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Mar 20, 1000
Moa Hunters arrive in New Zealand
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Period: Mar 20, 1000 to
Maori inhabited New Zealand
Approx years only -
Captain James Hook sighted Canterbury Peninsula
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Europeans set foot on Banks Peninsula
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Period: to
Maori population falls
The reasons included fighting between different groups of Ngāi Tahu, raids by the Ngati Toa chief Te Rauparaha from 1830 to 1832, and the impact of European diseases, especially measles and influenza, from which hundreds of Māori died. -
Captain William Wiseman names Lyttleton Harbour
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George Hempleman establishes Whaling station at Peraki (Port Levy)
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Treaty of Waitangi signed by Ngai Tahu Chiefs
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John & William Deans established farm at Puturingamotu (Riccarton)
In 1843 William and John Deans arrived and established a farm at Puturingamotu. The Manson and Gebbie families also came with them, to work on the farm. Together they built the first European house on the Canterbury Plains. They named the area Riccarton after the parish they came from in Scotland, and the nearby river the Avon, after a stream on their grandfather's farm. On 7 January 1844 the first European child (Jeannie Manson) was born at Riccarton. A year later the Mansons and the Gebbies l -
Planning the Canterbury settlement
In November 1847 John Robert Godley and Edward Gibbon Wakefield met to plan 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. -
Canterbury Association formed
Early in 1848 the Canterbury Association was formed, and it was decided to name the capital city Christchurch after the college John Godley had gone to at Oxford University. Part of the plan included the opportunity for the new settlers to buy land. This would supply the money needed for public works such as roads and schools. But first the land had to be bought from the Māori owners. -
New arrivals
In 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. -
Period: to
Boom Years
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Work begins on Lyttleton Tunnel
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Lyttleton Tunnel Opened