| History | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name | Charlotte Jane |
| Route | Gravesend, England to Lyttelton Harbour, New Zealand |
| Builder | Pattersons, Bristol [1] |
| Launched | 17 April 1848 [1] |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Tons burthen | 730 tons bm |
| Length | 131 ft 8 in (40.13 m) |
| Beam | 32 ft 4 in (9.86 m) |
| Depth | 21 ft 8 in (6.60 m) |
| Sail plan | Full-rigged ship |
Charlotte Jane was one of the First Four Ships in 1850 to carry emigrants from England to the new colony of Canterbury in New Zealand.
The Charlotte Jane departed from England in 1848, bound for Sydney. Captain Alexander Lawrence set sail with his wife, Miriam Lawrence, their baby daughter, a teenage nursemaid, a surgeon and 264 emigrants. After Australia, they sailed to Hong Kong, Singapore, Bombay, Whampoa (Canton), before returning via Cape Town to London. [2]
Under the command of Captain Alexander Lawrence, the Charlotte Jane left Plymouth Sound at midnight, Saturday, 7 September 1850. She sighted Stewart Island on Wednesday, 11 December 1850, and dropped her anchor in Port Victoria (Lyttelton Harbour) on Monday, 16 December 1850, at 10 o'clock in the morning. Her passage was 99 days from port to port or 93 days from land to land. She carried 26 chief cabin, 24 intermediate, and 104 steerage passengers including a chaplain and a surgeon. [3] [4] There were one birth, one marriage and three deaths during the voyage. All the deaths were very young children, with one even dying before the ship departed Plymouth and was buried on shore there. [3]
Randolph , Cressy , Sir George Seymour and Charlotte Jane together carried an estimated 790 passengers. In addition, about another 60 worked their passage on the ships or deserted and disembarked. The first of the vessels to arrive was Charlotte Jane in Lyttelton on 16 December 1850 in the morning. [4] [3] Randolph followed that afternoon. Sir George Seymour arrived on 17 December, followed by Cressy on 27 December. [5] Charlotte Jane carried the equipment for the production of the region's first newspaper, the Lyttelton Times , which was first published less than one month after the ship's arrival. [6]
Charlotte Jane departed Port Victoria (Lyttelton) on 7 January 1851 bound for Sydney with two passengers. [7]
The ship is remembered in the name of a road, Charlotte Jane Quay, in the port town of Lyttelton.[ citation needed ]
Charlotte Jane carried approximately 154 passengers. Exact numbers are not known because the surgeons' lists and the shipping lists do not match, and some young children were not counted. [5]
The passengers aboard these four ships were referred to as "the Pilgrims". Their names are inscribed on marble plaques in Cathedral Square in the centre of Christchurch, where 157 passengers are listed.
The first passenger who leapt onto the shore was James FitzGerald, [8] who became an important politician in New Zealand. One of Charlotte Jane's most notable passengers was the architect Benjamin Mountfort. [9] Charles Bowen was later Speaker of the New Zealand Legislative Council. [10] James Stuart-Wortley was a member of the 1st New Zealand Parliament before he returned to England in 1855. [11] James Temple Fisher was elected to Parliament in 1876. [12] Edward Bishop was the 6th Mayor of Christchurch. [13] Harriet Ritchie became the first nurse at Lyttelton Hospital. [14] Alfred Barker was the surgeon on the voyage. He was Canterbury's first doctor and is remembered for his photography. [15] Elizabeth Horrell taught on the ship on the voyage out and was appointed schoolteacher in Lyttelton on her arrival there, becoming Canterbury's first female schoolteacher. [16]
Randolph was a 664-ton ship-rigged merchant vessel constructed in 1849 in Sunderland. She was one of the First Four Ships that brought settlers to Christchurch, New Zealand.
Lyttelton is a port town on the north shore of Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō, at the northwestern end of Banks Peninsula and close to Christchurch, on the eastern coast of the South Island of New Zealand.
The Bridle Path is a steep shared-use track that traverses the northern rim of the Lyttelton volcano connecting the port of Lyttelton with the city of Christchurch in the South Island of New Zealand. It is a popular walking and mountain biking route. The track ascends from the port itself to a height of 333 metres (1,093 ft) before descending again via Heathcote Valley to Christchurch. At the summit, next to the Summit Road, is a stone shelter with covered seats that is a 1940 New Zealand centennial memorial to the Pioneer Women of Canterbury. There are also seven commemorative stone seats placed along the Bridle Path; most of these were built for the 1950 Canterbury centenary celebrations.
The Canterbury Association was formed in 1848 in England by members of parliament, peers, and Anglican church leaders, to establish a colony in New Zealand. The settlement was to be called Canterbury, with its capital to be known as Christchurch. Organised emigration started in 1850 and the colony was established in the South Island, with the First Four Ships bringing out settlers steeped in the region's history. The Association was not a financial success for the founding members and the organisation was wound up in 1855.
