This week in Christchurch history (15 to 21 June)

15 June 1874
Canterbury College (University) opens. A subsequent public protest prevented its proposed buildings from being sited in what are now the Botanic Gardens.

The Robert McDougall Art Gallery : a profile [7.2MB]
View The Robert McDougall Art Gallery : a profile [7.2MB PDF]
16 June 1932
Robert McDougall Art Gallery opens. The gallery was a gift of R. E. McDougall, Managing Director of Aulsebrooks and Company.

 

17 June 1843
John Deans lands sheep, cattle and horses at Lyttelton.

19 June 1857
Complaints reported that the Avon and Heathcote Rivers are becoming clogged with watercress. Provincial Council approves £1500 for clearance. Watercress appears to have been introduced by the ship “Compte de Paris” to Akaroa in 1841, and from there to the Avon by William Deans in 1850.

20 June 1928
Canterbury Aero Club formed. The first pilot trained by the club was a woman, Aroha Clifford. She may have been New Zealand’s first woman pilot.

Aroha Clifford
Aroha Clifford. Negatives of the Evening Post newspaper. Ref: EP-0628-1/2-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. http://natlib.govt.nz/records/22823723

21 June 1851
Christchurch Cricket Club formed.

21 June 1851
Road from Christchurch to Riccarton completed.

21 June 1897
Huge celebrations for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee include the official opening of Victoria Park on the Port Hills and the transformation of Market (Victoria) Square by the City Council and the newly formed Christchurch Beautifying Association. The square, once the commercial centre of Christchurch, had contained many early public buildings and services including a prison, immigration barracks, an animal pound and the first post office.

More June events in the Christchurch chronology: a timeline of Christchurch events in chronological order from pre-European times to 1989.

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