Lancaster Park

A new colony in New Zealand?  A place they are going to call Canterbury? How fascinating!  This was Benjamin Lancaster’s thoughts as he handed £150 over to the Canterbury Association in 1850.  This opened the door to Canterbury for Benjamin in the form of land, even though he had no intention of moving his life …

The Olliviers

It was late 1853 when the Ollivier family stepped off the ‘John Taylor’ to seize all the opportunities that were on offer in Canterbury and that they did, for generations to come. John Ollivier, the head of the family, was a publisher by trade.  After receiving the best education in France, the British born teenager …