Interesting Facts About
Charleston
- Nurseryman and seedsman William Wilson, the first Mayor of Christchurch, was the first
European to cultivate the area incorporating Charleston, where he developed a nursery. He
was responsible for introducing gorse and twitch to New Zealand. He also claimed to have
introduced common broom. 1
- The old Cobb and Co stables were located at the railway end of Barbour Street.
- Te Waipounamu Maori Girls’ College was transferred from Ohoka to the former home of
the March family in Ferry Road. The family had established a beautiful garden there and
had owned ostriches.
- The College reopened on 28 May 1921. The carved Maori chapel was erected in June 1926
and dedicated nine months later. 2
- The Marshalls’ engineering workshop on Ferry Road was originally a forge and
wheelwright business owned by Mr Burt Canon. He shod horses and repaired wagons used for
work on the Lyttelton Rail Tunnel. Mrs Marshall printed all the aerogrammes for New
Zealand on a printing press at the back of the workshop until the mid- 1960s.
- Mrs Capells, formerly of Charleston, sparked the formation of the Charleston
Neighbourhood Group through her fight to stop the expansion of McVickers timber yard into
the neighbouring residential area.
1 GR MacDonald
Dictionary of Canterbury biographies, Canterbury Museum
2 Taylor, WA. 1952. Lore and history of the South Island Maori.
