James McNeil from Bonn Hill, Dumbartonshire, Scotland, who is regarded as the town's founding father, arrived in 1853 - via Port Chalmers, NZ in 1849.
The name comes from lands of that name in the parish of Kirkintilloch in Dumbartonshire.
He was a Deputy Lieutenant of Dumbartonshire and J.P. for Dumbartonshire, Argyllshire, Lanarkarkshire, and Renfrewshire.
Dennistoun, eldest son of James Dennistoun (died 1 June 1834) by Mary Ramsay, daughter of George Oswald of Auchencruive, was born in Dumbartonshire in 1803, and after receiving his education at the universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, became a member of the Faculty of Advocates in 1824.
During the First World War he was chairman of the Dumbartonshire Territorial Force Association, and became an honorary colonel in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders.