Between 1870 and 1876 around 5,000 people emigrated from Denmark, Norway and Sweden to New Zealand in conjunction with Julius (later Sir Julius) Vogel’s scheme linking the building of roads and railways with immigration.
This was as far as they could sail across the globe, on journeys lasting from three to four months. Government agents had led them to expect they would find arable land and constant sunshine. Instead, many were led inland until they reached the edge of towering rain forests, called ‘native bush’. Here was their home, unbuilt. To get supplies they would have to ford dangerous rivers. On the first day they wept, on the second they started work. There could be no going back.
Chairman
Secretary Peter Christensen
Treasurer Peter Christensen
Newsletter Editor
Website Administrator Peter Christensen
Committee Members
Nerroly Hoar Katrina McGillicuddy Ian Trass Julianne Buick Willie Buick Logie Atkinson Norma Dunn Brian Ammundsen Lyn Dawson Maurie Halberg Catherine Nelson Sue Smith Ross Smith Nerroly Hoar
The following people declined to be on the committee or were absent from the AGM but showed their continued support for Friends of Mauriceville:
Stuart Hoar Jo Farley Beverley Lawrence Lisbeth Groeberg Christine Littlejohn
A revolving gallery of images of relevance to the area around Mauriceville, or relevant to the Scandinavian emigrants who settled there. Click any image to see a larger version. Click within the image anywhere to close it.
The following photos are shown below; This locality, originally known as the Scandinavian Camp, marked the Southern limit of the Seventy Mile Bush which stretched northward to the Takapau Plain. It consited of a group of barrack like slab huts which housed the Danes and Norwegians who were the first settlers of the Mauriceville and Eketahuna Districts. The first occupants arrived by ship ENGLAND in 1872 and were followed by further parties but as there landhad not been surveyed none were able to take possession of it and had to ... |
Poets cottage Munroe Road |
Another view of the Poets Cottage on Munroe Rd. Cow shed and barn |
Wide view of the Poets Cottage on Munroe Rd. |
Nilsson Memorial on West Road |
Mauriceville West School |
Mauriceville town sign |
Mauriceville street sections map |
Pioneers Memorial Cairn at Mauriceville West unveilled on Sunday 5 May 1974 by Sir Keith Holyoake. |
Mauriceville Pioneers Memorial rock sign post |
Mauriceville Pioneer Memorial Rock |
Mauriceville North Church exterior view |
Mauriceville Lutheran church exterior view |
Mauriceville Lutheran church interior |
Lutheran church cemetery section A of cemetery. |
Larsen family house, North Road. Mauriceville West. |
Larsen Family, Karen Hans Lars Halford and Elizabeth |
Kopuaranga Hall For bookings contact Sue Barber 027 7152116 or Debbie Sutherland 027 3892542 |
Roskilde Cathedral on the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark. |
Receipt from 1892 |
Napier Harbour, New Zealand, looking towards Ahuriri, 1881 |
Wellington Harbour circa 1840 |
Steam powered log hauler |
Ullern Kirke church in Norway. |
Lone grave in a paddock for Johnnah Christiansen |
Hastwell Cemetery gates |
Scandinavian Camp site memorial |
Close up of the Scandinavian Camp site memorial, commemorating settlers who died ther |
Scandinavian camp site memorial |
Close up of ANZAC Bridge near Mauriceville |
Wide view of the ANZAC bridge near Mauriceville |
Sir Keith Holyoake seated behind speaker at Pioneer Memorial opening |
Looking east from the Manawatu Gorge Track, originally cut by Scandinavian settlers. |
Hastwell sign board on the corner of Hall Road. |
Erecting new sign in Hastwell on Hall road |
Table donated by Merve Lehmstedt for the Mauriceville West School |
Plaque on Mauriceville West School donated by Merve Lehmstedt |
Scandinavian flag colours |
Photo taken from old Mauriceville West School looking towards the North, South and West road intersection. |
Map of the Section Plans for early settlers |
Map of the Seventy Mile Bush |
3062. The Launch of the book Rainbows over Mauriceville. Harold Devonport on right. |
Map of Settler section allocations as shown in book Forest Homes |
Kopuaranga Hall preparation for the launch of book Rainbows over Mauriceville |
Platform at Kopuaranga Hall ready for launch of book Rainbows over Mauriceville |
Map showing the Scandinavian Trail |
The Crowd gathered in Kopuaranga Hall for the launch of the book Rainbows over Mauriceville |
The Mauriceville West School buildings were spray painted by Shaun McGillicuddy in 2022 |
Mauriceville West School 1940. |
Inside the Luthern Church before it was shifted off site |
Back to Mauriceville West School 3 boys from 1940 photo. |
Mr Olsen in front of the FOM Stall at Mauriceville Fair |
Original Lutheran Church 1884-1957. Built of Kahikitea (White Pine) Suffered rot and was replaced. |
Lutheran Church second church was built in 1957 and then in 2019 was deconsecrated and removed from site to a new life as a small rural dwelling. |
New sign showing the early settler section allocations erected beside the Pioneer Memorial on corner of North, South and West Road. July 2023 |
Lutheran Cemetery Plan with West road on left side. |
Original Settlers Reunion Picnic.
