Canterbury’s First School – Christ’s College

Rev. Henry Jacobs was under no illusion. He knew that there would be no church or school awaiting him upon his arrival in Canterbury but like any man of great faith, with his words and actions aboard the ‘Sir George Seymour’ would make one think a Cathedral awaited him. Henry had been promised work by …

St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church

On the last Sunday of October 1853, in a small carpentry shop in Cashel Street, owned by James Johnston, a small group of Scottish Presbyterian settlers gathered together.  Among them were John and Jane Deans.  Not only was this an historic day for the Anglican based Canterbury but it was a day of reflection and …

TAI TAPU – William Barnard Rhodes (1807 – 1878)

The view of Waitaha (Canterbury Plains) from the top of the Te Poho o Tamatea (Port Hills) in the late 1830’s wouldn’t be hard to imagine – swamp, grass, cabbage trees, flax and Toi Toi. Was it a place where a future could begin for someone not afraid of hard work? William Barnard Rhodes (pictured) …