Heritage

Christchurch: a chronology

A timeline of Christchurch events in chronological order from pre-European times to 1989.

Go to a year between 1700 & 1989

Begin at the beginning Start here

This week in history

June 25, 1934
Death of Harry Ell. The uncompleted Summit Road and Sign of the Takahe projects were taken over by his son. See 1938 and 1949.
June 25, 1941
German minelayer "Adjutant" lays mines in the approaches to Lyttelton Harbour. But this German claim is unsupported - no trace of the mines was ever found.
June 26, 1871
Christchurch Volunteer Police enrolled.
June 26, 1884
New Zealand’s first First Aid examinations held in City.
June 27, 1846
Canterbury’s first armed robbery - 3 men hold up and ransack the Greenwood brothers’ farm at Purau.
June 27, 1904
Yaldhurst School elects New Zealand’s first all-woman school committee.
June 27, 1964
Large crowds for visit of Beatles pop group.
June 28, 1869
Velocipede ("boneshaker") bicycle (probably New Zealand’s first) tried out on City streets by its maker, coachbuilder Henry Wagstaff.
June 28, 1983
Author Margaret Mahy awarded Britains prestigious Carnegie Medal for her children’s book, "The Haunting".
June 29, 1951
First regular South Island trans-Tasman flights begin from Melbourne to Christchurch.
June 29, 1989
Minister of Conservation, Phillip Woollaston overturns Department of Conservation veto on the lease of Mt Cavendish Reserve for the Port Hills Gondola project.
June 30, 1849
Canterbury’s first “industrial action” - Maori road workers in Evans Pass (constructing a road across the Port Hills) go on strike as a reaction to verbal abuse and dismissals.
June 30, 1849
New Zealand Company buys the remaining French interests at Akaroa from the Nanto-Bordelaise Company.
June 30, 1975
TV2 transmission starts.
July 1, 1862
New Zealand’s first telegraph in operation between Christchurch and Lyttelton.
July 1, 1865
Lyttelton Harbour breakwaters begun.
July 1, 1865
Severe thunderstorm. Man killed by lightning at Avonside.
July 1, 1935
Evening papers "Star" and "Sun" merge to become the "Star Sun", ending a 6 year newspaper war, the longest and most bitter in New Zealand’s history. The "peace" agreement between the 3 companies concerned also saw the demise of the "Christchurch Times" (once the "Lyttelton Times"), the oldest daily paper in the country.
July 1, 1985
Open road speed limit raised from 80 kph to 100 kph.

Notes