A local historian writing a book about Ōtautau needs help from the community to finish the project. 

Suzie Best has narrowed down the earliest inhabitants of Ōtautau Township to 14 families and wants to hear from descendants who can help with family details, documents or photos. 

The goal is to get Between River & Stream: Tale of a town that shouldn't have been finished in time for the town's 150th anniversary commemorations next year. 

"Several years ago, I started on researching, collating and writing material for the book, after working on town history and finding little on early Ōtautau," Best says.

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"It soon became evident information was sparse and it was not well referenced. On my attempting to get evidence to back up all the previously reported early history of the town, I uncovered something quite different"

Suzie Best with holding the earliest known map of the Central Western Murihiku Southland area

"Rather than the town 'growing up' in the 1860’s as was written, I found that when the surveyors came here in 1872, there was only 1 property recorded on their Township Survey that had been built on.

"This was on land in the Aparima Hundred, which held the Ōtautau Accommodation House and stables." 

By 1879 (pre-railway), only nine houses were occupied in the township. 

"After thousands of hours cross-checking Government records, I have now narrowed the earliest settlers of the Ōtautau Township as being from these following families, (listed below). 

"So can anyone who is a descendant or who can help with family details or early photos, please get in contact." 

The families are Campbell, Cassels, Dodds, Lawson, Lynch, (possibly) McDonald, McIvor, Newsome, Price, Quin, Small, Smith, Tilyard and Walker.  

Best has complied information from various record repositories around Aoteroa and some from around the world, but what is needed to complete the work is photos, invoices, records, maps etc. of early settlers, their businesses and the township itself.

The small farming, forestry and milling town, about 40km north west of Invercargill on the western edge of the Southland plains and the banks of the Aparima River, now has a population of about 700 people.

Best intends to write one book purely on the early history of the township of Ōtautau itself, with subsequent books dealing with the early history of the whole district.

Best says the plans for 150th commemorations have created a deadline for the project.

"It was always my hope the 1872 Survey would be commemorated, so my thanks to Ōtautau Promotions Committee who are currently organizing that. But this book project now needs to be complete in time for a 2022 event." 

All profits from the eventual sale of the books will be donated to local historical groups in the district.

If you can help, please email Suzie via [email protected].