Angharad and Gwenda Whelan, daughters of Sue Whelan with the mayor of New Plymouth at the national cymanfa ganu in 2002 Photo: Te Ara / Public Domain
Welsh immigrants have played an important role in NZ's history but it has been largely overshadowed by the story of English, Scottish and Irish immigrants.
Although the Welsh settled particularly in Canterbury in the 19th century and Auckland in the 20th century, they are to be found throughout New Zealand. Every two years they come together for a national cymanfa ganu, which involves communal singing of hymns
Our regular historian, Grant Morris, has been travelling in Wales and reflecting on the history of the Welsh in NZ.
