In the early hours of the 18th September 1850, the passengers of the ‘Sir George Seymour’ – the third of our First Four Ships – heard one of the distress calls that no one at sea wants to hear. FIRE! It is not reported whether the watch-keeper (name of the male passengers who strolled the …
I can’t say whether Elizabeth Watts-Russell was one of those who laughed when the Ward brothers – Edward, Henry and Hamilton – chose Quail Island as the place to set up their farm. The brothers were well aware of the giggles happening around Lyttelton as they prepared to make their move. Edward – the eldest …
Charlotte Godley (wife of Christchurch’s founder John Robert Godley) didn’t miss a thing. During her short time in New Zealand, she observed and met some of the very early colourful characters of Canterbury. None escaped the fury of her pen when she wrote letters home to her mother in England. Mr. Mark Pringle Stoddard was …
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 …
Dr. A.C. Barker sought opportunities, fortune and we should be so grateful that he did.Born in Hackney, London in 1819, A.C. was a well established young doctor and surgeon. He couldn’t pass on the great opportunity of becoming the on board doctor on the ‘Charlotte Jane’ in 1850. This not only gave him free passage …
Nihil stile quod non honestum – Nothing is useful that is not honest – The Press – www.press.co.nz motto.So true. The Press are onto something!I was completely ecstatic to see this in the foyer of the new Press Building on Gloucester Street.This pillar displays the very first edition of The Press, dated 25th May 1861. …
Christchurch Cemeteries: Filling You In On Our Buried Past – John Charles (J.C.) Watts-Russell Date and Place of Birth: 1825 at Ilam Hall, Staffordshire, England Date and Place of Death: 2nd April 1875, Cathedral Square, Christchurch (after short severe illness) A Canterbury Association Settler: Arrived on the ‘Sir George Seymour’ – 17th December 1850 – …
Jesse Watts-Russell sure helped his son J.C. when he purchased for him 500 acres from the Canterbury Association for the new colony of Christchurch. 10 acres of this was in Lyttelton and the rest would become known as Ilam. 1850 would be a huge year for J.C.; he married Elizabeth Bradshaw and the newly weds …
