Walpole Fendall arrived in Christchurch on the Sir George Seymour, one of the first four ships. From England, his father had purchased an 50 acre block for Walpole which he subdivided quickly. With a road already going through his land (now Fendalton Road) and with the development of housing, it soon became known as Fendall …
For those who knew Martin Cash (pictured) well, I’m sure no one was more surprised than Martin himself when he looked down to see his newly acquired police badge. Whether pride was felt that day, only Martin could answer that. How he continued to carry on his life shows us that if pride was felt …
On the right hand-side as you drive into the Riccarton Ave carpark of Hagley Park (by the tennis courts) sits this historical gem. The memorial tablet acknowledges the departure of John Robert Godley from New Zealand, the founder of Canterbury in 1852. This breakfast event was set up in a spacious marquee, catered by the …
Legend has it that this was the first flushable toilet in Canterbury!!! Of course, more modern now than when first built by the Rhodes brothers at Purau Bay in Lyttelton Harbour in 1853. A HUGE thank you to Chris Gardiner who welcomed me onto his earthquake shattered Purau property that has been in his family …
On the 16th December 1930, this stone memorial was built around a natural spring that the first settlers used for water – just a few metres from Settler’s Corner in Hagley Park. You can find it along the Kate Sheppard Memorial Walk in the Botanic Gardens. It acknowledges the 80th anniversary of the arrival of …
I can’t begin to fathom how surreal the afternoon/evening of the 16th December 1850 would have been for the Deans brothers. Especially as they may have stood in the doorway of the Deans Cottage while the shrieks and shouts of two stripped down male settlers splashed about in the Avon River – their echoes adding …
Was very surprised to come across this memorial plaque on a seat in Victoria Square. I had seen the graves of Stephen and Rebecca Brooker in Addington Cemetery and knew their story. It goes like this: William Free was just 10 years old when he arrived in Lyttelton on the “Cressy”. 10 or so days …
The Weeping Willows of Christchurch has such a lovely sound to it 😉 By the Avon in Victoria Square, the story of Canterbury’s Weeping Willows are told on this plaque, a nearby Willow it seems standing guard 🙂 François Lelievre was born in Les Parlierre, France around the year of 1811. He grew up on …
There was no way to get a great photo of this but gotta get points for trying right? On Fairfield Ave in Addington, they have built a replica of Christchurch’s earliest brick drainage systems. Christchurch was the first city in New Zealand to have this in the 1880’s. At the time, the city was being …
Rev. Octavius Mathias 1805 – 1864 Buried in Barbadoes Street Cemetery, Christchurch Read the story of Rev. Octavius Mathias: http://www.peelingbackhistory.co.nz/octavius-mathias/ *Photo taken by Annette Bulovic*
