# The Story of Christchurch, New Zealand/Foreword

Foreword.
Christchurch, the Cathedral City of New Zealand.
It is a far cry from the ancient cathedral cities of the Old Land, hoary with years and traditions, to a busy colonial town, raised in little more than half a century, in the midst of a tussock-covered plain. Yet, as the years roll by, something, perchance, of the stately repose of Salisbury, or of Chichester, may attach itself to our Cathedral City of the South. The story of its beginning is a story of the high resolves and great achievements of earnest, religious men in the early Victorian age. They dreamed of a new settlement to be peopled by sons and daughters of the Church of England, a chosen band, to pioneer the cause of religion and education in the vast unoccupied territories of the Southern Seas. In imagination, no doubt, they saw something of the future of these unpeopled lands, the teeming population to come, and the danger that in the struggle and turmoil of colonisation some of the better attributes of civilisation might be left behind. How far the dream of this little band of pilgrims was realised, how far their noble ambitions were fulfilled, we shall see as we proceed, but whether there has been success or failure, the glow of inspiration still remains, and beyond the plain, no longer a sea of tussock, we yet may see the snowy mountains in the distance.
The ambition of the dreamers was to plant a Church of England settlement in a new land; its leaders, the best the Church of England could send; its rank and file selected members of that Church, and there were to be ​special endowments for religious and educational purposes.
The first reference to the proposed settlement is found in the annual report of the New Zealand Company, in 1843, and there can be little question that the suggestion emanated from the fertile mind of Edward Gibbon Wakefield. For some years the idea lay dormant, but it was quickened in 1847 by the meeting at Great Malvern of Mr. Wakefield and John Robert Godley. Fate, destiny, Providence, call it what you will, was present at that meeting, but for which this story would never have been written. Mr. Godley left Great Malvern with a new ideal for his life’s work. Gifted above most men, and fired by intense enthusiasm, he gave his best to the new cause. Personal magnetism, strong character, social influence and the gift of language, enabled him to gather round him a group of influential men, and the Canterbury Association was formed.
Captain Thomas was sent out to select the site for the new settlement. The Association was singularly fortunate in its choice of this officer, for he proved both far-sighted in his selection and staunch in his opinions. The selection itself has been justified by the test of more than sixty-five years of experience and expansion, and it is now interesting to recall that Captain Thomas adhered to his choice in the face of the powerful influence exercised by Governor Sir George Grey in favour of an inland site in the Wairarapa.
Then came the sailing of the pilgrims, a story of strength and purpose, of effort and achievement, intensely interesting, but difficult for us who, “like Ariel, post o’er land and sea with careless parting,” to fully understand and appreciate. Giant steamers, cables, wireless telegraphy, railways, motor-cars, and air craft obstruct our view. We are as far removed from the Port Cooper of 1850 as was the England of that day from the period of good Queen Bess and Sir Walter Raleigh.
​The pilgrims who set sail in September, 1850, in ships of 700 to 800 tons needed stout hearts. They were to make their home in a distant country, of which little was known, and the horror of the Wairau massacre and similar tragedies must have been fresh in their minds. Undismayed by the perils and hardships that beset their path, they set out in high hope to subdue the wilderness and to realise their dream, taught by the successes and warned by the failure of earlier pioneers in other lands. Their destiny was in their own hands; they were still to remain under the old flag, but were to have self-government, and with it the priceless boons of greater individual freedom and wider opportunity than were possible in the overcrowded countries of Europe.
Apart altogether from its religious aspect, the central idea of the new settlement naturally attracted courageous, self-reliant, and thoughtful men. Thence it is, that, although Christchurch is no longer exclusively a Church of England city, its people of all denominations are proud of its history, and still do honour to those sturdy pilgrims who made its first chapters and did much to mould its later ones.