Henry Sewell could do amazing things with money and numbers – which made him more than a little unpopular! Henry’s father died when he was teenager and left a £3000 debt over the family from a collapsed banking project. Maybe this was when Henry’s number skills became prominent as he tackled the debt full on. …
Edward Jerningham Wakefield (1820-1879) had a lot going for him – he really had the world laid out before him. Born to Edward Gibbon Wakefield and Eliza Pattle in London, he became a member of a family that made colonising New Zealand a family business! Jerningham (as I will call him to save confusion with …
It never seemed to occur to Charlotte Godley that staying behind in England was an understandable option. After all, her husband, John Robert Godley was not to be away in New Zealand for more than 3 years. Charlotte Griffith Wynne was born in North Wales in 1821. One of eight children in a well-to-do family, …
John Robert Godley was a man who everyone seemed to have an opinion about. One man would say “he was a King amongst men’ where another called him ‘a whale in a duck pond’. Both descriptions paint an image of the man who founded Christchurch. Born in Dublin in 1814, he grew up in the …
As the citizens of Christchurch went about their business at the Land Office (which is now a part of the Canterbury Provincial Chambers), upstairs, in a very small room sat four of our founding fathers, squished in side by side behind a small table. They were John Robert Godley (founder of Canterbury), Mark Stoddart (first …
Charles Obins Torlesse (1825 – 1866) Died of illness Place of Death: Stoke By Nayland, England Early Canterbury Surveyor, nephew of Edward Gibbon Wakefield Buried in the township of Stoke By Nayland, England The story of the Torlesse Family: http://www.peelingbackhistory.co.nz/charles-obins-torlesse-1825-1866/ Photo taken by Peter French
Edward Gibbon Wakefield (1796 – 1862) could roll with the punches! Born in London, he was a politician who took a keen interest in colonisation, firstly with South Australia.Before all the drama started, Edward eloped with a very rich Eliza Pattle; his eyes not so fixed on his new bride but the £70,000 she came …
