Toitu Otago Settlers Museum, Dunedin

Phillip Lang

Not wanting to be out done by Stephen checking out his ancestral heritage at Slope Point, I wanted to look into some of my family history too. I know that my great, great grandfather arrived on the Phillip Lang in 1848 and that he played a prominent role in the early days of Otago life so it was off to the Early Settlers Museum to see if we could find out any further information than what we already knew about James Adam and his family.

This museum has recently undergone a make-over and it now encompasses the original Edwardian Early Settlers galleries,  the former NZ Road Services building and the recently completed entrance foyer.

Photo gallery - James Adam:
1st photo on 2nd row

We were very impressed from the moment we stepped into the foyer. The galleries are both informative and interactive. We were especially interested in the early Scottish settlers gallery and it is here that we found information about James Adam.  His arrival on the Phillip Lang in April 1848 with his wife and two year old daughter Helen, my great grandmother.  Their first house was built where the Empire Hotel now stands at 396 Princes Street with the help of two local Maori.

He was known as  'Champion Recruiter' returning to Scotland four times to encourage new immigrants to new colony and the Edinburgh of the south.  He eventually purchased '7 square miles of land' south of Milton, at Bon Accord. When you are passing through Milton, there are two pillars  in Taylor Park that formed part of the entrance to the farm.  These pillars evidently formed part of the ballast on one of the immigrant ships.  (Photo still to come)

We spent a good three hours browsing the rest of the galleries, and in fact the later galleries were a bit scary as they had items displayed that we could remember using ourselves!!!!

This museum is definitely well worth a visit if you are ever in Dunedin with the cafe a good place to either start or finish.


Link for further information: Toitu Otago Settlers Museum