Christchurch
The Garden City
Internationally famed as "'The Garden City', Christchurch's well-established expansive parks and public gardens owe much to the planning and foresight of the city's founding fathers.
The centrally-located 161 hectare Hagley Park, the Botanic Gardens, the four leafy inner-city avenues, Victoria Square and spectacular gardens such as Mona Vale on the banks of the River Avon bear testimony to this legacy. It is a vision which is embraced and perpetuated today by proud residents right throughout the city.
The Floral Festival held in February each year is certainly one of the most popular festivals on the calendar, a time when the city is a blaze of colour.
In 1996, Christchurch was acknowledged as the outstanding garden city from among 620 international entries and, in 1997, was judged Overall Winner of Major Cities in the Nations in Bloom International Competition to become 'Garden City of the World:
- Links
- www.ccc.govt.nz Local authority for Christchurch
- www.christchurchnz.com Your guide to absolutely everything in Christchurch
- www.Christchurch.nz.com
- www.Christchurch.org.nz
- www.realestate.co.nz Links to real estate
- http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch/ News from Christchurch’s daily newspaper
- www.valuers.co.nz/chch-html Directory of New Zealand valuers
- www.bethere.co.nz
- www.nzvanlines.co.nz World relocations
How did Christchurch get its name?
In November 1847 John Robert Godley and Edward Gibbon Wakefield planned the Canterbury settlement.
Wakefield believed that colonisation of countries such as New Zealand could be organised so 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.
In 1848, the Canterbury Association was formed and it decided to name Canterbury's new capital city "Christchurch" after the college John Godley had attended at the University of Oxford.
History
Maori oral history suggests that people first inhabited the Canterbury area about a thousand years ago.
These first inhabitants were moa-hunting tribes and who were followed by the Waitaha people who are thought to have migrated from the East Coast of the North Island in the 16th Century. This migration was joined by the Ngati Mamoe and Ngai Tahu, and continued until about 1830.
The first European settlor arrived in Canterbury in 1815, 45 years after Captain James Cook sighted what he named "Banks Island" (which was later named "Banks Peninsula" after it was found to be a Peninsula rather than an island).
In 1840, the first Europeans settled on the plains and whaling ships were operating out of Lyttelton by 1850.
In December 1850 the first organised group of English settlers, the founders of Christchurch, arrived on the first four ships in Lyttelton Harbour.
Christchurch became a city by Royal Charter on 31 July 1856, making it officially the oldest established city in New Zealand.
In 1893, New Zealand women were the first in the world to win the right to vote. A Christchurch resident, Kate Sheppard, led the New Zealand movement for votes for women. In Centenary Year of Women's Suffrage (1993), the Kate Sheppard Memorial was unveiled in Christchurch. Kate Sheppard's image also appears on New Zealand's $10.00 note.
Canterbury's economy was built on primary products. Although its economic beginnings were in wool, sheep, meat and grains, Canterbury now has a diversified regional economy with particular emphasis on IT and engineering.
