The Christchurch Tramway Board, the Christchurch Drainage Board, Waimairi County Council and the Lyttelton Harbour Board I’m sure kept Wilfred John Walter very, very busy! He did find the time and seized the opportunity to name the area that would be known as the suburb of Mairehau. He named the area after Mrs. Rose Mairehau …
The building that houses the Dux de Lux – pre earthquakes – has always been the gem of Montreal Street; I’m sure since it was built in 1883. It takes a lot to stand out amongst the grandeur of the neighbouring Arts Centre. For its architect – Francis William Petre – this domestic project was …
Jabez Thornton arrived at Lyttelton on the ‘Charlotte Jane’ on the 16th December 1850. He was 32 years old and was on his own. A Carpenter by trade, he married Mary Coster on the 16th September 1852. As there was no church at Lyttelton at that stage, they were married in a temporary church. They …
Phillip Hill must have been a pretty ‘bad boy’ to have been disinherited by his father, John Hill Senior. Luckily for Phillips’ sons – John Jnr. and James – the disinheritance only went as far as their father.John Hill Senior actually went all out and beyond to make sure his grandsons had the best chance …
Here is Mrs. Kathleen Scott meeting one of the Manchurian Ponies that was heading down to the snow in 1910. Quail Island in Lyttelton Harbour was used as a training area for breaking in and getting these little sturdy fellas ready for the race to the South Pole. As a side note, Mrs Scott went …
Excited and enthusiastic supporters keep the Terra Nova company as it carries Captain Robert Scott and his crew out to the Lyttelton Heads on its way to Antarctica and the race to the South Pole in 1910. How bittersweet this image is now that we know how fateful this adventure would end up being. Scott …
To look at him, you would never guess that he was born in India! It was only his health that caused him to look for a cooler climate and Christchurch looked good! Sent to England for his schooling, John returned to India to work as a civil servant. He married Elizabeth Wall while in England …
Many of the early settlers just kept going past the area of St Albans. It wasn’t just the extremely boggy land, but the 10 foot or so toi toi was also a great deterent! If that wasn’t enough for some, the horse and buggy that disappeared in the mud never to be seen again was …
Road making somewhere on Banks Peninsula in 1908. *Image courtesy of Rural Livestock Lyd Canterbury*
The Treaty of Waitangi in uber size at the Beehive in Wellington. It was a very cool thing to see up close but most of us really don’t know about the events before this historical document came into being. Figured I would start from the beginning: * 1000 – 1200 AD: Kupe, a great Polynesian …
