1872 First Adult Male Settlers at Norsewood & Dannevirke
Two Ships: the Høvding and the Ballarat
On 15 Sep 1872, two immigrant ships arrived at Napier - the Høvding, with Norwegian and Swedish immigrants, and the Ballarat, with Danish immigrants. These people formed the nuclei of the Norsewood and Dannevirke settlements.
They arrived at Norsewood on 14 Oct 1872. The men who were to settle at Dannevirke helped the Norsewood settlers for a few weeks, then set out for Dannevirke.
The following lists contain the names of the first adult male settlers at Norsewood and Dannevirke.
Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXVIII, Issue 4729, 21 October 1872, Page 2, Column 5
A correspondent sends the Hawkes's Bay Herald the following with reference to the arrival of the Scandinavian settlers at the Forty-mile Bush:— "The women and children, about 250 souls in all, having left Napier on Wednesday, October 2nd, arrived on the following Friday afternoon at a spot within a mile of the camp in the bush. This last mile had to be walked. All the men turned out to meet their families, and had a pretty busy time of it, carrying babies and luggage. From Saturday to Tuesday it was raining almost continually, and the weather was very cold. There was much snow on the Ruahine. This was rather an unpleasant situation for the new-comers. However, there was no complaining. All tried to make the best of it. Many families have already left the common camp for the picturesque huts on their own sections. Sixty-three 40-acre sections will be occupied by the Norwegians; they are grouped around an intended township, to be called Norsewood, in the laying out ot which Messrs. Ross and Mitchell have lately been engaged. You find in Norsewood—at least on the plan—Odin street, Thor-street, Carl-street, Eric-street, Viking-street, Hovding-street,and so on. One store as yet represents the township. Some casualties have occurred; the most serious was a broken leg, the others were of a trifling character. The people are contented and full of gratitude for the kindness they have received from all, both in town and country. Twenty-two families are going to settle on another block, some 14 miles further in the bush."
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