Discover your family’s history at our libraries
A timeline of some Christchurch events in chronological order from 1700s to 1989.
Go to a year between 1700 & 1989
Begin at the beginning 
This week in history
- June 16, 1932
- Robert McDougall Art Gallery opens. The gallery was a gift of R.E. McDougall, Managing Director of Aulsebrooks and Company.
- June 17, 1843
- John Deans lands sheep, cattle and horses at Lyttelton.
- June 18, 1949
- Announcement of decision to move Canterbury University campus to Ilam.
- June 18, 1975
- Record smog level - 3076 micrograms per cubic metre over 2 hour period during night. The introduction of domestic clean air zones has slightly alleviated this long standing city problem, but Christchurch’s air pollution remains New Zealand’s worst. See also 1977.
- June 19, 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.
- June 19, 1882
- First trials of electric lighting at Lyttelton wharves.
- June 20, 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.
- June 21, 1851
- Christchurch Cricket Club formed.
- June 21, 1851
- Road from Christchurch to Riccarton completed.
- June 21, 1890
- Artist Petrus Van der Velden arrives and settles.
- June 21, 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. See 1903 for change of name.
- June 21, 1909
- City’s high pressure water supply in operation.
- June 21, 1989
- Redcliffs man Roger Manson receives new heart and lungs at London's Harefield Hospital.
- June 22-24, 1901
- Visit of the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York. (Later King George V and Queen Mary).
- June 22, 1851
- Pioneers Edward and Henry Ward drowned in Lyttelton Harbour. A brother, Crosbie Ward, later became the city’s best known satirical poet.
- June 22, 1954
- Pauline Parker and Juliet Hulme murder Parker’s mother in Victoria Park. Their subsequent trial was one of the most sensational in the city’s history.
- June 22, 1988
- Visit by Queen Sofia and King Juan Carlos of Spain.
