• Christchurch’s Derelict Giant Tied To First Four Ships – 1890

    William Derisley (W.D) Wood arrived in Christchurch on the ‘Randolph’, the second of our First Four Canterbury Association ships on the 16th December 1850. Family legend states that W.D. didn’t step on shore until the next day as it was going to be his 26th birthday. Being born into a family of millers, W.D’s destiny …

  • The First New Zealand Built Locomotive – 1st December 1889

    To coincide with the opening of New Zealand’s first railway – a line between Ferrymead and Christchurch city – the Canterbury Provincial Government also had railway workshops constructed at Addington in 1863. As our first locomotives were imported, these workshops carried out maintenance work on the engines, carriages and wagons. As Canterbury’s railway industry grew, …

  • Christchurch’s First Retail Owner Died – 28th March 1889

    On 28 March 1889, George Gould – Christchurch’s first general store owner – died in his ‘Hambledon’ property located on the corner of Bealey Ave and Springfield Road. He had built his fine home in 1856 and named it after the town where he was born. Sadly, this house collapsed during the quake on 22 …

  • World Champion Cyclist Plays It Up For Christchurch Camera – 1888

    Early in 1888, British born World Champion cyclist, Frederick Wood, stages a crash with his penny farthing for Alfred Ernest Preece, a Christchurch photographer. It is taken at Lancaster Park. For Christchurch born Preece, it could have been more about his love of cycles rather than his love of being behind the camera that lead …

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