“It is a far cry from the ancient cathedral cities of the Old Land, hoary with years and traditions, to a busy Colonial town, raised in little more than half a century, in the midst of a tussock-covered plain. Yet, as the years roll by, something, perchance, of the stately repose of Salisbury, or of Chichester, may attach itself to our Cathedral City of the South. The story of its beginning is a story of the high resolves and great achievements of earnest, religious men in the early Victorian age. They dreamed of a new settlement to be peopled by sons and daughters of the Church of England, a chosen band, to Pioneer the cause of religion and education in the vast unoccupied territories of the Southern Seas. In imagination, no doubt, they saw something of the future of these un-peopled lands, the teeming population to come, and the danger that in the struggle and turmoil of colonisation some of the better attributes of civilisation might be left behind. How far the dream of this little band of pilgrims was realised, how far their noble ambitions were fulfilled, we shall see as we proceed, but whether there has been success or failure, the glow of inspiration still remains, and beyond the plain, no longer a sea of tussock, we yet may see the snowy mountains in the distance”.
Henry F. Wigram – 1916
*Christchurch Mayor 1902 – 1904
*Aviation Promoter
*Co-Founder in the Royal New Zealand Air Force
