NEWS FOR WOMEN Harper Family Centenary Held At Bishopscourt

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28153, 17 December 1956, Page 2

NEWS FOR WOMEN Harper Family Centenary Held At Bishopscourt

On Christmas Day, 1956, the Rt. Rev. !H. J. C. Harper was installed in St. i Michael’s Church as first Bishop of i Christchurch and so began a great I chapter in the history of the Church of England and the Province of Canterbury. When 300 descendants of Bishop Harper and Mrs Harper met at Bishopscourt for the Harper family centenary on Saturday, they were reminded of the noble example set by their eminent ancestor by the present Bishop of Christchurch (the Rt. Rev. A. K. Warren).

“We need the traditions of Bishop Harper today and if you can catch some of your distinguished forbear’s spirit, you will be doing a service for New Zealand.’’ Bishop Warren said. On the terrace in the beautiful grounds of Bishopscourt. Park terrace, on the site of the first Bishop’s residence. descendants enacted by five tableaux incidents in the life of Bishop Harper and his family. Though only a few rehearsals had been held, and then only once were all the players able to attend, the tableaux caught the atmosphere of gracious though primitive colonial times. Actors and actresses wore authentic period dress, but more important than this, they seemed to be aware that they were representing ancestors of whom they had reason to be proud. Many in the audience noticed too, the resemblance in profile of the man who took the part of the Rt. Rev. H. J. C. Harper to old pictures of the first Bishop of Christchurch. Incidents Enacted The tableaux began with the arrival of Bishop Harper, his wife, six daughters and three of his sons at Lyttelton on December 23, 1856. Here they were welcomed by Bishop Selwyn and Mr Leonard Harper, who had arrived in New Zealand with his brother Charles two years earlier. The scene ended with the party beginning their walk to Christchurch, which took them over the Bridle Path. At Heathcote. they were driven to a small i house, on the site of the Canterbury Public Library, where they lived until the first. Bishopscourt was built. Next came the first double wedding i in the Harper family, and the brides.,

wearing lovely old lace wedding gowns, represented Miss Mary Harper, who married Mr Charles Blakiston, and Miss Ellen Harper who married Mr Charles Tripp. One of Bishop Harper’s chief interests was in the schools being formed in Canterbury. The third tableau showed the Bishop laying the foundation stone of Christ’s College. The Bishop’s diocese included Canterbury, Otago, Southland and the West Coast and less than two years after his arrival in Christchurch he began his long missionary tours, mainly on horseback over rough country and across unbridged rivers. The fourth tableau showed the Bishop taking a service in the Corinthian Hall. Hokitika, the only building of any size in the town, used for meetings, as a hotel, and on this occasion as a church. That was in the days of the gold rush on the West Coast, when it was important that a man’s spiritual needs should not be forgotten. Bishop With Children As a reminder of the Bishop’s interest in children the fifth tableau—in two parts—showed him playing cricket with a great grandchild and grand children at Mount Peel. This was the occasion of Bishop and Mrs Harper’s golden wedding anniversary. The second scene was of the bishop with his hundredth descendant, Municent Hanmer, and her mother. Thb child was born just two years before his death in December. 1893. He himself chose the name “Municent” which means “one hundred gift.” The Band of the First Canterbury Regiment played appropriate music for the tableaux. Of the 300 descendants present 183 Were adults and 117 children, ranging in ages from 94 years to a child in arms. After the tableaux, Mr John Harper (Methven), who is the eldest grandson of the eldest son of Bishop Harper, welcomed “the family” and cut a large centenary cake. After the garden party at Bishopscourt, about 180 members of the family attended a buffet dinner at Christ’s College dining-hall. Yesterday morning, the descendants of Bishop Harper attended matins at the Christchurch Cathedral.