“The road round the foot of the hills, and from Christchurch, was little better than a track with large holes here and large boulder stones there, in the middle of the road. The Ferry Road was not much more than wide enough for one carriage at a time, with deep ditches on both sides. From …
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 …
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 …
“Rode with Mr [John Robert] Godley over the hills to the Plains. Went first to Christchurch, where there are about 4 huts, 3 tents and a hovel or 2 – with about 25 persons in all…the [Canterbury] Association store, a surveyor’s hut are the principal buildings upon what may be some time a great city …
The wind whipped waving tussock of the Canterbury Plains can’t have made the surveyor’s job very easy. I can’t say whether the surveyors pushed their pegs into the ground by the use of tools or whether they just crouched down amongst the flaxy marsh and pushed them in by hand.Whatever happened, Edward Jollie and his …
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 Coat of Arms for the City of Christchurch, New Zealand. Was designed and adopted by the Christchurch City Council in 1949. A coat of arms is broken down into these things: A Crest, Torse, Escutcheon, Supporters, Compartment and a Motto. So, ready for the break down of this crest for the us common men …
Captain Joseph Thomas is easily the most forgotten man in Christchurch’s history. Born in 1803, Joseph was educated at the Royal Military College – so naturally he spent the beginning of his working life in the Army. He served in India and the West Indies, retiring in 1830. He travelled to South America where he …
Charleston surrounds the intersection of Charles Street and Grafton Crescent in Waltham. Charleston is a rather new name compared to the streets and the suburb it calls home. Born in the 1970’s, a few of the concerned residents watched as the industrial area of the city of Christchurch began to creep into their residential area. …
On the corner of Barbadoes and Salisbury Streets is an area now known as The Cambridge Green. A reserve of great historic significance.The home of the Ngai Tahu’s Puari Pa, it was a gathering place of foods such as eels, whitebait, native trout, grey and paradise ducks. During the 18th century, a great Maori wedding …
