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Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger ‘Farewell Breakfast’ Speech – 20 July 2025
Transcript of the speech given by the The Mayor, Phil Mauger, at the lunch which was held to celebrate the ’30th July 1850 Farewell Breakfast in London’
Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you so much for inviting me and my wife Chrissy here to spend a bit of time with you today. It’s a great occasion.
Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger
I’d like to begin by acknowledging
• your President, Beverley Bolland
• Reverend John McLister, Vicar of St Saviour’s at Holy Trinity, Lyttelton
• and all of you gathered here today.
I am delighted to be here with you as we reflect on the remarkable journey that brought our ancestors to these shores and shaped the foundation of Canterbury.
Today’s luncheon is so much more than just a meal: it’s a tribute to those early settlers who, in 1850, left behind everything they knew in search of a better life.
They boarded ships with unfamiliar names—Charlotte Jane, Randolph, Sir George Seymour, and Cressy—but with a very familiar dream: to build a future for themselves and their families.
These were, largely, not people of privilege. Most were workers—craftsmen, labourers, farmers—who saw in New Zealand not just a faraway land, but a new beginning. They were faced with much uncertainty. Yet they stayed, they built, they endured.
So today is inspired by the farewell breakfasts once held aboard the Randolph—one for the Canterbury Association’s leadership, and another for the passengers.
It’s the latter we honour today—the legacy of these passengers that lives on and is woven into the very fabric of Canterbury.
Many of you here are direct descendants of those early settlers. Their determination lives on—not only in you, but in the foundations they laid. Though much of their work was damaged or lost in the earthquakes, their spirit and vision can still be felt in our city.
So let’s remember them not just with gratitude, but with purpose. Because their story is a powerful reminder of the strength we find in community, and the enduring value of hope.
These qualities—resilience, unity, and optimism—have continued to define Cantabrians through every challenge we’ve faced. From tragedy to recovery, from hardship to growth, we’ve carried their legacy forward.
The lessons learned by those who left England in 1850 in search of a better life have become the values that shape us today. And for those of us fortunate enough to call Canterbury home, those values are part of who we are.
So thank you for your commitment to ensuring their stories aren’t forgotten, and thank you for being here today.