Christchurch Chronology 1865 - Heritage - Christchurch City Libraries

1865

January 24: Steam fire engine arrives, (the first in New Zealand) and is named "Extinguisher".
February: Gold discovery on the West Coast leads to an inevitable exodus of prospectors from Christchurch.
March 1: Godley Head lighthouse in operation.
April 8: First issue of "Punch in Canterbury". It was modelled on the English magazine, but did not survive for long.
May 3: First Catholic school opens in a small cottage in Lichfield Street.
May 21: First news telegram sent over the new line from Bluff to Christchurch.
July 1: Severe thunderstorm. Man killed by lightning at Avonside.
July 1: Lyttelton Harbour breakwaters begun.
September 19: South Island Separation Bill defeated in Parliament by 31 votes to 17.
November 21: Provincial Council buildings in Durham Street completed. The complex of buildings was architect B.W. Mountfort’s masterpiece. He had survived a professional disaster soon after arrival in New Zealand when his first building, a church in Lyttelton, had proved structurally unsound and had to be demolished.
November 30: Canterbury Medical Association formed (the first in New Zealand).
(no date): Railway to the west and south begins.; First public swimming pool opens at Kohler’s Pleasure Grounds (now the site of Hagley High School).; P.and D. Duncan’s engineering works established.