As the Bealey brothers – Samuel and John – made the most of their sea voyage to Lyttelton in 1851, they shared their ship, the ‘Cornwall’ with the Moorhouse brothers – William, Benjamin and Thomas – totally unaware how together, they would make Canterbury history. Samuel (pictured) was born in Lancashire, England in 1821. He …
As James Edward Fitzgerald sat in his over-sized dogcart while it was being transported across the Heathcote River by punt – he was feeling quite exhausted with Christchurch. He was fast approaching the end of his term as Superintendant and his health and temper would improve much due to that very fact. Beside and behind …
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 …
I get the feeling that William Sefton Moorhouse drew in very deep breaths and rolled his eyes more than once when it came to dealing with his government colleagues. The man never seemed to put his roots down for long, in fact he would drop everything to chase a dream or an idea. He seemed …
As a Management Committee member for the Canterbury Association, I’m sure Henry Le Cren felt a sense of achievement as he made his way down the jetty from the ‘Barbara Gordon” with all his worldly belongings. His cousin John Longden was with him – what an adventure to be in Canterbury, especially with the first …
Edward Jerningham Wakefield (1820-1879) had a lot going for him – he really had the world laid out before him. Born to Edward Gibbon Wakefield and Eliza Pattle in London, he became a member of a family that made colonising New Zealand a family business! Jerningham (as I will call him to save confusion with …
James Fitzgerald is known for starting “The Press” and William Moorhouse is known for bringing the railway to Christchurch (Ferrymead to Christchurch city) and New Zealand. What is also well known is that the two did not like each other and Fitzgerald used ‘The Press’ to express his own views on worldly things and hopefully …
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 …
The history of Merivale or should I say Merevale, isn’t a clear one. There are 3 tales that compete to be fact, all quite different but I was glad to find out that 2 of these stories had a place where they met and this is how maybe the confusion happened. Charlotte Jackson arrived in …
