When the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 was established, New Zealand was split up into six provinces. Each province was its own sub-government and these were built around the six original settlements. The Canterbury Province sat between the Hurunui and Waitaki River and stretched right over to the West Coast. At the head was a …
The construction of Sumner Road had begun in 1849 under the instruction of Canterbury Association’s Chief Surveyor, Captain Joseph Thomas. When John Robert Godley arrived in April 1850, he halted the work as it was already causing the settlement to slip into debt. Where the road was stopped became known as Sticking Point or Windy …
On 23rd July 1857, two hundred Cantabs, from all over the Province, crammed into the Lyttelton Town Hall to watch Canterbury’s first dramatic presentation. With the actors and actresses introduced by producer Mr. Foley, a grand production followed of ‘The Loan of a Lover’ and ‘Betsy Baker’. Recalling the loud applause of that evening, a …
In 1986, the first Presbyterian church in Canterbury – St Andrews – was moved from Hospital Corner (the intersections of Riccarton and Hagley Aves, Oxford Terrace, Tuam and Antigua Streets) to Rangi Ruru Girls High School. The first Presbyterian service in Canterbury was held on the last Sunday of October 1853, in a small carpentry …
Whatever the season, no matter the conditions, watching John Jenkins Peacock wading into the waters at Lyttelton Harbour was a very common sight to those who first made the Port home. Working as a Merchant and Trader, he would go into the frigid waters with heavy sacks of produce stretched out across his huge shoulders. …
In 1857, Canterbury founded law firm Duncan Cotterill was opened in Lyttelton by Thomas Smith Duncan (pictured). Duncan, a Scottish lawyer by trade, started his Canterbury life as a bit of a rascal, having fled his homeland with a young charge of his employer. They ran away together to the village of Gretna Green and …
Miss Ann Bowen, at the age of 44, it seems, wasn’t afraid of a new adventure. She boarded the ‘Charlotte Jane’ – the Canterbury Association’s first ship with her brother and his family to start a new life in Canterbury. She was also determined to lead her own life – taking up her own land …
On the 25th December 1856, at the Christmas Day service at Christ’s Church (St Michael and All Angels), Chaplin Henry John Chitty Harper became the first Canterbury Anglican Bishop, ordained by Bishop George Augustus Selwyn, the Bishop of New Zealand. Consecrated by Dr. Henry Bird Sumner, the Archbishop of Canterbury and Canterbury Association member, he …
On 15th March 1856, 12 gentlemen farmers founded The Christchurch Club. Referred to as ‘The Club’ at first, it started its life in a leased building in Durham Street. Benjamin Woolfield Mountfort drew up a design for a clubhouse which resulted in the building of their pre-earthquake location at 154 Worchester Street in 1863 – …
“…it seems to have been a perilous proceeding; the horses had to be led with great care, and even then could not keep their feet. My husband’s [John Robert Godley] fell, and very nearly upon him.” – 8th April 1850 Charlotte Godley, the wife of Canterbury’s founder, John Robert Godley, never forgot her numerous treks …
