Places

Date: 1843 - 1851

By: Cridland, Henry John, 1821-1867; Burnand, William Henry, active 1843-1850s; Turnbull, Alexander Horsburgh, 1868-1918

Reference: A-195-017

Description: A naive watercolour of the Deans brothers' farmhouse and outbuildings, viewed from across the "Avon or Shakspear River", with horses, cows and sheep in the foreground, a log bridge, a man (presumably one of the Deans brothers) with a dog under a tree. The house is red, with a second storey with dormer window, a rain barrel below the downpipe from the roof. The outbuildings to the right of the house appear to be thatched stables, are open at the front and shelter a horse and three carts. Trees are roughly indicated behind the house. On the verso are holograph notes about Banks' Peninsula, copied from Duppa, Daniels [?] and Tyrell and from Captain [William Mein] Smith about Port Cooper (Lyttelton) and its merits for settlement versus those of Akaroa. Dating: William Deans was drowned in 1851, a fact that is not mentioned here, suggesting, along with the general tone of the notes, that this drawing may have been completed before then, although the two-storied building on the site was not completed until 1856. Other material from the same source was produced about 1850 or 1851. William Mein Smith's report was completed about 1843. The page has been removed from a notebook. The author of the notes (and artist) appears to be somebody associated with the Canterbury Association. The first two-storied house at Deans' property was built in 1856, when Jane Deans built a larger house on the site in preparation for the arrival of her brother and his family. The house shown here may be the 1856 north-east section, the earliest part of modern Riccarton House. Other sections were added in 1874 and 1900, resulting in a much larger building. One possible artist is John Henry Cridland, whose other drawings from the same source are quite naive. However another drawing by him of the Deans' property (neg MNZ 1215 1/4 - 'Riccarton, November 1850' - Hocken Library) is very different in style from this one. Identification: The building shown appears to be a roughly-drawn version of the first two-storied house on the site, completed in 1856. Other drawings of the same building appear as Plate 5 and Plate 14 (the latter by Robert Park) in Pioneers on Port Cooper Plains. The Deans family of Riccarton and Homebush by John Deans (Christchurch, 1964). Inscriptions: Recto - top centre - [title in ink as above, with "only 50 Godley" in pencil in another hand]; Recto - centre right - [in river, in pencil]: Avon or Shakspear River.; Verso - [in ink, page covered in text] Quantity: 1 watercolour(s). Physical Description: Ink and watecolour on laid paper 310 x 198 mm Provenance: Originally tipped in to a volume of The New Zealand Journal, ca 1852, from Alexander Horsburgh Turnbull's collection. Prior to acquisition by Alexander Turnbull the volumes had belonged to W H Burnand.

Date: 1850 - 1851

By: Fox, William, 1812-1893; Cridland, Henry John, 1821-1867; Burnand, William Henry, active 1843-1850s

Reference: A-195-015

Description: View of Lyttelton Habour from the Bridle Path, on the hills above the town. The first four ships are in port, with passengers leaving the Cressy via a wharf and walking up into the town. Several large buildings are near the water's edge, including immigration barracks, John Robert Godley's house and the offices of the Lyttelton Times newspaper just below the hill on the left. The Sumner Road is formed. Other small houses and tents are dotted around. Immigrants are carrying baggage and some have wheeled carts. A family is greeting a man building his house in the left foreground and a clothes line is in the right foreground. A building on the far right is marked in pencil "C Store H" [?]. On the verso is a schematic map of the location of Christchurch, showing the River Courtney (Waimakariri), Papanui Bush, the Avon River and Riccarton with William and John Deans' property, notes about land purchases and a list of names of land-owning Canterbury settlers. Possibly Fox's original drawing for the etching entitled "Port Lyttelton. Passengers by the Cressy landing" published in 'Four Illustrative Views of the Canterbury Settlement" in 1851. However the style suggests that it may be a copy of the etching by H. J. Cridland - cf A-195-016, especially the foreshortening of perspective and the manner of drawing people. A watercolour in the Hocken Library by Fox entitled "Port Lyttelton. Immigrants luggage disembarking, Jan 1851" is also similar. Other Titles - Lyttelton Inscriptions: Recto - top centre - [title in ink]; Recto - bottom left - Office of the Lyttleton Times [in pencil]; Verso - [notes and a map in pencil, ink and watercolour] Quantity: 1 drawing(s). Physical Description: Ink on blue laid paper 204 x 322 mm Provenance: Originally tipped in to Alexander Horsburgh Turnbull's bound copy of the New Zealand Journal. Before being acquired by Turnbull, the volumes had belonged to W H Burnand.