cape Saunders on the Otago Peninsula and Saddle Hill. He charted the area and reported penguins and seals in the vicinity which led sealers to visit, their first recorded landings being late in the first decade of the 19th century. A feud between sealers and Maori, sparked by an incident on a ship in Otago Harbour in 1810, continued until 1823. With peace re-established Otago Harbour went from being a secret sealers' haven to an international whaling port. James Cook, portrait by Nathaniel Dance, c. ... The Otago Peninsula is a long, rugged indented finger of land that forms the easternmost part of Dunedin, New Zealand. ...

Before the Scottish settlement William Tucker settled at Whareakeake (Murdering Beach) near Otago Heads in 1815. The Weller brothers, Joseph, George and Edward, established their whaling station at Wellers Rock, at what is now called Otakou on the Otago Harbour, in 1831. Long, Wright & Richards started a whaling station at Karitane in 1837 and Johnny Jones sent pioneers to settle land at Waikouaiti in 1840, all inside the territory of the modern City of Dunedin. The settlements at Wellers Rock, Karitane and Waikouaiti have endured making modern Dunedin one of the longest European settled territories in New Zealand. William Tucker was a guitarist whose credits included work with Ministry, Chemlab, and Chris Connelly. ... Taiaroa Head is a headland at the end of Otago Harbour in New Zealand, overlooking the mouth of the Otago Harbour. ... The settlement of Otakou lies within the boundaries of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. ... Otago Harbour consists of a long, much-indented stretch of generally navigable water separating Otago Peninsula from the main urban areas of Dunedin, New Zealand. ... The seaside settlement of Karitane is located within the limits of the city of Dunedin in New Zealand, 35 kilometres to the north of the city centre. ... John Johnny Jones (ca. ... Waikouaiti is a small town in East Otago, New Zealand, within the city limits of Dunedin. ... Waikouaiti is a small town in East Otago, New Zealand, within the city limits of Dunedin. ...

Scottish settlement

The Lay Association of the Free Church of Scotland founded Dunedin at the head of Otago Harbour in 1848 as the principal town of its Scottish settlement. The name comes from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the Scottish capital. Charles Kettle the city's surveyor, instructed to emulate the characteristics of Edinburgh, produced a striking, 'Romantic' design. The result was both grand and quirky streets as the builders struggled and sometimes failed to construct his bold vision across the challenging landscape. Captain William Cargill, a veteran of the war against Napoleon, was the secular leader. The Reverend Thomas Burns, a nephew of the poet Robbie Burns, was the spiritual guide. This article concerns the Free Church of Scotland 1843-1900, for the Free Church of Scotland existing from 1900 to the present day see Free Church of Scotland (post 1900). ... 1848 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Motto: Nemo me impune lacessit (English: No one provokes me with impunity) Scotlands location within Europe Scotlands location within the United Kingdom Languages English, Gaelic, Scots Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow First Minister Jack McConnell Area - Total - % water Ranked 2nd UK 78,782 km² 1. ... Edinburgh (pronounced ), Dùn Èideann () in Scottish Gaelic, is the second-largest city in Scotland and its capital city. ... Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ... Edinburgh (pronounced ; Dùn Èideann () in Scottish Gaelic) is Scotlands capital, and its second-largest city. ... Robert Burns, preeminent Scottish poet Burns redirects here. ...

In 1852 when the provinces were created Dunedin became the capital of the Otago Province, the whole of New Zealand from the Waitaki south. It was the only one of New Zealand's original six provinces to have a Maori name - a reflection of the area's European settlement in pre-colonial times. There were squabbles between the 'the Old Identity' - the Scottish, Presbyterian majority, and 'the Little Enemy' - the English, Anglican minority. Dunedin developed a reputation for furious public debate which continues to the present in the letters columns of the local newspapers. The Waitaki River is a large river in the South Island of New Zealand, some 110 km long. ... Presbyterianism is part of the Reformed churches family of denominations of Christian Protestantism based on the teachings of John Calvin which traces its institutional roots to the Scottish Reformation, especially as led by John Knox. ... The term Anglican describes those people and churches following the religious traditions of the Church of England, especially following the Reformation. ...

