You might think that the Otago settlement was always inhabited by Highlanders. After all, that’s what our rugby team is named after. Just as Waikato is full of Chiefs, Wellington is known for its Hurricanes, Canterbury is overrun with Crusaders, and Auckland really gets you feeling the Blues.

But that is not the case. There are many misconceptions about the early years of Otago’s settlement. You’d be forgiven for thinking that the first ships were full of Scots, but the truth is much more varied. There were English people, Irish, probably some Welsh. And no doubt some people who were already established on these islands made their way to the settlement as well. Otago has always been more than Scottish, even if that is one of our dominant cultural traits.

This week, we look at episode 6: The Coming of The Highlanders. To begin with, Otago was settled by Scots who were overwhelmingly from the Lowlands. In the mid-1850s, however, as a new economic focus on pastoral farming developed, Highlanders came into their own. Their specialised skills in sheep management were now in high demand.