 European settlement of Otara began in earnest from the 1850s onwards, with most settlers of the wider East Tamaki area being Scottish and Irish Presbyterians.The most prominent settler of Otara during this period was the Wesleyan missionary Reverend Gideon Smales.Smales had arrived from England in 1840, and upon his retirement moved to settle at East Tamaki, purchasing a block from the Government in 1855, which included Te Puke Ō Tara.