Christchurch has a rich history. Archaeological evidence has indicated that people first settled in the Christchurch area in about 1250. In 1770 Captain James Cook in his ship the Endeavour first sighted the Canterbury peninsula. He thought it was an island, and named it Banks Island after the ship’s botanist, Joseph Banks.
In 1850, a company sponsored by the Church of England founded the planned settlement of Christchurch. It later became a city by Royal Charter on 31 July 1856, making it officially the oldest established city in New Zealand. The name was chosen at the first meeting of the Canterbury Association in 1848 at the suggestion of J.R. Godley, whose college at Oxford, England, was Christ Church.
Snow on Colombo St, Sydenham, in the 1970s.
Christchurch railway yards pictured in the 1980s.
The public lines up to get their first look at the new Christchurch Town Hall in 1972.
The intersection of Gloucester and Colombo Sts in 1970.
The Bowker Fountain and Captain Cook statue in Victoria Square, 1941.
Aerial view of the Christchurch Gas Works in 1960.
The Antigua Boat Sheds pictured in the 1890s.
South-west view of central Christchurch streets in 1865.
