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1000 BCE
First inhabitants
The first people to live in the place now known as Christchurch were moa hunters, who probably arrived in NZ around AD 1000.About 1450 the moa had been killed off. -
Early European contact
On 16 February 1770 Captain James Cook in his ship the Endeavour first sighted the Canterbury 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 first European settlements
Captain William Rhodes first visited in 1836. He came back in 1839 and landed a herd of 50 cattle near Akaroa.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,rodents made them decide to leave -
The Canterbury settlement
In November 1847 John Robert Godley and Edward Gibbon Wakefield met to plan the Canterbury settlement. 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
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