The Press SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1935. The Pilgrims

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21656, 14 December 1935, Page 16

The Press SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1935. The Pilgrims

To-day the Canterbury Pilgrims’ and Early Settlers’ Association will celebrate the eightyfifth anniversary of the arrival of the First Four Ships at Lyttelton. Of those present at the celebrations only a few will be men and women who were passengers on those first ships sent out with settlers under the scheme of colonisation planned by the Canterbury Association; only two or three will be those who were already settled on Canterbury land when the First Four Ships arrived. Twenty years ago there were many still living to describe the long and uncomfortable journey from London, the shock of arriving at the mud-hut village in the land-locked harbour—known generously in those days by the three names, Victoria Harbour, Port Cooper, and Port Lyttelton—the greater shock of climbing steeply to the top of the Bridle path to look down upon a flat expanse of tawny-coloured swamp lands, and the hardships, struggles, and developments of the first few years. Now there are no-longer any of these pioneer pilgrims with us; we have to rely on second-hand reminiscences if we want to extend our knowledge of those most interesting early years, the years both before and after the arrival of the Charlotte Jane, the Randolph, the Sir George Seymour, and the Cressy. In 15 years we shall celebrate the centenary of the foundation of the province; but long before 1950 we shall celebrate hundredth anniversaries of first arrivals to various parts of the Peninsula. In April, 1936, for instance, it will be 100 years since Captain George Hemplemann established his first shore whaling station in Port Cooper (Lyttelton Harbour, on the south side). Four years later there will be the anniversary of the French settlement at Akaroa in 1840. Will these anniversaries be marked merely by tea parties, garden parties, and.the laying of commemorative stones? Or will tha Canterbury Pilgrims’ and Early Settlers’ Association make each anniversary the occasion for further useful and lasting work? Members of the association have assembled an interesting collection of museum and library articles—pictures, books, models, plans, and maps; they have cared for stones and monuments; and they have made the association fulfil its purpose of keeping pioneers, passengers on the First Four Ships, and their descendants in close touch with' one another. But it is still not too late to do even more; it is still possible to find fresh and extremely interesting information about the lives of the pioneers, or at least it is possible and. desirable to attempt to find this new material. Among the relatives and descendants of the pioneers and the pilgrims are those who have letters, records, notes, and other items of the first importance. If original materials such as these could be collected and collated it is certain that much of interest and value could be added to what is already known of the history of Canterbury. Members of the Pilgrims’ Association are never tired of extolling the courage, the industry, and the perseverance of the earliest settlers in Canterbury; but the spoken word is soon forgotten. Each year on December 16 there is a gathering at the stone that marks the landing place of the pilgrims; but for the rest of the year the stone goes unnoticed. Spoken praise and slabs of stone will not do justice to the memory of the founders of Canterbury; only a detailed and accurate account of their pioneering will serve as a perpetual and honourable monument to their endeavour. Already much valuable and interesting work has been done by individuals —the names of Acland, Andersen, Hay, Jacobson, Pratt, and Wigram are only a few among the many connected with the writing of Canterbury history—but this is the kind of work that can be done best under the direction and with the help of an organisation which keeps in, close touch with the sources of information. Here is a valuable and proper task for the Canterbury Pilgrims’ and Early Settlers’ Association. Its members will meet to-day. There will not be a better opportunity for putting the work in hand until another year has gone by; and by that time at least one centenary date will be in the past. Procrastination has robbed us of records of the most exciting interest for those who care about the lives and work of the whalers, the “ Pre-Adamites ” '(those who were here before organised settlement began), the Pilgrims, the Prophets, and the Shagroons, who began the building of an agricultural and industrial Canterbury out of bushed hills and swampy plains. It is not too late for the association still to rescue and make permanent much historical material, but soon it will be too late.