Our History

In the 1860’s the New Zealand Government under Sir Julius Vogel, introduced an immigration policy to develop the forty mile bush section of the Wairarapa extending from Kopuaranga to Woodville where the scheme would meet the 70 mile Bush to Napier. It was original intended that Canadians would undertake this development but when the Canadians abandoned this project Vogel was faced with securing an alternative supply of suitable immigrants to undertake the difficult task of settlement and so it was decided to obtain settlers from Scandinavia.

The first Scandinavian immigrants to the Wairarapa arrived in 1872. These consisted of 8 Norwegian, 7 Danish and 3 Swedish families. Later in August the same year 10 Danish families and a number of young men arrived in Wellington after a long tedious journey by sailing ship. A temporary
camp was established at Kopuaranga, north of Masterton, for these families to live in.

By agreement an area of 4,000 acres was purchased by the government for the settlement of the Scandinavians in the Mauriceville District, and this area was cut into 40 acre sections for which the settlers had to pay one pound per acre. Naturally the new settlers expected the area to be cleared and housed so it was a great shock to find they had to clear their own bush covered land and build their slab huts to live in.