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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.
Edward Gibbon Wakefield and Irish-born John Robert Godley, the guiding forces within the Canterbury Association, organised an offshoot of the New Zealand Company, a settlement in a planned English enclave in an area now part of the Wairarapa in the North Island of New Zealand. The inaugural meeting of the Canterbury Association took place at 41 Charing Cross, London, on 27 March 1848. The meeting passed a resolution "that the name of the proposed settlement be "Canterbury" and the name of the chief town be "Christchurch"."
The Canterbury Association sent Captain Joseph Thomas as chief surveyor and leader of the Association's preliminary expedition. With his two assistants, Thomas Cass and Charles Torlesse (a nephew of Edward Wakefield), Thomas was sent to select, survey and prepare for the proposed settlement. They arrived at New Plymouth aboard Bernicia on 2 November 1848, destined for Wairarapa.
Bernicia called at Nelson where Thomas was told by settlers of unexplored plains stretching north and west of Banks Peninsula. The surveyor's interest was aroused, so they proceeded to Wellington where Thomas wrote to Bishop George Selwyn saying he intended to head to Port Cooper (present-day Lyttelton) to inspect this area. The three, along with Sir William Fox (the newly appointed principal agent to the New Zealand Company) and five survey hands, arrived in Port Cooper aboard the sloop HMS Fly in December 1848. A quick but thorough exploration of the plains left them in no doubt that they had found an ideal site for Canterbury.
With Thomas's suggestion, Governor Grey and Bishop Selwyn decided to site the Canterbury Settlement in this area rather than in the Wairarapa. With Godley, Thomas and his companions set about arranging immigration barracks and the other necessary infrastructure for the settlement at Port Cooper and the new Christchurch. Port Cooper had been named after the proprietors of the Sydney whaling and trading firm of Cooper & Levy.
but[ clarification needed ]he chose the name[ failed verification ]Lyttelton after Lord Lyttelton of Hagley, a member of the Canterbury Association, and Port Levy's name was never changed.[ failed verification ]
An initial survey having been completed in early 1849, Thomas went to Wellington and arranged contracts for further surveyors and labourers. Thirty-five arrived on the Fair Tasmanian on 2 July 1849, including architect and civil engineer Henry John Cridland as Superintendent of Works, as well as Donald Gollan as Works Overseer, and assistant surveyor Sydney Scroggs. [1] On 12 August 1849, they were joined by assistant surveyor Edward Jollie and Thomas Brunner as Clerk of Works. During the following six months, Jollie surveyed and drew up town plans for Lyttelton, Sumner and Christchurch as well as laying off the line of road between Lyttelton and Sumner that Cridland had devised. Gollan and the labourers meanwhile constructed a jetty at Lyttelton, formed roads and constructed other engineering works while Scroggs surveyed the road line from Sumner to Christchurch. However, when Godley arrived in April 1850 he stopped all work on account of lack of funds. [2] [1]
In November 1850, Godley was able to secure further funding and Thomas had Jollie survey a Bridle road over a saddle in the Port Hills behind Lyttelton, which was formed by Gollan's road gang. [1] While Thomas and Jollie had named the street of the three towns after the Bishoprics of England, Ireland and the Colonies, the road over the saddle simply became known as the Bridle Path because riders had to dismount and lead their horses by the bridle over the steepest portion of the path near the summit.
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, Charlotte Jane, landed at Lyttelton Harbour on the morning of 16 December 1850. [3] Randolph followed that afternoon. [3] Sir George Seymour arrived on 17 December, followed ten days later by Cressy on 27 December. [3] [4] Cressy had taken longer because she had sprung her foremast south of the Cape of Good Hope and had to reef those sails. [4]
By the end of summer the colony had been joined by settlers from the Castle Eden, which arrived on 17 February 1851, and then the Isabella Hercus on 1 March. Between March 1851 and early May 1853, a further 22 shiploads of settlers had arrived from England. By then the colony had an estimated population in excess of 3,000. (This figure may be an under-estimate because various lists of passengers didn't always agree, there were also ships arriving from Australia with both passengers and animals, movement within New Zealand was unrestricted, and ships also stopped at other New Zealand settlements before or after visiting Canterbury, but immigrants were registered at their first port of entry.)
The "colonists", who travelled in the relative luxury of the cabins, included those men and their families who could afford to buy land in the new colony. Some of these settlers' families remain prominent in Christchurch to this day. "Emigrants" included farm workers, labourers and tradesmen, who made the journey in steerage, some having assisted passage. Like their employers, the emigrants included devout Anglicans selected to help build a community founded on religious virtues. Each ship carried a chaplain, a doctor and a schoolmaster, and included in the cargo was a printing press, a library of 2,000 books, a church organ and several pre-fabricated houses in sections. Cabin passengers paid £42 and cheaper berths were £25, whilst steerage passengers paid £15.
Sir George Grey, the Governor, came down the coast in Her Majesty's sloop of war Fly to welcome their arrival. He and Lady Grey left before the arrival of Cressy. John Robert Godley was also at Lyttelton to meet the settlers.
