page_title: Akaroa
section_title: French settlement
hierarchical_section_title: Akaroa / History / French settlement
caption_attribution_description: English: Langlois-Etevenaux Cottage, Akaroa (c.1843) One of the oldest surviving houses in Canterbury, the Langlois-Eteveneaux Cottage (71 Rue Lavaud, Akaroa) was built in the early 1840s by Aimable Langlois. In 1858 the cottage passed to Jean-Pierre Eteveneaux, another French settler. Once thought to have been prefabricated in France, the cottage was built of NZ native timbers. But it owes its more sophisticated French styling to a remodelling around 1900 by Jean-Baptiste Eteveneaux, Jean-Pierre’s son. Jean-Baptiste gave the cottage a French look – with louvred shutters, rudimentary pilasters and elegant transom windows. In 1963-64, the cottage was shorn of later additions, returned to its original two-room size and furnished with French furniture. Its age, and its being refurbished “in the French style” in the early 20th century, make the cottage Akaroa’s most important reminder of its French origins. NZHPT Category I; registration 264.
context_page_description: Akaroa is a small town on Banks Peninsula in the Canterbury region of the South Island of New Zealand, situated within a harbour of the same name. The name Akaroa is Kāi Tahu Māori for "Long Harbour", which would be spelled "Whangaroa" in standard Māori. The area was also named Port Louis-Philippe by French settlers after the reigning French king Louis Philippe I.
  The town is 84 kilometres by road from Christchurch and is the terminus of State Highway 75. It is set on a sheltered harbour and is overlooked and surrounded by the remnants of a miocene volcano. Akaroa is entirely dependent upon rainfall on the hills.
  Akaroa is a popular resort town. Many Hector's dolphins may be found within the harbour, and 'swim with the dolphins' boat tours are a major tourist attraction. In the 2013 New Zealand census, the permanent population was 624, an increase of 9.5% since 2006. The town has a high ratio of residents aged over 65.
  Ōnuku marae, a marae of Ngāi Tahu and its Ōnuku Rūnanga branch, is located in Akaroa. It includes the Karaweko wharenui.
context_section_description: In 1838 Captain Jean François Langlois made a provisional purchase of land in "the greater Banks Peninsula" from 12 Kāi Tahu chiefs. A deposit of commodities in the value of £6 was paid and a further £234 worth of commodities was to be paid at a later period.
  On his return to France, Langlois advertised for settlers to go to New Zealand, and ceded his interest in the land to the Nanto-Bordelaise Company, of which he became a part-owner. On 9 March 1840, 63 emigrants left from Rochefort. The settlers embarked for New Zealand on the Comte de Paris, an old man-of-war ship given to them by the French government. The Comte de Paris and its companion ship the Aube, captained by Commodore Charles-François Lavaud, arrived in the Bay of Islands in the North Island on 11 July 1840, where they discovered that during their voyage the British had claimed Banks Peninsula. The French arrived in Akaroa Harbour on 18 August and established a settlement centred on the present-day site of Akaroa.
  Given that the French colonists had set out for New Zealand on the assumption that they owned the land, the New Zealand authorities made a grant of 30,000 acres to the Nanto-Bordelaise Company, which ceded all rights to the peninsula for ₤4,500.
  Before 1840, the area of the current Akaroa town was also known as Wangaloa. The French at first called their settlement Port Louis-Philippe in honour  of Louis Philippe I, who reigned as King of the French from 1830 to 1848.
  The area still shows a French influence, prominent in many local place names. It is the oldest town in Canterbury and one of the most historic places in New Zealand.
caption: Langlais-Eteveneaux Cottage, Akaroa (built c. 1843)
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