In 1861 the discovery of gold at Gabriel's Gully led to a rapid influx of population and saw Dunedin become New Zealand's first city by growth of population in 1865. The new arrivals included many Irish, but also Italians, French, Germans, Jews and Chinese, all lumped together by the earlier settlers as 'the New Iniquity'. Some people made fortunes and built grand houses. Slums developed in the inner city. Dunedin and the region industrialised. The South Island trunk railway from Bluff to Lyttelton was completed in 1879. By contrast the North Island trunk line was not finished until 1909. After ten years of gold rushes the economy slowed but Julius Vogel's immigration and development scheme brought thousands more especially to Dunedin and Otago before recession set in in the 1880s. Gabriels Gully is a locality in Otago, New Zealand, three kilometres from Lawrence township and close to the Tuapeka River. ...

The development of modern Dunedin

Dunedin Railway Station, built in 1906

In this first time of prosperity many institutions and businesses were established in Dunedin, New Zealand's first daily newspaper, its first university, art school and medical school among them. A combination of money, good building stones and the then Scottish international pre-eminence in architecture saw a remarkable flowering of substantial and ornamental buildings, unusual for such a young and distant colony. R.A. Lawson's First Church of Otago and Knox Church are notable examples. Maxwell Bury's clock tower complex for the University and F.W. Petre's St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Cathedral are others started in this time. Download high resolution version (1840x1232, 1007 KB)Dunedin railway station December 2003 Author: User:Velela. ... Download high resolution version (1840x1232, 1007 KB)Dunedin railway station December 2003 Author: User:Velela. ... Robert Arthur Lawson, aged 42 Robert Arthur Lawson (1 January 1833 – 3 December 1902) was one of New Zealands most eminent 19th-century architects. ... Francis Petre Listen to this article · (info) This audio file was created from the revision dated 2005-05-04, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. ...

Difficult economic conditions led to the 'anti-sweating' movement led by a Presbyterian Minister, Rutherford Waddell, and the Otago Daily Times. From it came the establishment of the New Zealand Labour Party. Early in the 1880s the inauguration of the frozen meat industry, with the first shipment leaving from Port Chalmers, saw the beginning of a later great national industry. In the mid 1890s the gold dredging boom began and by the turn of the century Dunedin was experiencing another time of prosperity. The New Zealand Labour Party is a New Zealand political party. ... Panorama overlooking the Port. ...

This was a fertile period in the visual arts. William Mathew Hodgkins the 'father of art in New Zealand' - according to his daughter - certainly presided over a vital scene. From the interlocking circles of Turneresque Romantic landscape painters and younger impressionistic practitioners, G.P. Nerli helped to launch Frances Hodgkins on her career as New Zealand's most distinguished expatriate artist. Frances Hodgkins (born 1869 - died 1947) was a New Zealand Abstract Painter. ...

From the 1890s the 'Assyrians', religious refugees from what is now Lebanon, started to arrive, packing into the inner city slums largely occupied by Chinese. It was in this milieu John A. Lee grew up, the later Labour firebrand whose novels exposing these conditions would shock the country. But merchants like Edward Theomin built his grand town house Olveston and the Dunedin Railway Station was an opulent building, both completed in 1906. More companies and institutions were founded in these years, the Dunedin Public Art Gallery in 1884, the Otago Settlers Museum in 1898 and the Hocken Collections in 1910, all first of their types in New Zealand. But Dunedin was no longer the biggest city. John Alfred Alexander Lee (31 October 1891 - 13 June 1982) was a New Zealand politician and writer. ... Olveston is a small village and larger parish in South Gloucestershire, England. ... Dunedin Railway Station clocktower (left). ... Dunedin Public Art Gallery The Dunedin Public Art Gallery is the main public art collection of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand. ...

Determined to defeat demographic gravity Otago and Dunedin sent proportionately more personnel to the First World War than the other New Zealand districts and the losses were proportionately greater. The Anglican Cathedral, St. Paul's started in 1915 and consecrated in 1919 was the last great Gothic Revival building, and remains uncompleted. In another act of demographic self-promotion the 1925 New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition was staged at Logan Park to co-incide with the five yearly census. 3.3 million people visited, more than attended any New Zealand exhibition before or since. The tramways' profits paid for a new town hall, still New Zealand's largest. But population growth continued to slow. With the 1930s the international depression set in. In early 1932 there were urban riots later repeated in the northern centres.

