There would have been no hope for this old ledger if it hadn’t been behind glass at the Canterbury Museum. A ledger of land purchased up to the 30th April 1868 – section numbers, purchaser’s surnames, where and what acreage. Some names just jumped out of the page at me, I was so buzzing that …
On 20th March 1837, German whaler, Captain George Hempleman started up his whaling station at Piraki Bay(now known as Peraki and original French spelling), Banks Peninsula for the Australian firm of ‘Clayton and Duke’. He and his brave men were the first Europeans to make a permanent go of things, against incredible odds. Hempleman was …
