A group of adults and children in period costume during a re-enactment celebrating the centennial of the arrival of the first four ships in Lyttelton Harbour, and the landing of the passengers on shore, December 1950.
Canterbury Centennial re-enactment, Lyttelton, 1950
First four ships re-enactment, 1950
Re-enactment of the landing of the first four ships, 1950
Canterbury is a Hundred – is a 2-part short film produced in 1950 by the National Film Unit to mark Canterbury’s centennial.
“in one brief century they’ve turned the wilderness into fertile farms and built their red-roofed homes”
Click to view the short film – Canterbury is a Hundred
Start of the Wellington to Lyttelton yacht race on 23 January 1951.
Centennial yacht race ends in tragedy
Twenty yachts left Wellington bound for Lyttelton in an ocean yacht race to celebrate Canterbury’s centenary. A race had been sailed the opposite way in 1940 to celebrate the capital’s centenary. It was expected that the yachts would take between 1½ and 5 days to complete the journey. But a severe southerly storm on 24 January saw most vessels withdraw from the race or be disqualified for using their engines. Only Tawhiri officially finished the race. Two yachts, Husky and Argo, were lost along with their 10 crew members.
Read more on this story here
Photos courtesy of Christchurch City Libraries ‘Discovery Wall’
Contributor: Mary Boyle
Source: Entry in the 2014 Christchurch City Libraries Photo Hunt
Reference ID: CCL-PH14-174
Uploaded by: Christchurch City Libraries
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