Neils Pedersen was born in Skarnes, Hedmark, in Norway, and married Bertha Olsdatter before migrating to New Zealand. They were among the first Scandinavian settlers to arrive in the Manawatu District, being allotted 40 acres of land at Awapuni in 1871. In later years, the family moved to a farm at Whakarongo, where Neils died in 1910. His wife Bertha died in 1900.