On 1st November 1890, Richmond joined the Greater Christchurch and came under the care of the C.C.C. It was the first borough to do so outside the main Town Belts (our main four Avenues).
Hungarian settler, Morice Bing bought 200 acres just north of the Avon River (near Stanmore Road) in the early 1860s. He turned his land into a sheep farm and became an expert at classing wool at the Addington Stockyards. When Bing began to sell off his land, the area became known as Bingsland – the term first appearing in the papers in 1869.
Bingsland resident, Joseph John Anderson was a civil servant who also served as a member of the Christchurch East School (pictured) Committee. When this new educational district opened, a name change to ‘Richmond’ was suggested by Anderson as the name was more ‘…high-sounding and classic…’ than Bingsland.
The name change became official on 28 June 1882.
*image courtesy of The Canterbury Public Library – http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/
