In January 1850, a shipment of wood from Tasmania arrives at Lyttelton. A jetty and 4 immigration barracks are built – ready for the arrival of the first ships due later that same year. One of the builders was Joseph Johnston who went on to build the first school house that became Christ College and …
“So, how was your journey?” A mural that accompanies Pilgrims Rock at Lyttelton, acknowledging that the first jetty that eas built at this site. All the settlers that came off the first ships to Canterbury walked down this jetty and to their uncertain futures. *Photo taken by Chris Bulovic*
References to our past are everywhere, you just have to look. The Randolph Motel Apartments on Papanui Road complete with a image of the ‘Randolph’, one of the first four ships to arrive in Lyttelton in 1850. *Photo taken by Annette Bulovic*
W.D Woods arrived in Christchurch on the “Randolph’, one of the first four ships on the 16th December 1850. Legend states that W.D. didn’t step on shore until the next day, his 26th birthday. Being born into a family of millers, W.D Woods fate was set. Wood’s first job in Christchurch was being secretary to …
John Robert Godley was a man who everyone seemed to have an opinion about. One man would say “he was a King amongst men’ where another called him ‘a whale in a duck pond’. Both descriptions paint an image of the man who founded Christchurch. Born in Dublin in 1814, he grew up in the …
Here are the foundations of the house built for John Robert Godley, his wife Charlotte, their 3 year old son Arthur and two servants at Lyttelton – not very big huh? In 1940, this was covered up with a new building for Plunket. The house was built for Godley in 1850 and in the months …
Just a year after the first four ships arrived, it came apparent that Canterbury needed a gaol! What was to be a perfect new colony soon was tainted by the nature of man. So Lyttelton Gaol was opened in 1851, designed by Benjamin Woolfield Mountford (also designed the Cathedral and Museum) and built by the …
Pilgrims Rock at Lyttelton, marking the spot where the Canterbury Settlers first set foot on their new land. It was unveiled in 1934 by The Lyttelton District Community Arts Council. During the re-enactment ceremony, a large red flag was lowered to half-mast at the Time-Ball Station indicating a ship (The Charlotte Jane) was approaching. The …
Walpole Fendall arrived in Christchurch on the Sir George Seymour, one of the first four ships. From England, his father had purchased an 50 acre block for Walpole which he subdivided quickly. With a road already going through his land (now Fendalton Road) and with the development of housing, it soon became known as Fendall …
On the right hand-side as you drive into the Riccarton Ave carpark of Hagley Park (by the tennis courts) sits this historical gem. The memorial tablet acknowledges the departure of John Robert Godley from New Zealand, the founder of Canterbury in 1852. This breakfast event was set up in a spacious marquee, catered by the …
