# The Story of Christchurch, New Zealand/Chapter 10

Chapter X.
1857.
Christ’s College—The Sumner Road—Departure of Mr. J. E. FitzGerald.
Bishop Harper, before leaving England, had interested himself in the foundation of Christ’s College, and had collected funds for the purpose. On his arrival in Christchurch, he continued to devote his energy to the same object. An interval occurred while he attended the conference at Auckland, in June, at which the Constitution of the Church of England in New Zealand above referred to was drawn up, but shortly after his return, he performed his first important function in Christchurch, when on July 24, 1857, he, as Warden of the College, laid the foundation stone of Christ’s College.
A main feature in the plan of the Canterbury Association was the foundation of a Church of England College, to be called Christchurch College. There were to be two departments, an upper College for young men over the age of seventeen, and a lower Grammar School on the model of similar schools in England, for boys from seven to seventeen. It was then intended that the College should be situated close to the Cathedral, in the Square, and that the upper department, or College proper, should be the predominant consideration.
The Rev. Henry Jacobs, M.A., was appointed by the Canterbury Association, in May, 1849, to take charge of the collegiate department, and also to superintend the Grammar School at the outset. He came out in the “Sir George Seymour,” acting as chaplain on the ​voyage. Soon after his arrival, Mr. Jacobs established both the College and Grammar School in two rooms in the Immigration Barracks at Lyttelton. In the following year, April, 1862, the establishment was removed to Christchurch, to a small building at the corner of Lichfield Street and Oxford Terrace, opposite the site of St. Michael’s Church. Christ’s College, as at present constituted, was founded by the Church Property Trustees by Deed of Foundation, dated May 21, 1855, and endowed with one-fifth of the Town and Rural Lands recently conveyed to them by the Canterbury Association through its Agent, Mr. Henry Sewell. The Deed provided that the Bishop of Christchurch should be ex officio Warden of the College. It also appointed, as sub-Warden, the Rev. Henry Jacobs, M.A., and ten Fellows. There being no Bishop of Christchurch at the time, Mr. Jacobs, as sub-Warden, was the first head of Christ’s College.
The Provincial Council passed an Ordinance (June 28, 1855) incorporating Christ’s College in terms of the Deed of Foundation, and at a later session (October 23), authorised the Superintendent (himself one of the Fellows of the College) to convey, not exceeding ten acres of the Government Domain as a site for the College.
It may not be generally known that the selection of the present site was attributable to the foresight of Mr. Henry Sewell. Bishop Selwyn disapproved of the Cathedral Square site for the College. He wanted a country site—removed from the turmoil of the city, and at one time, if was suggested that the College should be placed near the Heathcote Ferry. The actual selection was made on June 8, 1853. It so happened that Mr. Sewell dined that day with Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs at their school-house. There were present also the Rev. R. B. Paul and Mr. T. Cass, the chief surveyor. The four—the Revs. Jacobs and Paul, and. Messrs. T. Cass and Sewell, formed themselves into a sort of selection committee. Mr. Paul seems to have favoured the old
Worcester Street and Christ's College Cadets, 1916.
“We have sketched out, in imagination, a handsome central street, terminated by the Cathedral.”
Plate 15.
Building funds were secured from various sources—about £1,800 was subscribed in England. The Provincial Council granted £500. The sale of one-half of Cathedral Square to the Government (November 25, 1858), ultimately brought in £1,200. Also some funds were provided from the Somes’ Estate. The Schoolroom was opened November 26, 1857, hut it was not till the following year that the School, then numbering about fifty, moved into its new home. Since then, many additions have been made, the most noticeable being the big school-room built in 1863, from plans drawn by Mr. FitzGerald, and the College Chapel, opened October 23, 1867. The Chapel was built from the designs of Mr. Robert Speechly, resident architect of the Cathedral, and was partly paid for by the generosity of Archdeacon Wilson, then Bursar of the College, and was enlarged in 1883, by the addition of transepts and chancel,
Another notable addition was the Headmaster’s house, accommodating about sixty boarders, which was opened ​in 1909, and was the gift of old Christ’s College boys, a gift which may be taken as evidence that Christ’s College had already gathered round it traditions similar to those of the great public schools of England, traditions fostered by the formation of Christ’s College Old Boys’ Association, founded February 20, 1877, under the Presidency of Mr. George Harper. Like many of the Canterbury Association plans, the reality has moved on very different lines from those anticipated. The College is not in Cathedral Square, the Collegiate department, though doing good work, particularly in preparing candidates for ordination, has quite failed to become the predominant partner, but if the founders of the Association could new see the alma-mater they founded, they would have no cause for regret.
Associated with Christ’s College is also a “Lower Department,” formerly the Cathedral School, a preparatory school for the College from which the Cathedral Choir is supplied. It was established separately in 1881, but incorporated with Christ’s College in 1895.
