The Bridle Path symbolizes a lot of different things to many different people. As a Canterbury historian, my heart jumps in my ribcage every time I see it and I am not even a descendant of a family that walked over it 150 years ago. My British parents and older brothers would make the same …
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 …
Elizabeth Barker was the eldest daughter of Dr. A.C. Baker and his wife Emma. The Barkers arrived in Canterbury aboard the ‘Charlotte Jane’ on the 16th December 1850. Emma was pregnant with Elizabeth during the voyage. The couple already had three boys. Elizabeth was born on the morning of the 15th March 1851 under a …
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 …
The construction of Sumner Road had begun in 1849 under the instruction of Canterbury Association’s Chief Surveyor, Captain Joseph Thomas. When John Robert Godley arrived in April 1850, he halted the work as it was already causing the settlement to slip into debt. Where the road was stopped became known as Sticking Point or Windy …
