Christchurch Cemeteries: Filling You In On Our Buried Past – Bishop Henry James Chitty Harper Date and Place of Birth: 9th January 1804 at Hampshire, England Date and Place of Death: 28th December 1893 at Bishopscourt, Christchurch. Roles in Early Canterbury and New Zealand: * 1st Anglican Bishop of Canterbury – 1856 to 1890 * …
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 …
Henry John Tancred had a career that would make anyone’s head spin!!! Born in the Isle of Wight in 1814, Henry became an officer in the Austrian Army. In 1848, he had a nasty fall from his horse which left him mildly handicapped. He took his sick leave in England and it was there that …
John Barton Arundel Acland was born in Devon, England. After the best of education, John followed his father’s footsteps and became a lawyer. Through a fellow colleague, Charles George Tripp, John met some of the big names of The Canterbury Association including Christchurch’s founder John Robert Godley. Liking what they were hearing about Canterbury, the …
Bishop Henry James Chitty Harper was the first Bishop of Canterbury. He started his religious career as the Chaplin of Eton and then was the Vicar of Stratfield Mortimer in Berkshire. It was there that he was approached by Bishop George Augustus Selwyn (who was the Bishop of New Zealand) who asked him to become …
December 16, 1864 was a very special day for Canterbury, for two very good reasons. Firstly, it was the 14th anniversary of the arrival of the Canterbury Association’s First Four Ships – the Charlotte Jane, the Randolph, the Sir George Seymour (arrived 17 Dec) and the Cressy (arrived 27 Dec). Secondly, the cornerstone of what …
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 …
