The first time I heard about Ted d’Auvergne was from the comedian Billy Connolly during his New Zealand tour so I was chuffed to come across the story again as it was a great one. “Froggie” as his mates would call him, was born in Rangiora in 1906. His french ancestors arrived in Akaroa in …
It is unclear what kind of ship it was that Jimmy Quinn deserted off the coast of North Island that day in 1839. Most likely a whaling ship, Jimmy had decided he wanted out and disappeared into the bush of Tpiriri (Bay of Islands). It isn’t known how long he wandered around for but he …
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 …
At the intersection of Judges Street and Vincent Place in Opawa once stood a small Pa – an outpost of the mighty Ngai Tahu’s northern Kaikai-a-waro (Kaiapoi) Pa. It was called Opawaho.The last chief of Opawaho was Turakipo, and he fell in love with Hineao whose father – Te Ake – was a chief over …
The names of Rhodes and Barker, for Canterbury historians and alike, represent a delicious smorgasbord of old photos, journals, homesteads, memorials and real-life colourful characters who made the swamps and Toi Toi of Canterbury their home. The Rhodes Brothers – William, George and Robert – had settled on Banks Peninsula – from Akaroa in the …
The Weeping Willows of Christchurch has such a lovely sound to it 
By the Avon in Victoria Square, the story of Canterbury’s Weeping Willows are told on this plaque, a nearby Willow it seems standing guard 
François Lelievre was born in Les Parlierre, France around the year of 1811. He grew up on …
