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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Otago & Southland Provincial Districts]

Towns

Towns.

Burn-ide, Architect.Monument to Rev. Dr. Burns, Dunedin.

Burn-ide, Architect.
Monument to Rev. Dr. Burns, Dunedin.

The settlement of Otago has resembled that of Canterbury in this respect, that though the chief city includes by far the largest populatin concentrated in any one centre, yet on the whole, the settlers in the province are distributed over a wide area. The figures already given in another section show how rapid has been the grwoth of the city within fifty years; but it may be added that, in 1854, the whole population of the province was about 2400, and that 2000 persons dwelt within the Otago Block. There were 700 in Dunedin, and about 500 more in the suburban districts round North East Valley, Anderson's Bay, Caversham, and Half Way Bush. At Port Chalmers there were eighty, at East and West Harbour 150, Green Island 100, East Taieri 170, West Taieri ninety, Waihola and Tokomairiro 140, and the Clutha, seventy. By 1857 the total population had risen to 3796, of whom 1022 had been born in Otago. In Dunedin and suburbs with Port Chalmers 1879 were located; in East and West Taieri, 462; in the Tokomairiro and Waihola districts, 1020; and in the northern district from Waikouaiti to the Waitaki, 435. At the present time according to the last census returns (quinquennial period ending March, 1901) the total population of Dunedin, including suburbs, is 52,390, composed of 24,819 males and 27,571 females. A large proportion of the total inhabitants of Otago—nearly one third—is thus concentrated in and around the chief city. But there are several other towns in Otago which represent a large section of the total; and, generally, it may be said that the population of the province is well distributed over a large area. Of Invercargill further details will be given in the Southland section. But it may be noted that in 1857, when the census was for the first time taken for Southland separately, the total population of the province was only 406, of whom the majority lived in and near the chief town. According to the census of 1901 the present population of Invercargill, including suburbs, is nearly, 11,000. The second twon in Otago proper is Oamaru, lying in the centre of the northern district, which, in 1854, could boast of only 183 inhabitants seattered about between Goodwood and the Waitaki river. By 1861 the town of Oamaru contained 207 inhabi- page 29 tants; by 1870 the number had risen to 1500; to-day Oamaru is credited with a population of 4836. But it is a remarkable fact that at the previous census of 1896 the total population of Oamaru was 5225. This change is due partly to the denser settlement of the country behind Oamaru, and partly to the diversion of the coastal sea-borne trade to larger centres. Port Chalmers ranks next among Otago towns to Oamaru. In 1854, when the first provincial census was taken, there were only eighty settlers at Port Chalmers; in the 1896 census returns the number of residents was given in 1901; and in the 1901 census the total had risen to 2056. Palmerston South had fallen between 1896 and 1901 from 775 to 738. But Mosgiel had risen from 1382 to 1463; Milton (Tokomairiro) from 1139 to 1241, Kaitangata from 1362 to 1463, Balclutha from 925 to 1017, Lawrence from 996 to 1159, Alexandra from 454 to 818. The growth of these minor centres of population is a proof that the development of Otago is proceeding in a broad and comprehensive way throughout the province. The same remark applies to Southland, where the population of Gore has risen from 2032 to 2354, and that of Campbelltown (the Bluff) from 1075 to 1350. The importance of mining among Otago's industries accounts to some extent for the wide area settled; indeed Otago claims more than one third of the whole mining population of New Zealand—38,750 out of 104,700. It is further interesting to note that Otago contains more boroughs and towns, apart from the provincial capitals, of over 1000 inhabitants, than any other province. The numbers are: Auckland four, Wellington seven, Canterbury eight, Otago ten. This is a further proof of the wide distribution of the population, and the extreme scope of settlement in the southern section of the colony.