[8] The area was cultivated by Ngāi Tai, and protected by the Tūwakamana Pā at Cockle Bay.

[9] The sale was envisioned as a way to end hostilities in the area, but it is unclear what the chiefs understood or consented to.

[10] In 1847, Howick township was established as a defensive outpost for Auckland, by fencibles (retired British Army soldiers) and their families.

[11] Early settlers in the area shot the kūaka and huahou found in the creek,[12] and fencible soldier John Nicholas purchased a farm on Somerville Road in 1851.

[13] In 1854 when Fairburn's purchase was investigated by the New Zealand Land Commission, a Ngāi Tai reserve was created around the Wairoa River and Umupuia areas, and as a part of the agreement, members of Ngāi Tai agreed to leave their traditional settlements to the west, near Howick.

The family called their farm Paparoa, after the name for the district, and built a two-storied homestead at the intersection of Howick, Whitford and East Tāmaki roads.

[16] Originally the Somerville family grew wheat and oats, but by 1931 switched to dairy and sheep farming.

[20] In the early 1990s, Entrepreneur Kit Wong, inspired by his parents' experiences of isolation living in Auckland, developed Meadowlands, a commercial and restaurant space in Somerville as an area for the Chinese New Zealander community.

[21][22] By the mid-1990s, significant residential housing had been constructed in the area,[23] and in 1997 Somerville Intermediate School was opened.