Early settlers (New Zealand)

Where can I find information about early European settlers of New Zealand?

Entry last updated: 26/06/24

Introduction

European settlers began to arrive in New Zealand from 1769. Find out how they arrived, where they came from, what life was like then, and how they interacted with Māori, the tangata whenua of Aotearoa New Zealand.

Where they came from

These New Zealand websites have the best information on where early settlers came from and their journeys to Aotearoa New Zealand.

Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Te Ara is an excellent starting point for all questions about New Zealand Aotearoa. If we scroll down to the bottom of the page we can see that the website belongs to the Ministry for Culture & Heritage, so the information is well-researched and reliable.

Tips: We like sites that are from government or other reputable organisations, because we can trust the information. You can sometimes tell these sites by their web address – they might have .govt or .edu in their address – or by looking at their About us or Contact pages.

NZHistory

NZHistory is a great website for information about New Zealand Aotearoa. If we go all the way down the page we can see that the website belongs to the Ministry for Culture & Heritage, so the information is well-researched and reliable.

Tips: Remember to explore 'Further information' found on each of these pages as they link to other websites that have related information.

Topic Explorer

Topic Explorer is an online tool from the National Library of New Zealand. It contains a wide range of quality resources for students in a range of formats. These resources have been selected from reliable national and international sources.

Tips: We like these links because they have all been chosen by librarians, so the sites will be trustworthy. It is a good idea to find the About us link on each site, to see what the site's missions and values are.

Early settler life

There was a lot of work to do in early colonial New Zealand. Land had to be cleared to build communities and for farming. The following websites have information about daily life in 19th century New Zealand.

Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Te Ara also has information about the daily life of early settlers in New Zealand.

  • Scroll down to the section Daily life, sport and recreation.

    • Then select Home and daily life.

    • Explore the stories here to understand different aspects of early settler life in New Zealand.

  • Go to the section Settled Landscape.

  • The section Social Connections has information about religion which was a core part of people's lives and their identities.

    • Explore the link Religion to explore the beginning of different Christian churches in New Zealand.

Tips: Many web pages have links to further information or to other recommended sites. Following these links is a great way to find out more. This searching method is called “pearl growing” because you are picking up pieces of sand to make a beautiful pearl!

DigitalNZ

DigitalNZ is a search site that focuses on New Zealand history and brings together results from lots of different New Zealand libraries, museums, universities and government sites all at once. It is a good source of primary sources.

  • Type search words 'early settlers' into the search box.

  • The results are grouped into images, audio, videos, and stories.

  • The tab More will lead to newspapers, articles and research papers.

Tips: Search words, or keywords, are the most important words in our question. Usually it’s better to leave out small words like ‘the’, ‘a’ and ‘of’ and just choose the main ones, eg [early settlers]. We can always change our keywords or add more if we need to.

PapersPast

You can read newspaper articles from the early days of European settlement on PapersPast, a website for digitised New Zealand newspapers.

  • Go to the tab called Newspapers.

  • Explore newspapers By Region and choose a region eg Auckland.

  • A list of the newspapers will appear alphabetically showing dates of publication from First year to Last year eg Albertland Gazette started in 1862.

Tips: Paperspast has other useful sections. Explore Magazines and journals, Letters and Diaries, and Parliamentary Papers for different types of primary sources.

Economy

Whaling, farming, logging and gold mining were some of the first occupations that contributed to the economy and the setting up of communities.

Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Different sections on Te Ara will lead you to different aspects of what helped the economy in colonial New Zealand.

Tips: Te Ara has lots of information on this topic. We recommend you explore other sections to expand your understanding of this topic.

Te Papa Tongarewa: Museum of New Zealand

Te Papa has lots of collections that help illustrate early settler life. One long running exhibition is their Passports collection.

Tips: We like sites like this because they’re reliable. You can tell because of their web address - they have either .govt or .ac, meaning they are from government organisations. They're also New Zealand sites, so relevant for us.

Politics and Government

The websites below are the best places to look for how early settlers went about setting up a government in New Zealand.

Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Te Ara has a good section on the history and role government in New Zealand.

NZHistory

NZHistory is another reliable source of New Zealand politics, including history.

Interaction with Māori

Have a look through these links for information about interactions between Māori, the tangata whenua, and European settlers.

NZHistory

NZHistory has a section on Culture and Society that explores Māori and early settler interactions.

  • Pre-1840 contact has a link to Encounters that has lots of details about first meetings between people, and

  • the link to A frontier of chaos? is about Māori values and practices that guided their responses to early Europeans.

  • Under Decade studies look at A history of New Zealand 1769-1914 to read about the Musket Wars, the New Zealand Wars, and the Treaty of Waitangi.

Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

  • Under Sections find New Zealand in brief , then select Māori to find out about Māori before and after Europeans arrived in New Zealand.

  • The S_ettled Landscape_ section has a link to Claiming the Land - which is about how the settlers took over land owned by Māori.

Books

Here are some books to look for in your public library or school library:

Ask your local librarian for more suggestions, especially for books that tell you about the early history of your local area.

SCIS no: 1875659

Topics covered

Related content

Decl. of Independence NZ

Where can I find information about He Whakaputanga o te Rangatiratanga – The Declaration of Independence?

Many Answers

Treaty of Waitangi

Where can I find information about the Treaty of Waitangi - Te Tiriti o Waitangi?

Many Answers

Immigration (New Zealand)

Where can I find information about immigration to New Zealand?

Many Answers

New Zealand wars

Where can I find information about the New Zealand Wars during the 1840s to 1870s?

Many Answers

WW2 (primary sources)

Where can I find primary sources for World War Two?

Many Answers

First encounters (NZ)

Where can I find information about the first encounter between Māori and European explorers in NZ?

Many Answers

Māori history

Where can I find information about Māori history?

Many Answers

NZ colonial life

Discover resources related to colonial life in New Zealand 1769-1914.

Topic Explorer

Treaty Of Waitangi

Discover resources related to the Treaty of Waitangi.

Topic Explorer

Immigration (NZ)

Discover resources related to immigration to Aotearoa/New Zealand.

Topic Explorer

Māori history (post-European arrival)

Discover resources related to Māori history after European arrival.

Topic Explorer

Trade (New Zealand)

Where can I find information about trade in New Zealand?

Many Answers

Colonialism

Where can I find information about colonialism?

Many Answers

History (New Zealand)

Where can I find information about New Zealand history?

Many Answers

Sealing & whaling (New Zealand)

Where can I find information about the history of sealing and whaling in New Zealand?

Many Answers
Back to Many Answers