‘Shands Emporium’ Namesake Died – 8th January 1874

On 8 January 1874, John Shand – remembered today in the naming of ‘Shands Emporium’ – died. Widower John Shand and his two teenage boys arrived in Christchurch in 1851. John, a merchant and cotton broker by trade, had decided to make the move to a warmer climate for the health of his eldest son, …

First European To Travel Down The Avon Died – 1874

In 1874, Jimmy Robinson Clough, one of Canterbury’s first permanent European settlers died in his Alfred Forest cottage (pictured). It is believed that he was the first European to travel down the Ōtākaro – the Avon River. In 1837, after spotting a beautiful Maori woman in Akaroa where his whaling ship had dropped anchor, he …

The Woolston Tannery Opened – 1874

From around 1856 in Woolston and Opawa, small businesses began to spring up alongside the Heathcote River. For the busy ferry service, it was standard practice for those with personal luggage to collect their goods on Ferry Road (close to Radley Street Bridge) but some industrial cargoes would continue their journey up stream into Christchurch. …

Christchurch’s First Publican Elected As Mayor – 1874

The Hart family are a classic example of what us Cantabs come up with when we think of a Canterbury Association settler and what they must have endured. Here was a family from the ‘Cressy’ (the Canterbury Association’s 4th ship) that were struggling through the sea of tussock of the Canterbury Plains (after tramping over …