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1500
Ngati Māmoe and Ngāi Tahu in Canterbury
The first people to live in the place now known as Christchurch were moa hunters, who probably arrived there as early as AD 1000. The hunters cleared large areas of mataī and tōtara forest by fire and by about 1450 the moa had been killed off. North Island Māori (Ngati Māmoe and later Ngāi Tahu) arrived in Canterbury between 1500 and 1700. The remaining moa hunters were killed or taken into the tribes. -
Captain Cook’s contact on Banks Peninsula
Lieutenant James Cook concluded that the land he had sighted was an island and named it after the expedition's botanist, Joseph Banks. The mistake was not realised until 1809, when Captain Samuel Chase of the Pegasus tried to sail between Banks 'Island' and the Canterbury mainland. -
Sailors and Captain Bligh landed on Banks Peninsula
It was probably not until 1815 when sailors from the sealing ship Governor Bligh landed that Europeans first set foot on Banks Peninsula. -
The settlements of Europeans in Canterbury
Captain William Rhodes first visited in 1836. He came back in 1839 and landed a herd of 50 cattle near Akaroa. The first attempt at settling on the plains was made by James Herriot of Sydney. He arrived with two small groups of farmers in April 1840. Their first crop was successful, but a plague of rats made them decide to leave. In August 1840 Captain Owen Stanley of the Britomart raised the British flag at Akaroa, just before the arrival of sixty-three French colonists on the Comte de Paris. -
Flax Trade of Captain Wiseman on Port Cooper
1827 Captain William Wiseman, a flax trader, named the harbour (now known as Lyttelton Harbour) Port Cooper, after one of the owners of the Sydney trading firm, Cooper & Levy. -
Settlement at Akaroa establishment by the French
It has been suggested that French’s interest in New Zealand speeded up Britain's decision to annex New Zealand. By the time French settlers arrived, the Treaty of Waitangi between the British Crown and Māori chiefs had been signed. On 11 December 1839 King Louis-Philippe approved an agreement whereby the Government undertook to provide transport for 80 colonists who would found a French settlement at Akaroa, now renamed Port Louis-Philippe. -
Treaty of Waitangi
The Treaty of Waitangi is a document of central importance to the history of New Zealand. The treaty document is an agreement, not a treaty as recognised in international law, and has no independent legal status, being legally effective only to the extent it is recognised in various statutes. It was first signed on 6 February 1840 by Captain William Hobson as consul for the British Crown and by Māori chiefs (rangatira) from the North Island of New Zealand. -
How Ngāi Tahu lost their land
Ngāi Tahu sold their lands to the Crown in a series of nine purchases. The largest of these was the Canterbury purchase of 1848, negotiated by Henry Tacy Kemp, which saw 20 million acres (about 8 million hectares) sold for £2,000. -
First 4 ships arrived at Port Cooper
The ships stayed in the port at Lyttelton for several weeks while goods were unloaded. The passengers from the ships stayed in the Immigration Barracks, in tents, or V-huts (basic huts built quickly and simply). The first ‘selection days’ to ballot sections of land in the new towns were held in February 1851. The most popular town sections at first were those in Lyttelton. Gradually the new arrivals moved over the Port Hills to Christchurch, and the town there grew. -
The Pioneering Dean’s Family settling in Riccarton (Bush)
William and John Deans emigrated to New Zealand from Scotland in 1840 and 1842 respectively. They decided to settle on the Canterbury Plains in 1843. Settling near the bush at Putaringamotu, the Deans renamed their area of settlement Riccarton after their home area in Ayrshire, Scotland.