Isaac Luck was a New Zealand architect. A professional builder, he arrived in Lyttelton on the Steadfast in 1851. He was the third chairman of the Christchurch Town Council. He was the brother-in-law of and in partnership with Benjamin Mountfort, and was the less well-known architectural partner for the design of the Canterbury Provincial Council Buildings.
John Robert Godley was an Anglo-Irish statesman and bureaucrat. Godley is considered to be the founder of Canterbury, New Zealand, although he lived there for only two years.
Benjamin Woolfield Mountfort was an English emigrant to New Zealand, where he became one of the country's most prominent 19th-century architects. He was instrumental in shaping the city of Christchurch's unique architectural identity and culture, and was appointed the first official Provincial Architect of the developing province of Canterbury. Heavily influenced by the Anglo-Catholic philosophy behind early Victorian architecture, he is credited with importing the Gothic revival style to New Zealand. His Gothic designs constructed in both wood and stone in the province are considered unique to New Zealand. Today, he is considered the founding architect of the province of Canterbury.
Cressy was one of the "First Four Ships" in 1850 to carry emigrants from England to the new colony of Canterbury in New Zealand. Cressy was the last to arrive on 27 December. The other ships were Charlotte Jane, Sir George Seymour, and Randolph.
The First Four Ships refers to the four sailing vessels chartered by the Canterbury Association which left Plymouth, England, in September 1850 to transport the first English settlers to new homes in Canterbury, New Zealand. The colonists or settlers who arrived on the first four ships are known as the Canterbury Pilgrims.
Sir George Seymour was built in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear in 1844 by Somes Brothers. She made one voyage transporting convicts to Australia and at least one carrying emigrants to Australia and one to New Zealand. A fire at sea in her cargo in December 1867 forced her crew to abandon her.
James Townsend was an English wine merchant, who in later life was a pioneer settler in New Zealand's South Island. He was also an amateur cricketer.
Crosbie Ward was a 19th-century member of parliament in New Zealand.
Doctor William Chapman was born 13 May 1797 at Headlam Hall, Durham, England. He was the second son of John Chapman Esq., and his wife Mary Chapman of Alwent Hall in the County of Durham. As a young man, he went to London to train as a medical practitioner. At the age of 30 he married Sarah Lisgo of Durham and they had three sons and four daughters. At an early stage in his life he recognised the necessity for scenic reserves and recreational areas in London and he was appointed a Director of the Kew Botanical Gardens. Later he was instrumental in planting the willows along the Avon River in Christchurch, New Zealand. He was a member of the Royal College of Surgeons.
The Lyttelton Times was the first newspaper in Canterbury, New Zealand, publishing the first edition in January 1851. It was established by the Canterbury Association as part of its planned settlement of Canterbury and developed into a liberal, at the time sometimes seen as radical, newspaper. A successor paper, The Star, is published as a free bi-weekly newspaper.
Thomas Jackson, was an English Anglican clergyman appointed in 1850 as Bishop Designate of the newly founded settlement of Lyttelton in New Zealand. After disagreements with the New Zealand colonists, Jackson never took up the bishopric, and instead returned to England. He was an early advocate of animal welfare.
Charlotte Godley was a New Zealand letter-writer and community leader.
Philip Laing is a 19th-century sailing ship best known as the second immigrant ship to arrive in Dunedin, New Zealand, on 15 April 1848. Chartered by the New Zealand Company for this voyage the ship was carrying Scottish settlers, under the charge of the Rev. Dr. Thomas Burns.
St Saviour’s at Holy Trinity is an Anglican church in Lyttelton, Christchurch, New Zealand. St Saviour's Chapel was relocated from West Lyttelton to Christchurch's Cathedral Grammar School in the 1970s. Following the earthquakes and the demolition of Holy Trinity Church, Lyttelton, St Saviour's was returned to Lyttelton to the site of Holy Trinity in 2013.
Captain Charles Simeon was one of the members of the Canterbury Association who emigrated to Canterbury in New Zealand in 1851. The family spent four years in the colony and during this time, he held various important posts and positions. He returned to England in 1855. He was devoted to the Anglican church and three of his sons became priests, while two of his daughters married priests.
Mary Townsend was an artist and an early English settler in Canterbury, New Zealand.
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Charlotte Jane . |
ARRIVED. ... Dec. 16. ship Charlotte Jane, 720 tons, Lawrence, master, from Plymouth Sep. 7, with 26 cabin, 24 intermediate, and 104 steerage passengers.
SAILED ... Jan. 7, ship Charlotte Jane, 720 tons; Lawrence, master, for Sydney, Passengers, Messrs. Welsh and Rankin.