Christchurch Cathedral – The Heart Of Our City

It doesn’t take much imagination to picture the first meeting of The Canterbury Association on the 27th March 1848.  The chosen room at 41 Charing Cross, London began to fill with some of the well known names and faces of the British upper class; gentlemen of the church, noble families, rank and money, some of …

CHRISTCHURCH & CANTERBURY – Edward Gibbon Wakefield (1796 – 1862) John Robert Godley (1814 – 1861)

So, what are cities built on? Before all the politically correct answers start rolling through your mind, the answer is much simpler than that…a city is built on a dream. Edward Gibbon Wakefield (Owner of the New Zealand Company) and John Robert Godley (pictured) shared the same dream. In 1848, they founded the Canterbury Association …

The Canterbury Association Formed – 27th March 1848

As Edward Gibbon Wakefield – the director of the New Zealand Company – was recovering from a stroke at Malvern, England, he got chatting with a new up and coming colonisation promoter who was beginning to make a name for himself. His name was John Robert Godley and this meeting was the birth of the …