In August 1861, after seeing an advertisement in a Birmingham Newspaper, the Ramsbottom family were among a number of British immigrants involved in the Albertland settlement. Plots of land were sold off in England without the buyers seeing it. They were bitterly disappointed on their arrival, the land was rugged and it was almost 100 years before this piece of land was suitable for farming.

This was the last organised British Settlement in New Zealand. Most of these pioneers came aboard the ships "Hanover" (a 1,000 ton Clipper-ship owned by George Marshall & Co, under charter to Shaw Savill Co.) and "Matilda Wattenbach" (a British built clipper-ship of 1,000 tons owned by Wattenbach, Heilgers & Co of Mincing Lane, chartered to Shaw Savill ). They set sail in October 1862 from the Liverpool docks.

The Ramsbottoms, like a lot of other families, settled in Wellsford instead. In fact Wellsford is made up of the first letter of the surnames of several of the district’s pioneers: W for Worker, White and Watson; E for the Reverend Samuel Edger; L for Levet and Lester; S for Scott, Stark and Stewart; F for Foster; O for Oldfield; R for Ramsbottom, Rushbrook and Rishworth; D for Dibble.

The text below is from a sign at Port Albert where they landed.

Albertland & Districts Museum
Memorial Park, Wellsford, New Zealand
P O Box 128 Wellsford
email  museum@albertland.co.nz
Ph 64-9-423 8181