Christchurch: A Chronology to 1989

A timeline of some Christchurch events in chronological order from 1700s to 1989.

Go to a year between 1700 & 1989

March 24, 1887: First City Council offices open. This building at the corner of Oxford Terrace and Worcester Street was designed by S. Hurst Seager. It was the first public building in Christchurch to break with the prevailing tradition of Gothic, Classic or Venetian style. It is presently tenanted by the Canterbury Promotion Council.
March 24, 1902: Professor Bickerton sacked from university. The charismatic and controversial professor of chemistry had been the college’s first appointment in 1874. He was ostensibly fired for mismanagement of his department, but was in fact a brilliant teacher whose star pupil was Ernest Rutherford. The real reason for his sacking seems to have been his socialist politics and his outspoken criticism of that venerable institution - marriage. See also 1929.
March 25, 1879: New Zealand’s first telephones in operation in City.
March 25, 1930: New Zealand’s first country library service begins as Canterbury adult rural education scheme under the auspices of the W.E.A.
March 26, 1891: New Zealand’s first agricultural conference held in City.
March 27, 1848: Canterbury Association decides to buy land from the New Zealand Company.
March 27, 1856: First wool cargo shipped to London from Lyttelton (via Auckland).
March 28, 1981: New South Brighton bridge opens.
March 30, 1883: Two young boys die of exposure on the Port Hills. Monuments can still be seen near the Rapaki Track.