When Superintendent William Sefton Moorhouse approached Julius von Haast in 1860, he was hoping for a miracle. Just a newcomer to Canterbury, German born Julius was finding that life was taking him on a completely different road than he mapped out for himself before his arrival. There were no complaints from Julius though as he …
Harry Ell will always be remembered as a great lover of the Port Hills. Harry was born in Christchurch in 1862. He grew up on his parents’ farm in Halswell. From an early age, he became passionate about Christchurch’s natural heritage and its endangered species. It’s not hard to understand why his first job was …
As James Edward Fitzgerald sat in his over-sized dogcart while it was being transported across the Heathcote River by punt – he was feeling quite exhausted with Christchurch. He was fast approaching the end of his term as Superintendant and his health and temper would improve much due to that very fact. Beside and behind …
The memorial and reason for the naming of Victoria Park up on the Port Hills. The area was first chosen in 1870 but it took over 10 years before any development such as planting was done. William Moore lived on site by 1886 and was selling refreshments to the visitors venturing around the park. In …
What made William Boag walk from Lyttelton to Pigeon Bay to seek work straight off his ship in 1851, we may never know. Was it watching the hundreds of pilgrims pile over the Bridle Path, that made him take off in the opposite direction with no money, nothing going for him except the determination that …