Names from back left: BACK. C Ericksen, Svensen, N Anderson, H Aulin, O Amundsen, P larsen, J Wellington, J Jorgensen, Neilsen Jnr.MIDDLE. ?, ?, Mrs Ericsen, Mrs Christensen, Mrs Aulins, ?.?.?.?.?.?.Mrs Wellington Jefferesen, Nielsen Jnr, FRONT Anderson, Miss Anderson, Miss Aulin ,?,?, |
Descendants of Lars Larsen at Larsen Reunion 2018 |
Descendants of Kyle (Charles) Larsen at the 2018 Larsen Reunion |
We have attached PDFs showing the names of people buried in the Mauriceville area. If you have ancestors buried in the wider region around Mauriceville, you may be able to locate them using the Tararua District Council's cemetery search.
Below you will find stories submitted by individuals with memories, thoughts poems etc about the Scandinavian influence past and present. These memories may differ from published material but they rely on the individual's memory and story, so we're not saying that anyone is right or wrong. We have also attached PDFs showing information and contact addresses for other groups in and around the area.
Newsletter 2009 April |
Newsletter 2010 March |
Newsletter 2011 January |
Newsletter 2011 March |
Newsletter 2012 December |
Newsletter 2012 June |
Newsletter 2013 May |
Newsletter 2014 October |
Newsletter 2015 July |
Newsletter 2016 July |
Newsletter 2017 July |
Newsletter 2018 July |
Newsletter 2019 July |
Newsletter 2020 August |
Newsletter 2021 October |
Newsletter 2022 July |
Newsletter July 2022 |
The FOM Newsletter for 2023 |
The FOM Newsletter for 2024 |
Newsletter 2008 November |
List of names on headstones in the Kopouranga Scandinavian Camp Cemetery |
List of names on headstones in the Mauriceville West Cemetery |
List of names on headstones in the Hastwell Cemetery |
Headstone On lone grave in paddock between Mauriceville West School and Hastwell monument. |
List of names on headstones in the Mauriceville North Cemetery |
Lutheran Cemetery burials listed alphabetically showing the area they are buried in. |
Lutheran Cemetery Burials listed by area of cemetery then names of those buried in that section |
Map of burial plots in the St Francis Cemetery |
List of pew donors in the Mauriceville Lutheran Church |
Names on the Mauriceville School Cenotaph |
Friends of Mauriceville Membership printable Application. Mail to 6 Wycliffe Place, Solway, Masterton 5810. |
Danish and Norwegian connections |
A history of Mauriceville North Norwegian Church 1881-1981 |
Whispering Roads booklet by Kay Flavell |
Larsen Family immigration story |
Bill Gundersen, Kay Flavell and Val Burr, printed in a Norwegian local history magazine |
Trondheim sculptor Kari Elise Mobeck completed a NZ residency at New Pacific Studio in September-November 2009. |
The Norwegian Methodist Church sits on a hill above North Road, in Mauriceville North . It has a Category 1 Heritage New Zealand listing: Number 204. |
The area was settled by Scandinavian Settlers and the teachers had to cope with educating children who spoke English as a 2nd language. |
Annual event held at the Clarke Domain in Mauriceville. |
The Lutheran Church played an important part in the lives of first generation Scandinavian settlers,and many of those original settlers were buried within its grounds.
The church building has since been sold and removed, and ownership of the historic burial ground has been transferred to Masterton District Council.
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The Manawatu Scandinavian Club was formed in 1979 and became the district's third such club. Members are usually descendants of early Scandinavian immigrants. |
Year 2021' > |
Henley Men's Shed is a place to share & develop skills, make or repair things, relate experiences, discuss health and other issues, talk about anything while enjoying a cuppa & biscuit or even another bloke's scones. |