Pākehā in Aotearoa New Zealand’s Clutha and Central Otago Districts: an anthropological onomastic study of Scottish place-names

Leysen, Brittnee (2024) Pākehā in Aotearoa New Zealand’s Clutha and Central Otago Districts: an anthropological onomastic study of Scottish place-names. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

The Otago Region in the South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand is inextricably linked to the Scottish diaspora of the 19th century. This thesis examines the prevalence of Scottish place-names in two Districts in Aotearoa New Zealand’s Otago Region: Clutha and Central Otago. These place-names will be evaluated for their significance as cultural artefacts by using onomastic and anthropological methods, or anthropological onomastics. This research considers which place-names in the Clutha and Central Otago Districts have Pākehā, or European, versus Indigenous origins, focusing heavily on the Scottish connections to the Region, and why those names in particular were transposed to, and remain in, the Aotearoa New Zealand landscape. I will analyse how these place-names have affected the social identity of the people and political climate of the Otago Region, and how that is demonstrated in the Otago namescape. Finally, I seek to fill in some of the gaps in the New Zealand Gazetteer regarding the history, origin, and the referent of the place-names in the Clutha and Central Otago Districts to enable the Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand, and the New Zealand Geographic Board, to more efficiently utilise these place- names and evaluate them for official naming status.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Additional Information: Supported by funding from Funds for Women Graduates through the British Federation of Women Graduates, the Scottish Graduate School of the Arts and Humanities, the Ross Fund, the Centre for Scottish and Celtic Studies, the Centre for Doctoral Training in Celtic Languages, the Scottish Place-Name Society, and the Society for Name Studies in Britain and Ireland.
• Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GN Anthropology
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities
• Supervisor's Name: Taylor, Dr. Simon and Kidd, Dr. Sheila
• Date of Award: 2024
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2024-84404
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 26 Jun 2024 13:49
• Last Modified: 26 Jun 2024 13:54
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.84404
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/84404