Edward Collins came to New Zealand on a whaling ship in 1842 and became a farmer in the Hawkes Bay, near Waipawa. He sold his farm to the Johnston family and moved to Abbotsville – near Waipawa – and then to Newbury, on the outskirts of Palmerston North. He died 21 Jan 1887, aged 65. Sarah Collins, nee Lovelock, arrived in New Zealand in 1840 at Wellington. She was the first white woman in the Tamamu area. She married Collins at the age of 16.