Despite the city's slow growth the university continued to expand boosted by its monopoly in health sciences. The developing Colleges and Halls saw the establishment of a student quarter. In this time too people started to notice Dunedin's mellowing, the ageing of its grand old buildings, with writers like E.H. McCormick pointing out its atmospheric charm. R.N. Field at the art school inspired young students to break from tradition with M.T. (Toss) Woollaston, Doris Lusk, Anne Hamblett, Colin McCahon and Patrick Hayman forming the first cell of indigenous Modernism. The Second World War saw the dispersal of these painters, but not before McCahon had met a very youthful poet, James K. Baxter, in a central city studio. Colin John McCahon (1919 - 1987) was a New Zealand artist, art gallery worker, and university lecturer. ... James Keir Baxter (29 June 1926 - October 22, 1972) is recognised as one of New Zealands foremost poets. ...

After the war prosperity and population growth revived, although Dunedin trailed as the fourth 'main centre'. A generation reacting against Victorianism started demolishing its buildings for redevelopment, which in Dunedin often meant open air car parks. Many buildings were lost, notably the Stock Exchange in 1969. The university expanded, the rest of the city did not. Between 1976 and 81 it went into absolute decline. This lent support to the proposal to establish an aluminium smelter at Aramoana as one of Sir Robert Muldoon's 'think big' projects.Its economics were doubtful and once exposed by Otago Professor, Paul Van Moeseke, the government backed off. But the city became bitterly divided. The Right Honourable Sir Robert David (Rob) Muldoon GCMG CH (25 September 1921–5 August 1992) served as Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1975 to 1984. ...

This was a culturally vibrant time with the university's new privately endowed fellowships for writers, composers and visual artists, bringing such luminaries as James K Baxter, Ralph Hotere, Janet Frame, Hone Tuwhare, back to the city, or to Dunedin for the first time, where some stayed and many lingered. Good Modernist buildings appeared, such as the Dental School and Ted McCoy's Otago Boys' High School and Richardson building, evidence that this born-in-Dunedin designer could find a way of marrying Modernism to the revivalist inheritance. Hone Papita Raukura (Ralph) Hotere is a New Zealand artist of Maori descent (Aupouri iwi). ... Janet Paterson Frame ONZ, CBE, (August 28, 1924 - January 29, 2004) was a New Zealand writer. ... Hone Tuwhare (born in Kaikohe, Northland in 1922) is a noted New Zealand poet of Maori ancestry. ...

Population decline steadied. By 1990 Dunedin had re-invented itself as the 'heritage city' with its main streets refurbished in Victorian style and R.A Lawson's Municipal Chambers in the Octagon handsomely restored. The university's growth accelerated. North Dunedin became New Zealand's largest and most exuberant residential campus. Local body reform saw the creation of the present huge territorial Dunedin, the country's largest city, in 1989, a distinction many found dubious.

The city has continued to refurbish itself, rehousing the Dunedin Public Art Gallery in the Octagon in 1996 and buying and restoring the Railway Station and now embarking on a large development of the Otago Settlers Museum. Dunedin continues to be preoccupied with its population and economic future but people have lived here for nine centuries through radically changing fortunes. Unlike other New Zealand cities something of that is reflected in its atmosphere with its constant recall of the past and promise of future surprises.

Some historical notes

The University of Otago, the oldest university in New Zealand, was founded in Dunedin in 1869. Otago Girls High School (1871) is said to be the oldest state secondary school for girls in the Southern Hemisphere. Dunedin became wealthy during the Central Otago goldrush which began at Gabriel's Gully near Lawrence in 1861. Between 1881 and 1957, Dunedin was home to the Dunedin cable trams, being both one of the first and last such systems operated anywhere in the world. During the 20th century, influence and activity moved north to the other centres ("the drift north"), but by the end of the century Dunedin had re-established its identity as a centre of excellence in tertiary education and research. The University of Otago in Dunedin is New Zealands oldest university with over 20,000 student enrolled during 2006. ... 1869 (MDCCCLXIX) is a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... The Central Otago Goldrush (often simply called the Otago goldrush) occurred during the 1860s in Otago, New Zealand. ... Gabriels Gully is a locality in Otago, New Zealand, three kilometres from Lawrence township and close to the Tuapeka River. ... Lawrence is a small town of some 500 inhabitants in Otago, in New Zealands South Island. ... 1861 is a common year starting on Tuesday. ... 1881 (MDCCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Dunedin cable tramway system was a group of cable tramway lines in the New Zealand city of Dunedin. ...