Otago pioneers "Will and Kate" will be remembered by members of the Poppelwell-McLachlan family, who will gather in Dunedin for a reunion this weekend.
The event, to be held this Friday and Saturday in Dunedin and Milton/Tokomairiro will mark 200 years since the birth of Catherine Robertson McLachlan in Fort William, Scottish Highlands, in 1825.
Catherine and the man she was to marry, William Bell Poppelwell, migrated to New Zealand in the early 1840s and helped to shape the early history of Otago. The couple were fondly known as "Will and Kate".
The reunion programme will include events at Toitū Otago Settlers Museum, visits to Milton and Tokomairiro, and opportunities for descendants to contribute to the living family archive.
Organiser Mike Shone said "every reunion builds on the last, but this one marks a 200 years milestone that places our family story within the wider story of the European settlement of New Zealand itself". — Allied Media
