It was hard for the colonists to keep their food supplies fresh, even more so during the summer without the invention of a fridge or ice box. This was where the Avon River came in handy for those living close by. Meat such as mutton placed in huge casks and then inserted into the cold …
The fact that the MacKenzie Country is named after a famous outlaw and now folk hero shows our Kiwi laid back attitude off beautifully! James MacKenzie (1820 – ?) was a Scot that emigrated to Australia in 1849 – finding work in the gold fields there. No one knows for sure when James arrived in …
William Derisley (W.D.) Wood (1824 – 1904 ) Died of old age Place of Death: Christchurch Founder of Riccarton and Addington Flour Mill. Remembered in the naming of Wood Lane in Fendalton. Buried in the Linwood Cemetery, Christchurch The story of William Derisley (W.D.) Wood (1824 – 1904 ): http://www.peelingbackhistory.co.nz/william-derisley-w-d-wood-1824-1904/ Photo taken by Chris …
W.D Woods arrived in Christchurch on the “Randolph’, one of the first four ships on the 16th December 1850. Legend states that W.D. didn’t step on shore until the next day, his 26th birthday. Being born into a family of millers, W.D Woods fate was set. Wood’s first job in Christchurch was being secretary to …
On the night of the 2nd October 1887, the jolly going-ons at the Lake Forsyth Arms Hotel was in full swing. The Hotel’s owner, Mr. Archibald McNae was leaving the area as his lease had expired. So he was surrounded with his family and friends at the piano, singing their favourite ditty’s at the top …
Benjamin Woolfield Mountfort (1825 – 1898) Died of old age Place of Death: Christchurch Benjamin was the first official Provincial Architect, designing buildings such as the Canterbury Museum, Arts Centre, Christchurch Cathedral, Addington Prison, St Peter’s Anglican Church of Papanui. Buried in the Holy Trinity of Avonside Church Cemetery, Christchurch The story of Benjamin …
Benjamin Woolfield Mountfort stepped off the Charlotte Jane – full of ambition and cathedral-sized dreams! Born in Birmingham, England, the young Benjamin moved to London and studied architecture. Finishing his studies in 1848, he rolled up his sleeves and practised his new trade right there in London. With Emily, his wife of 18 days, his …
Edward Jerningham Wakefield (1820-1879) had a lot going for him – he really had the world laid out before him. Born to Edward Gibbon Wakefield and Eliza Pattle in London, he became a member of a family that made colonising New Zealand a family business! Jerningham (as I will call him to save confusion with …
It never seemed to occur to Charlotte Godley that staying behind in England was an understandable option. After all, her husband, John Robert Godley was not to be away in New Zealand for more than 3 years. Charlotte Griffith Wynne was born in North Wales in 1821. One of eight children in a well-to-do family, …
John Robert Godley was a man who everyone seemed to have an opinion about. One man would say “he was a King amongst men’ where another called him ‘a whale in a duck pond’. Both descriptions paint an image of the man who founded Christchurch. Born in Dublin in 1814, he grew up in the …
