“What then was our astonishment at the panorama that opened before us as we pulled round the little point! Wide streets, neat houses, shops, stores, hotels, coffee rooms, emigration barracks, a neat seawall, and an excellent and convenient jetty, with vessels discharging their cargoes upon it, met our view; whilst a momentary ray of sunshine lit up the shingled roofs and the green hills in the background, until the whole place seemed to break into a bright triumphant smile at our surprise’. – 1851
C. Warren Adams (1828 – ?)
* Adams arrived in Lyttelton on 18th October 1851 aboard the ‘Canterbury’, the Canterbury Association’s 16th ship. Although he was bound to travel further on to Wellington, he took the time to explore Canterbury in depth, writing on the sights, history, moods and politics of the region at that time. His book was called ‘A Summer in the Canterbury Settlement’.
*Image of Lyttelton in 1851 is courtesy of the University of Wellington – http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz
