On 18th August 1840, French ship, the ‘Compte de Paris’ sailed into Akaroa harbour with French and German settlers aboard. They all carried huge dreams but disappointment was to meet them in the form of the British flag. François Lelievre was born in Les Parlierre, France around the year of 1811. He grew up on …
On 28th May 1840, the HMS Herald arrived at Akaroa with the Treaty of Waitangi on board. Commissioner Major Thomas Bunbury and interpreter Edward Marsh Williams were there to collect more signatures. This was known as the ‘Herald-Bunbury copy’. As the men travelled around the South Island, they were faced with wide spread disagreement of …
On 10th April 1840, a small party of farmers and their families began to make their way across Waitaha (Canterbury Plains) from Te Waihora (Lake Ellesmere). With two teams of bullocks, drays full of supplies and farm equipment, this event is believed to be the first time bullocks walked the land, and that drays and …
The view of Waitaha (Canterbury Plains) from the top of the Te Poho o Tamatea (Port Hills) in 1836 wouldn’t be hard to imagine – swamp, cabbage trees, flax and Toi Toi. Was it a place where a future could begin for someone not afraid of hard work? William Barnard Rhodes (pictured with his wife …
It is quite a thought that, upon the arrival of the French corvette naval ship ‘Heroine’ at Akaroa on 8th June 1838, 16 French whaling ships were carrying out their barbaric trade on Waitaha (Canterbury) waters. They weren’t the only ones out on the water: American, Australian and British whalers also fought for their position …
On 20th March 1837, German whaler, Captain George Hempleman started up his whaling station at Piraki Bay(now known as Peraki and original French spelling), Banks Peninsula for the Australian firm of ‘Clayton and Duke’. He and his brave men were the first Europeans to make a permanent go of things, against incredible odds. Hempleman was …
In 1700, a great migration of the Ngai Tahu came down from the North Island, under Chief Tu Rakautohi. In celebration, his little brother Moki, built a Pa which Tu Rakautohi named Kaikai-a-waro. We now call this surrounding area Kaiapoi. It was soon regarded as the largest and safest stronghold of the Ngai Tahu in …
On 29th May 1814, the Founder of Canterbury, John Robert Godley was born to John and Katherine Godley in Dublin, Ireland. As a teenager, he was educated at Christ Church College in Oxford and graduated in 1836. He studied the classics and decided to pursue a career in law. He had always been a sickly …
In October 1809, ‘The Pegasus ‘, a ship that some say was surveying whereas others say it was sealing, sailed along the east coast of the South Island and attempted to sail between Banks Island (named after the Endeavour’s botanist Joseph Banks in 1770) and the mainland, as it was shown in Captain Cook’s map. …
