Death On The Bridle Path

“…unusual fatigue, to which, in his praiseworthy endeavors to find a suitable spot on which to locate his family, the deceased had exposed himself…”     The Lyttelton Times    January 1851 John Williams was painfully aware that he, his wife Isabella and their 7 children only had a few days of grace at their first Canterbury lodgings …

William ‘Cabbage’ Wilson

William ‘Cabbage’ Wilson (1819 – 1897)         Died of old age    Place of Death: Christchurch Christchurch’s First Mayor. Buried in the Linwood Cemetery, Christchurch The story of William ‘Cabbage’ Wilson: http://www.peelingbackhistory.co.nz/william-barbour-wilson-cabbage-wilson-1819-1897/ Photo taken by Chris Bulovic

William Barbour Wilson – ‘Cabbage Wilson’ (1819 – 1897)

William Barbour Wilson was born in Kirkcudbrightshire in Scotland. He started off his adulthood as a nurseryman’s apprentice. He then moved to Ireland where he worked as an overseer for a few estates there. No one knows why he set his sights on New Zealand next. Maybe it was because New Zealand seemed a certain …

Charleston

Charleston surrounds the intersection of Charles Street and Grafton Crescent in Waltham. Charleston is a rather new name compared to the streets and the suburb it calls home. Born in the 1970’s, a few of the concerned residents watched as the industrial area of the city of Christchurch began to creep into their residential area. …