POTATOES!!! This is what crosses my mind every time I drive along the Christchurch Southern Motorway and glance towards the Addington Raceway below. I have no idea where I read that the land there once was fields of potatoes but the thought has never left me. Inspired by The Press’ article about the Addington Raceway …
Thanks to what has been stolen by the earthquakes, it is really hard to recognise where this photo (top left) was taken…trust me, I was standing there and couldn’t believe the changes all around me and I knew the street well. Embedded into the very pavement is a plaque acknowledging the spot where the very …
The first time I read about the Hart family, my imagination was stirred! Here was this family fresh off the ‘Cressy’ struggling through the tussock of the Canterbury Plains (after tramping over the Bridle Path and punting across the Heathcote), squinting into the blazing setting sun. They stop for breath, the father looking at his …
From 1851 Dr. A.C. Barker had always had problems with others concerning his plot of land on the corner of Cathedral Square, where the former Government Life Building is awaiting to be demolished today. Nicknamed the ugliest building in Christchurch, it has never the less – since the 1960’s – cast its shadow over the …
I wonder if it was easier to go aboard one of the Canterbury Association ships alone to face the odds or did having your family with you lessen or increase the stress of immigration? I guess it is right to say that many people put everything on the line for a chance of something better…Canterbury …
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 …
Michael Branham Hart (1814 – 1878) Died of illness Place of Death: Christchurch Opened the first hotel/pub in Christchurch – The White Hart Hotel. Also served Christchurch as Mayor. Buried in the Barbadoes Street Cemetery, Christchurch The story of Michael Branham Hart (1814 – 1878): http://www.peelingbackhistory.co.nz/the-hart-family/ Photo taken by Annette Bulovic
The first time I read about the Hart family, my imagination was stirred! Here was this family fresh off the ‘Cressy’ struggling through the tussock of the Canterbury Plains (after tramping over the Bridle Path and punting across the Heathcote), squinting into the blazing setting sun. They stop for breath, the father looking at his …
On the right hand-side as you drive into the Riccarton Ave carpark of Hagley Park (by the tennis courts) sits this historical gem. The memorial tablet acknowledges the departure of John Robert Godley from New Zealand, the founder of Canterbury in 1852. This breakfast event was set up in a spacious marquee, catered by the …
Late 1851, in the middle of a sea of tussock, the Hart family stopped from their trek from Lyttelton and laid all their worldly belongings at their feet. A tent was soon erected and there the Hart family remained. By November 1851, a wooden building with stables was opened as the first hotel in Christchurch …