Christ’s College was affiliated ta the University of New Zealand in 1873. Among other endowments may be noted an annual divinity prize, founded in 1879, by the Right Hon. A. J. Balfour.
The following is a list of the Headmasters:—
The Sumner Road was the first important undertaking completed in Canterbury. Captain Thomas chose the line as the most practicable route for communication between the Port and the Plains, but the work he started before the arrival of the pilgrims suffered many interruptions, and was not finished till August, 1857. During the first session of the Provincial Council in 1858, a committee, under the chairmanship of Mr. W. B. Bray, C.E., was set up to consider the completion of the road, and reported favourably, but suggested tunnelling under Evans’ Pass to avoid the rocks near the Zig-zag. Even at that early period railway communication between Port and Plains was being discussed, the alternative routes proposed including the one eventually adapted, and another starting from Gollan’s Bay via Evans’ Pass. But the time was premature for railway communication, and on December 27, 1854, the Provincial Council committed itself to the Sumner Road at an estimated cost of £12,000.
The Bridle Track route had also its supporters, and Mr. H. J. Gouland, the Provincial Secretary, made the quaint suggestion of a windlass at the top of the track, to be worked by bullocks, till circumstances permitted the construction of a tunnel. Another attempt (in 1856) to substitute the Bridle Track for the Sumner Road has already been referred to.
Eventually the road was constructed via Evans’ Pass without tunnelling, but in order to avoid the expense of considerable rock cutting, a wide deviation was made from the plans of Captain Thomas necessitating the steep Zig-zag on the Lyttelton side. Captain Thomas’ ​plan would have given a good trotting road all the way, and, when in 1914, the use of motors made it necessary to avoid the steep-gradients and sharp turns of the Zig-zag, the Government, in conjunction with the several local authorities interested, adopted the actual line pegged out by Captain Thomas some sixty-five years earlier—a remarkable endorsement of the Captain’s skill as an engineer.
The road was opened in picturesque fashion on August 24, by the Superintendent, and writing nearly fifty years afterwards, on the occasion of the Jubilee of Canterbury, Sir Charles Bowen described how Mr. FitzGerald “insisted on risking his own life and that of his friends by driving a tandem over the half finished Zig-zag. It was negotiated with the assistance of volunteer grooms hanging on to the horses’ heads, and a stalwart crowd hanging on to the dog-cart behind. The Provincial Secretary, who was an elderly gentleman, felt it his duty to accompany the Superintendent, and manfully stuck to his seat throughout; but it was reported that he had made his will the day before.” The Provincial Secretary referred ta was Mr. Gouland, mentioned above, and Sir Charles was himself a passenger, but got out at the top of the Zig-zag. The “circulating medium,” in which this journey was accomplished, was mentioned in the last chapter in connection with Bishop Harper’s arrival. A more detailed description of it has been supplied by Mr. Alfred Cox, in his “Recollections,” published in 1884: “A vehicle,” he wrote, “at once the delight of small boys and the terror of all horses. It had two wheels only; but such wheels! They towered to the level of the wall plates of the houses of that time—the thing resembled a timber carriage, with shafts instead of a pole. . . To drag it about two horses were absolutely required, and were yoked up tandem fashion. . . One of Mr. FitzGerald’s last drives before leaving Canterbury was over the Sumner Road to Lyttelton. .
​. . . It is said that on that occasion he was not assisted by more than two men at the head of each horse—but it is very difficult to get at the truth of these rumours.” At any rate, the Superintendent safely accomplished the journey, and was able to preside at the inevitable banquet which was held at Lyttelton.
The Band which accompanied the expedition was not so adventurous, and left their conveyance at Sumner, finishing the journey on foot.
The Superintendent announced that the road had cost less than £7,000. The Provincial Council had been dissolved (July 14), and the elections of a new Council and a new Superintendent were imminent. Mr. FitzGerald’s health did not permit him to seek re-election; it had prevented him from attending the previous Parliamentary session, and he had made up his mind to return to England. The opportunity was taken to appoint him Immigration Agent in London, where his services were greatly needed.
For the past two years Great Britain had been engaged first in the Crimean War, and then with the Indian Mutiny. The files of the Christchurch papers were full of stirring events, often to the exclusion of any local news. In them can be read the contemporary account of the Charge of the Light Brigade, and the horrors of Cawnpore. One effect of the troubles through which Great Britain was passing was to divert attention from the Colonies, and the tide of emigration almost ceased. Labour was badly wanted in Canterbury, and there was ample scope for Mr. FitzGerald’s energy in securing it. He sailed about the end of September amid very general regret. The “Lyttelton Times,” with which, in its early days, he had been so closely associated, declared in an appreciative article, that he belonged to the same dynasty as Mr. J. R. Godley.