Family History Stories

Peter Ayson. Born Glenshee, Scotland, 1807 - 1897 Story No: 002
Posted by SiteMan, New Zealand. Great-great-grandaughter

Peter Ayson and his wife Douglas, of Glenshee in the Perthshire Highlands of Scotland emigrated with their 10 children to Otago, New Zealand in 1852. Peter was a carpenter by trade but was also knowledgeable in farming, and the New Zealand Company at this time was actively recruiting skilled migrants for the new colony. Before leaving Scotland, Peter secured a 50 acre block of land at Warepa in South Otago. The family traveled by coaches, train and paddle steamer to London where they arrived just as their ship Royal Albert was leaving the dock. They managed to get on board and five months later the ship arrived off Otago Heads, where the family went ashore on 6 March 1853. After finding accommodation in Dunedin for his family, Peter and his eldest son, Peter, walked 60 miles to their land, where they set about building a two roomed hut and cultivating a garden.

Sources: Private family history records,
Ayson, Peter, D.G. The Ayson Story: Glensee to Otago, 1853-1990. Dunedin, NZ: The Clan Ayson Society, 1991.

Comments: The descendants of the Aysons have a large clan in New Zealand. The Clan Ayson Society sends out an annual newlsetter and members gather for a picnic every year.

Later that year Peter returned to Dunedin to fetch his wife and their younger children, the elder ones having found work throughout the district. Peter and his family took 10 days to get to their new home, a journey that now takes less than an hour by car. The Aysons were the first settlers at Warepa and were totally self reliant, living on produce from their garden, native pigeons and wild pigs. Peter went on to build the first church and school in the district and the family were much respected members of the community that developed. Peter Ayson died at the age of 90, having been married 64 years, leaving his wife, eleven surviving children, 72 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren.