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First inhabitants - Moa Hunters
the first settlers in Christchurch were Moa hunters as early as 1000 AD. They cleared large areas of totara forest and by 1405 all Moa were extinct. -
European settlement
First European settlement was 1836-1839 -
Plan to settle Canterbury
In November 1847 John Robert Godley and Edward Gibbon Wakefield met to plan the Canterbury settlement. -
Canterbury was settled
Early in 1848 the Canterbury Association was formed, and it was decided to name the capital city Christchurch after the college John Godley (the founder of Canterbury) had gone to at Oxford University. -
First school opened
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selection days
1851 -
First shop opens on april 3 1851
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Canterbury declared a provence
On 30 June 1852 the New Zealand Constitution Act was passed in England. New Zealand was divided into six provinces, each with their own administration, including an elected Superintendent. -
Building the Lyttleton tunnel
The new Superintendent after Fitzgerald was William Sefton Moorhouse. Connecting the city and port was still a problem, and Moorhouse’s solution was to build a railway tunnel through the Port Hills to link Christchurch and Lyttelton. The Provincial Council finally agreed, and work began in 1860, coming to an early halt when harder than expected rock was struck during tunnelling. -
First hospital & Medical Association
Christchurch Hospital opened in 1862, and New Zealand’s first medical association was founded by Christchurch doctors in 1865. -
NZ's first rugby union formed
New Zealand’s first rugby union formed in Canterbury. Lancaster Park opened in 1881 -
Women's Christian Temperage Union
Women’s Christian Temperance Union formed. It became involved in the women’s suffrage campaign under the leadership of Kate Sheppard.