…Done More For Colonization… – John Robert Godley

“I have been an active promoter of the Canterbury Association, and I now stand here to defend it on this ground alone, that is better than the Government.  For 12 years….Sir George Grey [the Governor of New Zealand and pictured here in 1861] and his predecessors have had nearly the whole of New Zealand under …

Christchurch’s First Christmas ~ 1848

On the 27th March 1848, the day the Canterbury Association was founded, the dream that was to become Christchurch was born.  Although at the time, the Port Cooper (Canterbury) Plains was just one of the options, by the month of December, it was almost a certainty. All throughout 1848, Canterbury Association surveyors began to replace …

Golden Fleece Corner

By the time Dr. A.C Barker pulled out his hand-gun, he had been pushed to breaking point. As he focused the weapon on the swaying drunk that was taking a rest against the packing crates that made up his home, the Doctor repeated his previous ignored request that the intruder should move on… and at …