It doesn’t take much imagination to picture the first meeting of The Canterbury Association on the 27th March 1848. The chosen room at 41 Charing Cross, London began to fill with some of the well known names and faces of the British upper class; gentlemen of the church, noble families, rank and money, some of …
*image courtesy of http://christchurchcitylibraries.com*
Cyril Julian Mountford was the second son of famed Canterbury architect Benjamin Mountfort. Following in his father’s footsteps, Cyril unfortunately never branched away from Benjamin’s type of style, his work mirroring Benjamin’s a great deal. When Benjamin died in 1898, Cyril took over his practise and finished the projects at that time, including the Canterbury …
You couldn’t have had two closer friends than J.C. (pictured) and Alfred. The grew up together as their fathers were friends, owned land together, married the same women, travelled together and are even buried in the same cemetery in Upper Riccarton, Christchurch. It’s the land these men owned that puts them on the map…the suburb …
This great photo was in The Press last year (2012)! The Government Life Insurance Building, dubbed the ‘ugliest building in Christchurch’ was demolished by CERA due to quake damage. This photo was taken during its construction in 1962. The site of the Government Life Insurance building once belonged to pioneer doctor and artist/photographer Dr. A.C. …
Christchurch…you will always be a charming city…come what may xxx *Photo taken by Steffano Webb in 1916*
Bishop Henry James Chitty Harper was the first Bishop of Canterbury. He started his religious career as the Chaplin of Eton and then was the Vicar of Stratfield Mortimer in Berkshire. It was there that he was approached by Bishop George Augustus Selwyn (who was the Bishop of New Zealand) who asked him to become …
Here is a great example of why I walk along and read every gravestone I come across. Found this fellow at St Peter’s Anglican Church in Upper Riccarton and his name made me pause for a moment longer. Randolph Theodore Chaney was born on 10th September, 1850 at Bay of Biscay aboard the “Randolph” on …
On the 25th January 1855, Wellington experienced a city changing 8.2 earthquake which was felt county-wide. Jane Deans writes: “One the 25th of January (1855) we had a severe shock of a earthquake, the worst I had felt till then. It did a great deal of damage to Nelson and Wellington, though not so much …
Our First Four Ships carried more than just settlers; they brought books, teachers, chaplains and church bells. The bell from the Charlotte Jane eventually found its home at St Michael and all Angels on Oxford Terrace.In 1851, a gathering of the Anglican settlers began on the church site in a V hut. This simple place …
