Michael Branham Hart (1814 – 1878) Died of illness Place of Death: Christchurch Opened the first hotel/pub in Christchurch – The White Hart Hotel. Also served Christchurch as Mayor. Buried in the Barbadoes Street Cemetery, Christchurch The story of Michael Branham Hart (1814 – 1878): http://www.peelingbackhistory.co.nz/the-hart-family/ Photo taken by Annette Bulovic
The first time I read about the Hart family, my imagination was stirred! Here was this family fresh off the ‘Cressy’ struggling through the tussock of the Canterbury Plains (after tramping over the Bridle Path and punting across the Heathcote), squinting into the blazing setting sun. They stop for breath, the father looking at his …
For roughly 150 years now, the BNZ (Bank of New Zealand) bank has sat on the corners of Colombo and Hereford Streets and Cathedral Square. The BNZ bank was born during the Otago Goldrush of the 1860’s. The first branch opened in Auckland in 1861. Christchurch got its first branch in September 1866, and up …
Also known as Lord Lieutenant of Worcesteshire, George was born into a VERY noble English family. Educated at Eton and Trinity College, George grew up to be a British aristocrat and a Conservative politician. On his 21st birthday, he took his seat in the House of Lords. A great fan of colonialism, he became the …
On the 25th January 1855, Wellington experienced a city changing 8.2 earthquake which was felt county-wide. Jane Deans writes: “One the 25th of January (1855) we had a severe shock of a earthquake, the worst I had felt till then. It did a great deal of damage to Nelson and Wellington, though not so much …
The memorial and reason for the naming of Victoria Park up on the Port Hills. The area was first chosen in 1870 but it took over 10 years before any development such as planting was done. William Moore lived on site by 1886 and was selling refreshments to the visitors venturing around the park. In …
The design and the build of the Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings were such a great achievement for the young colony of Christchurch. The designer, Benjamin Woolfield Mountfort, I’m sure had plans for a clock tower from the time he began to draw up the plans. As Benjamin designed the iron work that would encase the …
