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Story: Scots

Clock-tower block, University of Otago

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Clock-tower block, University of Otago

The impact of Scottish attitudes on New Zealand’s education system was evident in the founding of New Zealand’s first university in Dunedin, just 21 years after the first immigrants arrived from Scotland. The building erected for the University of Otago in 1878–79 was strongly reminiscent of the recently completed Glasgow University, design by George Gilbert Scott.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: MNZ-680-1/4; F

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

John Wilson, Scots – Education, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/190/clock-tower-block-university-of-otago (accessed 5 June 2026).

Story by John Wilson, published 4 March 2009, updated 1 August 2024.