• HENRY FRANCIS WORSLEY (1806 – 1876)

    Throughout my studies of Christchurch’s history, the surname of Worsley has popped up now and again.  As there was no additional information offered with these brief references, Henry Francis Worsley had remained a question mark in my mind, that is, until this morning.  Now I know why previous historians haven’t written about him as there …

  • CANTERBURY’S FIRST LAWYERS

    If one wished to split hairs, you could say that Canterbury’s first lawyers were William and John Deans.  It seems that in the Deans household in the parish of Riccarton back in good old Scotland, it was straight out of school and into Dad’s law firm to establish in oneself a good work ethic.  But …

  • BAKER POLHILL (1798 – 1853)

    Upon searching the claim that the Allen family had the first European birth – following the arrival of the Canterbury Association ships – which even the family were unsure about, I came across another birth that instantly took my interest.  In the 3rd edition of the Lyttelton Times, the birth of Edward Greig Watts Polhill …

  • John Anderson (1820 – 1897)

    Those Canterbury Association settlers that weren’t Church of England but were wanting the new start Canterbury offered, stayed pretty quiet about their true denomination until the ship was well on its way. The first sign of their defiance was usually discovered when these families refused to attend the Anglican Church services, usually held on the …

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