As the First Four ships sat at anchor in Lyttelton Harbour that warm December 1850, rural section 6 sat waiting for its owner to make it into something wonderful. Business partners Charles Weatherby and Henry Gordon had intended to be part of the first wave of settlers to Canterbury but their names were never on …
“I thought it [The Port Hills] very beautiful. It is volcanic, brown and dry – intervals of crumbling soil, then wiry tussock of the very hardest grass. Then perhaps a flax bush, more crumbly dry soil mixed with fine grass, then more tussock. Volcanic Rock everywhere cropped out sometimes red and soft, sometimes black and …
Samuel Butler was born in Nottinghamshire, England to Rev. Thomas Butler and Fanny Worsley. From the beginning it was to be an unhappy family. A bright little spark, Samuel was at first home schooled. He would later state that daily beatings accompanied the teachings from his father. He later went to school at Cambridge and …
I came across this by accident but was delighted! I so enjoyed researching and writing my post about this author – Samuel Butler. He spent a few years of his life living in Canterbury and always had fond memories of the region and the many friends he had here. The Canterbury Branch of the New …
“…nothing said about the Pilgrim mothers? Yet, they bore the same discomforts, hardships and privation and in addition had to put up with the Pilgrim fathers.” Mary Rolleston – Woman’s Division of the Farmer’s Union – Year Unknown As the bells of The Holy Trinity of Avonside tolled over the eastern side of Christchurch – …
Even in William’s early life, he dreamt of being elsewhere. Born in Yorkshire, the 9th child of the family, he grew up to say he wanted ‘a freer life.’William became a tutor, saving up his wages for his voyage to Canterbury, arriving in Lyttelton in 1858. He turned down a job working in a office …
James Fitzgerald is known for starting “The Press” and William Moorhouse is known for bringing the railway to Christchurch (Ferrymead to Christchurch city) and New Zealand. What is also well known is that the two did not like each other and Fitzgerald used ‘The Press’ to express his own views on worldly things and hopefully …
As the bells of the Holy Trinity of Avonside tolled over the eastern side of Christchurch, the parishioners made their way to church. Amongst them were two good friends: the promising writer, Samuel Butler, and budding politician William Rolleston. These two would have made their way to church – by foot or horseback – quite …
