Before the passing of the Education Act in 1877, children who were fortunate enough to have the opportunity of having an education were either taught at home, through the local church or had to have the social standing to go to a private school. Many others were kept home as the demands of running a …
On 23 December 1876, Lyttelton’s Timeball Station began operation. A much loved icon, not many of us actually knew what it did A Timeball Station helps sailors to check their marine chronometers to determine their longitude at sea. It was back in 1870 when John Thomas Peacock – a member of the Canterbury Provincial Council …
On 4 January 1876, the first meeting of the Christchurch Drainage Board took place. Two years earlier, Christchurch had achieved the unflattering title of being the unhealthiest city in New Zealand. We also had the highest death rate as diseases such as Typhoid were rife. The population of Christchurch at that time was 12,000 people. …
Charlotte Godley (John Robert Godley’s wife – Founder of Canterbury) wrote proudly to her mother back in England about how her garden was coming along. She wasn’t as pleased about a gate that existed between her home and the Lyttelton Immigration Barracks. The gate was in constant use as the newly arrived settlers would seek …
There is always something very special about those abodes and buildings in Christchurch that just don’t quite fit in…not only in a historic way but also in style and materials. Such a place exists on the corner Durham and Wordsworth Streets – Blackheath – as it states so proudly on its Durham Street frontage for …
Shipwright John Blair Thompson watched his 11 year old daughter Isabella skip away from him, her happy laughter filled the air. She had every reason to be joyful and excited, the school picnic was a few days away and the whole township of Lyttelton always looked forward to such an event. It was to take …
On 18th November 1874, town and country met with the opening of the Addington Saleyards. The birthplace of what would become the yards began in the early 1860’s with the building of the Carlton Hotel on the corner of the North Town Belt (Bealey Ave) and Papanui Road. Publican Alfred Money soon realised that most …
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, …
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 …
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. …