A marble plaque in Cathedral Square in Christchurch lists the names of the Canterbury Pilgrims, as those who arrived on the first four ships are known.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .Arrived. ... Dec. 16. ship Charlotte Jane, 720 tons, Lawrence, master, from Plymouth Sep. 7, with 26 cabin, 24 intermediate, and 104 steerage passengers. Same day, ship Randolph, 761 tons, Dale, master, from Plymouth Sep. 7, with 34 cabin, 15 intermediate, and 161 steerage passengers. ... Dec. 17, ship Sir George Seymour, 850 tons, Goodson, master, from Plymouth Sep. 8, with 40 cabin, 23 intermediate, and 164 steerage passengers. ... Dec. 27, barque Cressy, 720 tons, Bell, master, from Plymouth Sep. 8, with 27 cabin, 23 intermediate, and 105 steerage passengers.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
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.
Sumner is a coastal seaside suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand and was surveyed and named in 1849 in honour of John Bird Sumner, the then newly appointed Archbishop of Canterbury and president of the Canterbury Association. Originally a separate borough, it was amalgamated with the city of Christchurch as communications improved and the economies of scale made small town boroughs uneconomic to operate.
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.
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 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.
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.
Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō is a major inlet on the northwest side of Banks Peninsula, on the coast of Canterbury, New Zealand; the other major inlet is Akaroa Harbour, which enters from the southern side of the peninsula. Whakaraupō enters from the northern coast of the peninsula, heading in a predominantly westerly direction for approximately 15 km (9.3 mi) from its mouth to the aptly-named Head of the Bay near Teddington. The harbour sits in an eroded caldera of the ancient Banks Peninsula Volcano, the steep sides of which form the Port Hills on its northern shore.
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 Lyttelton Rail Tunnel, initially called the Moorhouse Tunnel, links the city of Christchurch with the port of Lyttelton in the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island. It is the country's oldest operational rail tunnel, and is on the Lyttelton Line, one of the first railways built by Canterbury Provincial Railways.
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.
Christchurch Central City or Christchurch City Centre is the geographical centre and the heart of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is defined as the area within the Four Avenues and thus includes the densely built up central city, some less dense surrounding areas of residential, educational and industrial usage, and green space including Hagley Park, the Christchurch Botanic Gardens and the Barbadoes Street Cemetery.
Doctor William Chapman. He was born at Headlam Hall, Durham, 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.
Charlotte Godley was a New Zealand letter-writer and community leader.
Captain Joseph Thomas (1803–?) was a British explorer and the chief surveyor for Lyttelton, Sumner and Christchurch in New Zealand. He took up surveying after service in the British army, gaining the rank of lieutenant. In the 1840s, he explored many parts of New Zealand and worked for the New Zealand Company. This gained him employment with the Canterbury Association, which sent him to New Zealand in 1848. Thomas' role was to find a suitable site for their proposed settlement, and what became the Canterbury region with Christchurch as its capital was the result of his efforts. He was dismissed in early 1851 over quarrels with John Robert Godley, the agent of the Canterbury Association, just after the first settlers had arrived in the colony. Thomas' life after 1853 is unknown. Having allowed for Hagley Park as a generous central city green space is regarded as his major achievement, and it is his lasting legacy.
Tauhinukorokio / Mount Pleasant, also known just as either Mount Pleasant or Tauhinukorokio individually, is the highest elevation in the eastern Port Hills in Christchurch, New Zealand. It once held a Māori pā, but there was little left of it when European settlers first arrived in the 1840s. The hill was first used as a sheep run, and became the base trig station for the survey of Canterbury. It was also used as a signal station to make residents aware of ships coming into Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō. During World War II, an extensive heavy anti-aircraft artillery (HAA) battery was built near the summit, and the foundations of those buildings still exist.
Henry John Le Cren was a New Zealand merchant. Born in London, he was an early settler in Lyttelton and traded both in the port town and central Christchurch. He moved to Timaru in 1858 and is regarded as one of the town's pioneers. Companies owned by him or his eldest son are predecessors to the New Zealand agricultural supply business PGG Wrightson.
Awaroa / Godley Head, called Cachalot Head by early French explorers, is a prominent headland in Christchurch, New Zealand, located at the entrance to Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō. The headland is named for John Robert Godley.
Mary Townsend was an artist and an early English settler in Canterbury, New Zealand.
The Canterbury Pioneer Women's Memorial commemorates the pioneer women of Canterbury in New Zealand. After arrival by sea in Lyttelton Harbour, early settlers had to cross the Port Hills via the Bridle Path to reach Christchurch or the Canterbury Plains. The memorial was unveiled at the summit of the Bridle Path in 1940, 90 years after the First Four Ships had arrived in Lyttelton. The impetus for having a memorial was for Christchurch to have a contribution for the New Zealand centennial commemorating the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. Hence, the Canterbury Pioneer Women's Memorial commemorates two events that happened ten years apart.