Skip to main content

Kōrero: Public holidays

Re-enacting arrival of Canterbury settlers

Video file

This re-enactment of the 1850 arrival of the first Pākehā settlers of Canterbury was filmed to mark the 100th anniversary in 1950. Descendants traced the path their ancestors took over the Port Hills, which separate the port of Lyttelton from the planned settlement of Christchurch. Most provincial anniversaries were held on the days settlers arrived in the province. In Canterbury this was 16 December, but the holiday was later shifted to coincide with the Canterbury A & P (agricultural and pastoral) show day in November.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga

Reference: Canterbury is a hundred. National Film Unit, 1950

Permission of Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga must be obtained before any re-use of this material.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Nancy Swarbrick, Public holidays – Celebrating communities, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/video/32465/re-enacting-arrival-of-canterbury-settlers (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Nancy Swarbrick, i tāngia i te 14 March 2012.