Kōrero: History and historians

Pictured here are the office-bearers of the Southland Pioneers’ Association in March 1902. At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, as the settlers of the 1840s died and those who had arrived in the 1860s and 1870s reached old age, there was a growing desire to capture their history and recognise their contribution to the development of the country. During the 50th anniversaries of the provinces, gatherings of 'old-timers' occurred, statues of local pioneers were erected, and many reminiscences and pioneering accounts were published. Admiration for the achievement of the pioneers became a staple of New Zealand popular history in newspapers and journals as well as in books.