Henry Sewell could do amazing things with money and numbers – which made him more than a little unpopular! Henry’s father died when he was teenager and left a £3000 debt over the family from a collapsed banking project. Maybe this was when Henry’s number skills became prominent as he tackled the debt full on. …
The news of finding coal at Homebush had been pretty exciting for the Deans and all concerned. James McIlraith – Jane Deans’ half brother and manager of Homebush – and Julius van Haast – the founder of the Canterbury Museum – had made the discovery in the late 1870’s. Just two years later, a coal …
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 …
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 …
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 …
So, what happened once you got over The Bridle Path? In 1851, Thomas Hugh started the first ferry service across the Heathcote River. A small punt would be pulled by a few ropes across the water, carrying people, their worldy belongings and even at times, a coach and the horses too. Once across, a customs …
James Archibald McIlraith (1834 – 1903) Died of old age Place of Death: Rakaia Janes Deans’ half brother, manager of Homebush, behind the naming of Glentunnel Buried in Addington Cemetery, Christchurch The story of the James McIlraith: http://www.peelingbackhistory.co.nz/glentunnel-james-mcilraith-1834-1903/ Photo taken by Annette Bulovic
James McIlraith was the half brother of Jane Deans. He came to New Zealand with two of his brothers, Hugh and George from Scotland, to help Jane after the death of her husband (John Deans I) in 1854. He went on to manage Homebush even after his nephew John Deans II came of age and …
William Deans, Samuel Manson and Jimmy Robinson Clough had quite a journey to complete from the Sumner bar, down the Otakaro (the Avon River) and then on on to Putaringamotu (Riccarton) in 1841. When the party reached what is now the Barbadoes Street Bridge, by Oxford Terrace, they continued in a canoe as the Port …
Edward Gibbon Wakefield (1796 – 1862) could roll with the punches! Born in London, he was a politician who took a keen interest in colonisation, firstly with South Australia.Before all the drama started, Edward eloped with a very rich Eliza Pattle; his eyes not so fixed on his new bride but the £70,000 she came …
