Tauhinu Korokio was the site of an Ngati Mamoe Pa. It was a superior location due to its 360 degree views, its amble wood supply and many water springs. The name came from two native shrubs that grew on what we now call Mt Pleasant. When the Ngai Tahu battled and won over the Nagti …
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 …
Affectionately known as ‘Mutton Chops’ because of his bushy sideburns, Frederick arrived at Lyttelton in 1852. There is not a lot about him until 1867 when he bought property and built a fine home he called ‘Yaldhurst’ – the name of his Uncle’s property in Exeter, England. He had returned home to England twice during …
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 …
On the 30th December 1850, surveyor Charles O. Torlesse chained and pegged the first road to the Canterbury Plains – from this point at Church Corner, Upper Riccarton – opposite Countdown. Named Harewood Road, it was from this road that sections began to be sold to the settlers. The term Yaldhurst began to be used …
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 …
William Sefton Moorhouse (1825 – 1881) Died of Diabetic Sepsis Place of Death: Wellington Served as Canterbury Superintendent 1857 – 1863 & 1866 – 1868, behind the naming of suburb Spreydon. Buried in St Peter’s Anglican Church Cemetery, Christchurch The story of William Sefton Moorhouse: http://www.peelingbackhistory.co.nz/spreydon-william-sefton-moorhouse-1825-1881/ Photo taken by Annette Bulovic
The area that we now know as the suburb of Spreydon was first owned by Augustus Moore who named it after his family’s land back in Ireland in 1853. Some reports stated that he farmed his land but he is remembered today as a brewer, running a drinking establishment named the ‘Spreydon Arms’ which was …
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 …
