Emigrating to New Zealand 1865

[Helenlou]

I was wondering if there was anyone out there who could describe to me what the settlement around Lyttleton NZ would have been like in around 1865?
My g.g aunt Elizabeth Anstead left London aged 22yrs on board the 'Tudor' arriving in Lyttleton, I do not know where she would have lived but she married Walter Berry in 1866 and then John Olsen in 1870, in Ashburton. Her niece Emma Lofting had been writing to her after her own mother, my g. gran died. Emma decided to go to NZ and booked a passage on the ill fated Cospatrick but her father refused to sign the necessary papers, a lucky escape. He eventually signed and at the age of 17 she set sail on the 'Otaki' working her passage. She stayed with her aunt and uncle, apparently the district was newly settled and had not yet been named, it was decided to let Emma, its newest resident choose the name after the preacher held the weekly service. Some local youths got her to choose 'Taipo Flats', devils flats in Maori. She eventually married John Bayliss in 1883.
Now just how much of that is true I do not know but it's a nice story.
I would like to have a better understanding of the settlements and what these plucky young girls would have experienced, a steer towards any information would be gratefully recieved.
Many thanks Helen

[Jan1954]

Hello Helen,

Christchurch City Libraries have a copy of the first issue of the Lyttelton Times dated January 11th 1851, which is viewable online at:
christchurchcitylibraries.com/Heritage/Newspapers/LytteltonTimes/ (put https:// in front)

You may also find this entry on Wikipedia to be of interest.

[Helenlou]

Many thanks Jan for your help. It seems incredible to me that these ancestors had the courage to make such journeys, just goes to show how tough life probably was for them here. I forgot to add that the place Emma named was eventually called Springfield which is still a small place but that her aunt and uncle were amongst the first settlers. I wonder how they were recieved by the Maoris?
Thanks for your time cheers Helen

[Greenman]

Hey Helen,

I live in Christchurch NZ and I read your story with interest as my parents live in the small town of Springfield, Canterbury. There is also another area called Springfield near Rotorua in the North Island. I have never heard of Taipo flats before , so i wondered which one you were referring to.

If it is the Canterbury town, i will happily try to answer any queries you have, if i can, i'm even headed up there this weekend visiting.

Lyttelton is the port town of Christchurch, seperated by the port hills. It was quite a trek around or over them to Christchurch back then, so the Lyttelton rail tunnel was built. This was the first in NZ i beleive, and would of been in the process of construction around the mid 1860's. The following site has some info of the area and some useful links:

www.heritagecanterbury.org

Searching google images for Lyttleton harbour brings up a mix of recent and some quite old photos of the town.

Regards, Greenman

[Helenlou]

Hi Greenman
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. Yes the Springfield I am referring to is the Canterbury one and I am assuming that this was the area to be called Taipo Flats before it was decided to be inappropriate! Emma never did return home and had a number of children. I do not know whether they stayed in the area it certainly looks beautiful enough to ensure that people want to stay for a long time......
Emma's family are an interesting lot, her cousins son was Hugh Lofting the Dr Doolittle author his brother was Hilary Lofting who lived in Australia and wrote, other cousins married children of Blondin, the Niagra tightrope walker, so all in all a bit of an adventurous family.
I would like to find out if Emma was indeed an early settler in Springfield and to find out if any of the old homesteads still exist, I would be grateful for any information.
Kind Regards Helen

[Greenman]

Hey Helen,

i'm back from my visit to Springfield, where I made a few inquiries on your behalf.

There are several original buildings still standing in the township.The oldest seem to be 3 small buildings, known as the miner's cottages, which date from when the coal mine was built. Though the exact date i don't know atm.

My folks house dates from 1886, but we can not verify how much of it is original.

St Peters Church was built in 1885 and remains unchanged. Inside was an old photograph, undated unfortunatley, but showed a newish looking church with about 50 people standing in front. Must of been taken in the late 1800's and i wondered if your relatives were in it!
I am trying to find out more about the picture, but i did take a photo of it, which came out very well, and am happy to send you a copy along with photos i took of the other old buildings mentioned.

"Taipo Flats" has drawn a blank. Springfield was known earlier as Kowhai, but changed its name due to the nearby area of Kowhai Bush causing confusion. There is a Taipo river up in the nearby mountain range though.

I had a quick search at the library, where i found the references to the Lofting/Bayliss and Anstead/Berry marriages, but I need to make another visit to check the microfiches and to do further searches, as I ran out of time.

Hope this helps and PM me your email address if you want copies of the photos.

Regards Greenman

[Helenlou]

Hi Greenman
Many many thanks for all your help and time, we all sat down to a big family Sunday lunch las weekend and were talking about those two intrepid girls of ours, so it is lovely for us to know that someone has been there and 'trodden their boards' as it were.
The church story and photo may tie up with the story as we know it, in that the church was newly built and it was after the morning service and business of the day was completed that Emma, being the youngest and newest settler was invited to name or rename the settlement, the name Taipo or devil flats was supposed to have been suggested to her by some young Maori lads...not suitable of course and so she named it Springfield, or so family lore has it!!
Wouldn't it be amazing if she were in that photo?
I found out another surprising thing this week, I have been looking for the death of Thomas Lofting, Emma's brother for years now, he was a widower inthe 1911 census and I suddenly thought maybe he went out to visit Emma and bingo there he is dead in 1927 in NZ! I have sent for the death cert, what a small world though.
I will try and contact you with a PM but once again many many thanks
Kind Regards Helen

[IanLill]

Elizabeth Anstead was my great great great great grandmother. My grandmother mentions the naming incident in her memoirs. It was at Seafield just out of Ashburton that it happened. If you contact me ianlillATxtraDOTcoDOTnz I will send you the file

[David Tuson]

Many thanks Jan for your help. It seems incredible to me that these ancestors had the courage to make such journeys, just goes to show how tough life probably was for them here. I forgot to add that the place Emma named was eventually called Springfield which is still a small place but that her aunt and uncle were amongst the first settlers. I wonder how they were recieved by the Maoris?
Thanks for your time cheers Helen

Hi Helen
I have read this thread with interest. One of our ancestors arrived in Lyttleton in the 1840s and I have read numerous books about that part of New Zealand in particular the Banks Peninsular. I've also bought quite a few books describing the journeys those early settlers undertook. A couple of titles you may want to look out for:

Round the World Flying by Carol McNeill
The Immigrants (The great migration from Britain to New Zealand 1830 - 1890) by Tony Simpson

David