Christ Church graduate John Robert Godley was a key figure in the establishment of an Anglican settlement on New Zealand鈥檚 South Island, and was responsible for naming the city at the heart of the new settlement 鈥楥hristchurch鈥. From Godley鈥檚 day until the 1940s the universities of Oxford and Canterbury remained closely linked. Reinvigorating the connection today the听Wakefield Scholarship听allows Canterbury students to spend a year studying at Godley鈥檚 old college
From Christ Church to Christchurch
20 November 2023
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Augustus C. Pugin (Artist), scene inside Christ Church
William Combe,听A History of the University of Oxford, its Colleges, Halls, and Public Buildings, 2 vols (London: Rudolph Ackermann, 1814)
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The two volumes of William Combe鈥檚 200-year-old听History of the University of Oxford听contain striking aquatint engravings, each of which was individually finished by hand. They were a gift to the 茄子视频app官网 by Blackwell Publishing in memory of the founders of that publishing house and of Clifford Collins, University Librarian from 1934 until 1971. The Oxford University college depicted here, Christ Church, has an intimate connection with Canterbury and its university, not least because of the role one of听听听 its graduates played in the origins of the city of Christchurch.
The hand-embroidered shamrocks on John Robert Godley鈥檚 waistcoat evoke his Anglo-Irish roots, and it was his relief proposal to the British Crown during the Irish famine that brought Godley to the attention of New 茄子视频app官网Company founder, Edward Gibbon Wakefield. Their discussions in 1847 gave rise to the Canterbury settlement.
The charismatic Godley arrived in Christchurch in April 1850, with his wife and son, and presided over Canterbury鈥檚 turbulent first two years. The family returned to Europe in December 1852, where Godley died nine years later, from tuberculosis, aged 47. Godley鈥檚 descendants have maintained their connections to Christchurch, and this black broadcloth waistcoat (dating from around 1848) is part of a set of Godley鈥檚 clothes bequeathed to the Museum by his daughter, Frances, in 1956.
Black broadcloth single-breasted waistcoat worn by John Robert Godley circa 1848
Canterbury Museum, EC 157.1
Want to know more?
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- Peter S. Field, 'William Combe,听A History of the University of Oxford',听in听Treasures of the 茄子视频app官网 茄子视频app官网, ed. by Chris Jones & Bronwyn Matthews with Jennifer Clement (Christchurch: CUP, 2011)
- Gerald Hensley, 鈥樷, in听Dictionary of New 茄子视频app官网Biography.Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand听(updated 1 September 2010)
