About 70 descendants of Thomas and Mary Finnie, who bought a farm at Saddle Hill in 1858, which the family owns to this day, gathered to hold a family reunion at the Mosgiel Memorial RSA at the weekend.
Steve Finnie, the great-great-grandson of Thomas and Mary, said family members from as far afield as the United States, Australia and the "length and breadth of New Zealand" had attended the reunion.
Thomas and Mary had five children, four of whom had children of their own and descendants of each of those had made it to Mosgiel.
"The representation here is four out of the five original Saddle Hill settlers’ branches," he said.
"We are pretty happy."
Four generations of the family were present. The oldest was 89 and the youngest 8 months.
The family celebrated in typical Scottish fashion with kilts and tartan on display and a haggis ceremony.
"We have basically steeped it in the traditions of all Scottish clan gatherings," he said.
"Tonight’s gathering will be marked with a full procession and haggis ceremony, and a bottle of Glenlivet Founder’s Scotch — which is totally appropriate."
The family yesterday gathered for a church service at East Taieri Church.
"The East Taieri parish is the original parish of the Finnie family and there’s 22 Finnies buried at the cemetery," Mr Finnie said.
Mr Finnie, along with two of his cousins, produced a book celebrating the family’s history for the event.
"We are quite lucky as a family to have quite a fantastic collection of family memorabilia."
Some of that had been digitised and included in the book.
Thomas and Mary settled in the area and bought a farm in 1858.
"It’s been owned and run by the direct descendants of Thomas and Mary ever since," he said.
He was pleased with the turnout and the events which marked the weekend.
"Because the family is spread so far and wide, it becomes very difficult to catch up with everyone, so it’s good to have everyone here."
