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Before organized settlement by European's began, a small number of men, many of which were whalers, setteled in New Zealand. Organized settlement began in 1839 when the New Zealand Company ships arrived to establish Wellington on the north island. That same year one of New Zealands more unusual settlements, Akaroa, was also established. Akaroa is a slice of France nestled in the very English Province of Canterbury (south island) where the streets have French names. In 1840 New Zealand was annexed to the British Crown and became part of the Colonial Empire. In 1840 Auckland was established and for a short time was the British seat of government. The second settlement on the north island was Nelson, established in 1842.
The first known Fraser's to settle in New Zealand were twin brothers Alexander and Thomas Fraser. They were born in Scotland in 1800. Very little is known of their early years except that they were coopers by trade. They came to Sydney in 1830 as assisted immigrants under an engagement to Messrs Tooth, and they worked for the firm for several years. Afterwards Alexander kept a public house in Sydney for a short time. In 1837 the brothers came to Kapiti, where they traded with the whalers and the Maoris. Early in 1839 they arranged with Te Rangihaeata to occupy Mana Island. The brothers used Mana as a base for their whaling and trading ventures. For many years their schooner Twins traded with the east coast Maoris and used to call regularly at Ahuriri (Napier) long before that district was settled by Europeans. They also traded with the Taranaki and west coast tribes and with the South Island. In the early 1860s they added SS Wallabi to their trading fleet.
In addition to trading, the Frasers became graziers and for many years maintained a large flock of sheep on Mana. In the 1840s they bought a sheep run at Taita, in the Hutt Valley, and later, they took up another at Porirua. In August 1853, following Kettle's survey, the brothers took up four sections in Otago. Two of these, in the Moeraki district, formed the nucleus of Runs 10 and 11 - the Kakaho and White Bluffs runs - which had a combined area of 30,600 acres. At the same time they applied for a much larger run on both sides of the Shag River in northern Otago. These holdings were stocked from their Mana flock. In 1857 they sold their Moeraki holdings for £18,000 and retired to Wellington. They leased their Mana and Porirua holdings and gradually disposed of their trading business. During their last years they lived quietly in Wellington where they became well-known financiers. When Alexander died at their home in Ghuznee Street, Wellington, on October 1868, his share in their joint enterprises reverted to his brother. Thomas died at York Farm, Rangitikei, on 18 October 1871, and was buried in Wellington.
When Thomas died, the Evening Post recorded that few private men were better or more favourably known in the colony than these unassuming brothers. Although they had come from obscure beginnings they succeeded as traders and became the first successful graziers in New Zealand. Neither brother ever stood for public office, but in the Wellington of their day they were respected for their unfailing good humour and scrupulous fair dealing. As neither brother married, after Thomas's death their estate – variously estimated as being between £30,000 and 40,000 - was divided between their nieces and nephews in Wellington.
Another early Fraser to settle in New Zealand, Jock (John) Fraser, who arrived aboard the ship Whitby in 1841, was a member of the New Zealand Companies expedition that founded Nelson. Joined several years later by his brother Hugh, they were successful graziers on the south island. It's believed that Jock was the first man to step off a ship in New Zealand wearing a kilt.
In 1848 Otago was settled by the Lay Association of the Free Church of Scotland and for many decades had the highest concentration of Scots in New Zealand. During the first 20 years of settlement 7,976 Scots arrived in New Zealand (according to 1858 census).
In the early years few immigrants were Highlanders. Most Highlanders came between 1853 and 1870 because of Canterbury's recruitment of Highland shepherds, the settlement of Waipu, and the gold rushes. Lowlanders made up three-quarters of immigrants, although the families of some people recorded as Lowlanders might have moved from the Highlands a generation or two earlier. In the south island's harsh Mackenzie Country, Scots succeeded an earlier English generation to dominate the holding of sheep runs. The Scottish shepherd with his border collie was also a familiar figure on runs in the Wairarapa and Hawke's Bay.
Because of the recruitment of Scots by communities on the south island, by 1878 more than one out of ten men in many counties had been born in Scotland. [See Map - Percentage of Scottish born in New Zealand Counties, 1878].