As the First Four ships sat at anchor in Lyttelton Harbour that warm December 1850, rural section 6 sat waiting for its owner to make it into something wonderful. Business partners Charles Weatherby and Henry Gordon had intended to be part of the first wave of settlers to Canterbury but their names were never on …
When the Deans’ original run of 33,000 acres were taken down to 400 acres in 1850 – to make way for the city of Christchurch to be built – the Deans’ ended up sitting snug between Clyde Road, Deans Ave, Blenheim Road and Fendalton Ave. In 1851 as well as Riccarton Bush (which swept across …
Hon. Sir John Hall (1824 – 1907) Died of old age Place of Death: Hororata, Canterbury *Member of the Canterbury Provincial Council – 1853 – 1876 *Colonial Secretary of New Zealand – 1856 *Prime Minister of New Zealand – 1879 – 1882 *Mayor of Christchurch – 1906 – 1907 Buried at St John’s …
When Mrs. Jane Smith breezed into The Oxford Hotel that February day in 1901, she had more baggage with her than just her physical luggage. She was a pretty young woman and knew it, her eyes scanning the tavern before her with a poker-faced bemusement. Even though she had telephoned ahead before her arrival, she …
Tucked away on the left hand side, as you head west on Yaldhurst Road and as the last of the houses give way to the paddocks of the Canterbury Plains, stands a monument to the working horse, to which without, man would have never tamed the wildness of Canterbury. From the very beginning, the horse …
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 …
“For my part I am so happy in my dear dear home I should never care to stroll out and never enjoy my evenings half so much when a third person comes to interrupt our cosy tete a tete. Although my dear husband is not much given to talk on these occasions and is generally …
The racket and stink of hundreds of livestock rambling down Yaldhurst Road would make those who lived close by stay inside! Cattle, sheep, and even pigs headed down to the Addington Stockyards on Deans Ave like this for decades – causing such a trying time for residents that the Riccarton Road Board was formed mainly …
There is very little about the earliest days of Scarborough or who named it as such. What follows is the puzzle I have put together with the few clues left me. George Rhodes arrived at Lyttelton Harbour in 1843 to become an overseer and partner of his elder brother – William Barnard Rhodes – who …
“Captain Thomas [Canterbury Association’s Chief Surveyor] has fixed on this place as the site of the Canterbury settlement. He goes to Port Nicholson [Wellington] in a few days to forward his report to the Association and make arrangements for proceeding with the survey. The river up which we now bring our supplies is to be …
