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1000
First inhabitants
The first people to live in the place known as Christchurch where Moa hunters , who probably arrived there as early as AD 1000 -
Early European contact
On 16 February 1770 Captain James Cook in his ship the Endeavour first sighted the Canterbury peninsula. He thought it was an island, and named it Banks Island after the ship’s botanist, Joseph Banks. -
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The first European settlements
Captain William Rhodes first visited in 1836. He came back in 1839 and landed a herd of 50 cattle near Akaroa. -
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The Canterbury settlement
Wakefield believed that colonisation of countries like New Zealand could be organised in such a way that towns could be planned before settlers arrived. These towns would be like a community back in England, with landowners, small farmers and workers, and with churches, shops and schools. -
New arrivals
n December Captain Joseph Thomas, a surveyor, was sent to Canterbury to choose a site for the Canterbury settlement, and prepare for the first settlers. By the time that John Robert Godley, leader of the Canterbury settlement arrived with his family on the Lady Nugent on 12 April 1850, Captain Thomas had built a jetty, customs house and barracks accommodation for the newly arrived settlers. -
Settling in
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). -
Canterbury ‘firsts’ in 1851
6 January First school opened in Lyttelton by the Reverend Henry Jacobs.11 January First issue of the Lyttelton Times.
18 January First bank (Union Bank of Australia) opens in Lyttelton.
February First bridge across the Avon (a footbridge) at Worcester Street.
3 April George Gould opens first shop in Christchurch.
April Collegiate Grammar School opens in Lyttelton (later Christ’s College).
May Ferrymead ferry service begins.
20 July First church - later dedicated as St Michael and All Angels -
Towards independence
Within a year eight chartered Canterbury Association ships and another seven privately backed ships had arrived, bringing the population of the settlement to three thousand. -
Canterbury — a province
Under the new provincial system, Canterbury’s first superintendent was James Edward Fitzgerald, elected on 20 July 1853. -
Transport problems
Because there were still big problems getting heavy luggage from Lyttelton to Christchurch, Fitzgerald tried to get the road to Sumner by way of Evans Pass completed. -
The boom years
Canterbury’s growing wealth and prosperity during the boom years of 1857-64 had a big effect on the city. More banks opened Christchurch branches (Bank of New South Wales in 1861, Bank of New Zealand in 1862, and the Bank of Australasia in 1864). -
Building the Lyttelton 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. -
Christchurch becomes a municipal district
In 1862 Christchurch was made a municipal district, and John Hall elected the first chairman of the Municipal Council. This council introduced street lighting in June 1862, and sank the first water well in February 1864.