tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1269154103766812046.post7387740550085802722..comments2024-03-17T10:09:54.614+13:00Comments on Canterbury Heritage: The Oldest Building in CanterburyMarcus Castellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02572498225080723498noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1269154103766812046.post-78561553514905877482009-07-15T18:44:17.692+12:002009-07-15T18:44:17.692+12:00The newspaper's claim should have read the old...The newspaper's claim should have read the oldest surviving European building in Canterbury, as the true distinction belongs to George Hempleman, who set up permanent residence when he bought 2,650 acres on the southern side of Banks Peninsula in March, 1837. But flimsy construction, the vagaries of tribal warfare and lack of documentary records probably helped to rule out possible Maori claims regarding earlier premanent dwellings. The whaler Captain L'Anglois bought 30,000 acres at Akaroa from the Maori in August, 1838, but European settlement there didn't commence until August, 1840.<br /><br />An Opawaho Pa (or fortified village) inside the later Christchurch city limits, like the claim for Puari Pa within the environs of the cultural precinct, is not supported by either archaeological or documenatry evidence and should not be viewed as any more than a current fashion in politically correct folklore.<br /><br />The Maori historian, interpreter and translator, the Reverend Canon James West Stack (1835 -1919) of Kaiapoi, collected the the legends and folklore of the pre-European Maori of Canterbury, publishing them as <i>Traditional History of the South Island Maoris</i> in <i>The Transactions and Proceedings of the New Zealand Institute</i> in 1877. He wrote of the tidal reach of the Heathcote River being known to the Maori as Opawaho, with a seasonal fishing station occupying a site on the north bank near the mouth of the river. There appear to be no other references to Opawaho in early documents<br /><br />Likewise the Maori name for Christchurch as being Otautahi may also be regarded as spurious. Stack recounts that Otaitahi (sic) was the name of a Ngai Tahu chief, whose grave was adjacent to a seasonal Raupo whare on the north bank of the Avon, close to an artesian spring beside where the Barbadoes Street bridge is now sited. John Deans wrote of it being in a derelict condition in mid 1842.<br /><br />Subsequent documentary records of the geographical name of Otautahi commence from 1892, when chief Tairoa of Taumutu refers to the entire Canterbury district as Otautahi (his father had sold the South Island to a couple of Europeans for £500 in February, 1840) and the Maori name was still being applied to all of Canterbury in 1906.<br /><br />Claim that Mr CH's knowledge being greater on such matters than yours is equally spurious. However, thanks to the joys of Information Science and exclusive access to a consequent application, said sleuth is able to readily extract historical information on a scale not previously possible.Marcus Castellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02572498225080723498noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1269154103766812046.post-34839656425981225642009-07-15T12:05:56.223+12:002009-07-15T12:05:56.223+12:00Oldest building in Canterbury or Christchurch? And...Oldest building in <i>Canterbury</i> or Christchurch? And <i>pakeha</i> building?<br /><br />Surely whalers & farmers on Banks Peninsula, for example, built a few structures before 1840. And at Lyttelton?<br /><br />And, sorry to get all PC on you, but surely whares at Akaroa and Kaiapoi, Kaikoura etc would count as even older buildings that were permanent structures? The jury might be out on Opawaho pa inside later Chch city limits since by its very name it was a seasonal outpost (waho) so perhaps didn't have permanent structures.<br /><br />Mr CH's knowledge is greater on such matters than mine, so I'm prepared to yield on the matter. Just asking... Sorry to be a nitpicker.kuakahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01475437546479502512noreply@blogger.com