THE LEVELS AND TIMARU

Just this past weekend (3rd Jan 2015) Chris and I took a delightful drive to Timaru to soak up some history that I have wanted to see since learning about the pioneering, Rhodes brothers. Here’s a short summary of their story: The Rhodes and Waitaha (Canterbury) were first introduced in 1836 when the whaling Captain …

The Rhodes Brothers

William Barnard Rhodes (1807 – 1878) was the eldest of his 13 siblings and the first to arrive in New Zealand out of his 5 brothers! As Captain and co-owner of the ship ‘Harriet’, William saw a lot of the world. In 1836, while employed by the firm of Cooper and Levy, William sailed into …

What An Event!!!!

I can never look at a view of our beautiful Lyttelton Harbour without looking for the ‘Charlotte Jane’ to come sailing around the corner of the heads – just like she would have done on the 16th December 1850, carrying the first of our Anglican settlers. So would have loved to have seen that historic …

Good Pioneer Friends

The names of Rhodes and Barker, for Canterbury historians and alike, represent a delicious smorgasbord of old photos, journals, homesteads, memorials and real-life colourful characters who made the swamps and Toi Toi of Canterbury their home. The Rhodes Brothers – William, George and Robert – had settled on Banks Peninsula – from Akaroa in the …