Plaque commemorating the first meeting of the Canterbury Association

The Canterbury Association was formed in order to establish a colony in what is now the Canterbury Region in the South Island of New Zealand. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 603 KB) Summary Description: Plaque commemorating the formation of the Canterbury Association. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2048x1536, 603 KB) Summary Description: Plaque commemorating the formation of the Canterbury Association. ... The New Zealand region of Canterbury mostly comprises the Canterbury Plains. ... South Island The South Island forms one of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the North Island. ...

Formation of the Association

The Association was founded in London on March 27, 1848, and incorporated by Royal Charter on November 13, 1849. The prime movers were Edward Gibbon Wakefield and John Robert Godley. Wakefield was heavily involved in the New Zealand Company, which by that time had already established four other colonies in New Zealand. He approached Godley to help him establish a colony sponsored by the Church of England. The President of the Association's Committee of Management was the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Committee itself included several other bishops and clergy, as well as members of the peerage and Members of Parliament. The full list can be found in reference [1]. At its first meeting the Association decided upon names. The settlement was to be called Canterbury, presumably after the Archbishop of Canterbury, the seat of the settlement Christchurch after the Oxford college at which Godley had studied. Part of the London skyline viewed from the South Bank London is the most populous city in the European Union, with an estimated population on 1 January 2005 of 7,500,000 and a metropolitan area population of between 12 and 14 million. ... March 27 is the 86th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (87th in Leap years). ... 1848 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... November 13 is the 317th day of the year (318th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 48 days remaining. ... 1849 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Edward Gibbon Wakefield Edward Gibbon Wakefield (20 March 1796 – May 16, 1862) was the driving force behind much of the early colonization of South Australia, and later New Zealand. ... John Robert Godley was born on May 29, 1814 in Dublin, Ireland. ... The New Zealand Company formed in 1839 to promote the colonisation of New Zealand. ... The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England, and acts as the mother and senior branch of the worldwide Anglican Communion, as well as a founding member of the Porvoo Communion. ... Arms of the see of Canterbury The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior clergyman of the established Church of England and symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. ... The Peerage is a system of titles of nobility which exists in the United Kingdom and is one part of the British honours system. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters of an electoral district to a parliament; in the Westminster system, specifically to the lower house. ... Situated on the Eastern coast, Christchurch is the principal city of the South Island of New Zealand. ... College name Christ Church Named after Established 1546 Sister College Trinity College Dean The Very Revd Christopher Andrew Lewis JCR President William Dorsey Undergraduates 426 Graduates 154 Homepage Christ Church, called in Latin Ædes Christi (i. ...

Establishment of the Colony

The Association had arranged to buy land from the New Zealand Company for 10 shillings per acre (4000 m²). The land was then sold to the emigrants for £3 per acre. The additional £2 10s was to be used in "public objects such as emigration, roads, and Church and school endowments." (20 shillings = £1). The provision of funds for 'emigration' was to allow the Association to offer assisted passages to members of the working classes with desirable skills for the new colony. A poster advertising the assisted passages specifically mentions "Gardeners, Shep[herd]s, Farm Servants, Labourers and Country Mechanics". Evidence for the religious nature of the colony can be seen in the same poster's requirement that applicants should be vouched for by the clergyman of their parish, and in the fact that some of the proceeds from land sales were specifically earmarked for church endowments. The shilling was a British coin first issued in 1548 for Henry VIII, although arguably the testoon issued about 1487 for Henry VII was the first shilling. ... An acre is an English unit of area. ...

Godley (with his family) went out to New Zealand in early 1850 to oversee the preparations for the settlement (surveying, roads, accommodation, etc) which were already being undertaken by a large team of men under the direction of Captain Joseph Thomas. These preparations were advanced, but incomplete when the first ships of settlers arrived on December 16, 1850, having been halted by Godley shortly after his arrival in April due to the mounting debts of the Association. The Charlotte-Jane and Randolph arrived in Lyttelton Harbour on the 16th, the Sir George Seymour on the 17th, and Cressy on the 27th, having set sail from England in September 1850. The settlers on these first four ships were dubbed the Canterbury Pilgrims by the British press. A further 24 shiploads of Canterbury Association settlers, making a total of approximately 3,500, arrived over the next two and a half years. A list can be seen in reference [2]. The affairs of the Canterbury Association were wound up in 1853. 1850 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... December 16 is the 350th day of the year (351st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1850 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... The 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. ... Randolph was a 664-ton ship-rigged merchant vessel constructed in 1849 in Sunderland. ... Lyttelton can be: One of the Barons Lyttelton. ...

References

• NZBound Genealogy site
• Terry Hearn. 'English', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, updated 11-Jul-2005.
  URL: http://www.teara.govt.nz/NewZealanders/NewZealandPeoples/English/2/ENZ-Resources/Standard/2/en
• Philip Temple. 'A sort of conscience: the Wakefields' Auckland University Press (2002). ISBN 1869402766
• Hensley, Gerald. 'Godley, John Robert 1814 - 1861'. Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, updated 7 July 2005
  URL: http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/
• Bishop Harper and the Canterbury Settlement