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Canterbury’s First Dramatic Production – 23rd July 1857
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 …
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Canterbury’s First Presbyterian Church Opened – 1st February 1857
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 …
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Historic Peacock’s Wharf Was Built – 1857
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. …
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Duncan Cotterill Opened – 1857
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 …
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