Places of Christchurch

Which places can I learn about?

Here are some places in Christchurch you could find out about:

Tips: These are just some examples of places you could research. You may have somewhere different you're interested in finding out about. Just use the place name as your search terms in the resources below.

Christchurch resources

Here are some collections and websites from Christchurch you can use to find out about Christchurch places.

Christchurch City Libraries

Christchurch City Libraries has a whole section of their website dedicated to the history of Christchurch places. To find it:

• Select Explore along the top of the page.

• Then choose Places, which is under the Local History heading.

• The Buildings page has information about important buildings.

• Local History fact files include information about different areas of Christchurch, and some of the well known people who used to live there.

• Public Places is where to find information about places like parks, hospitals, malls, and places where people in the past had fun.

• Christchurch Street and Place Names is a great resource because it gives you the history of the name of local place names. You can find out who or what your street, suburb or local park is named after. All of the streets and places are listed alphabetically.

Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu

This is the official website of Ngāi Tahu, and has lots of information covering topics like culture and environment across Ngāi Tahu's rohe, which covers most of the South Island.

• Explore the tabs along the top of the page to find your way around.

• Or, you can use the search feature at the top of the page to enter keywords.

Kareao

This is the official website of the Ngāi Tahu Archive. Here you can find all sorts of resources, including primary sources.

• You can use the tabs along the top of the page to find things like Biographies, Maps, Ngā Taonga Kōrero (audio and videos) and Photographs.

• Or, you can use the search feature to enter keywords.

• Remember to use the Search Filters to select Digital Results Only.

Tī Kōuka Whenua

Tī kōuka are also known as cabbage trees, which were used as landmarks by Māori, and Tī Kōuka Whenua means 'the land of the cabbage trees'. This is the part of Christchurch City Libraries' website where you can find information about the Māori history of Christchurch.

• Select Tī Kōuka Whenua Map from the menu, and then zoom in.

• Each image of a tī kōuka (a cabbage tree) links to more information about that area.

• Another way to explore is to select the Index of sites.

• Here you can choose what type of place you want to look at, like Landmarks and Waterways, Marae, or Pā sites.

Kā Huru Manu

This is the Ngāi Tahu Cultural Mapping Project, a website where you can find the traditional Māori place names, and the stories behind those names, within the Ngāi Tahi rohe. This includes areas in Christchurch as well as other parts of the South Island.

• First, select View the Atlas in the top right corner of the screen.

• Then you will see a map, which is covered in green diamonds, blue and green lines, and red areas. Zoom in and select any of these to find out more about each place.

• You can also enter an address or place in the search bar.

• Look at the References for each place for tips to find more information. Some of these references will be books that are available through your local library.

Tips: Websites that have .com or .co in the address can have good information, but you need to assess how reliable it is. Check the About us link on this website to find out that this website is run by by the Ngāi Tahu Archive Team alongside the 18 Ngāi Tahu Papatipu Rūnaka, and under the guidance of Te Pae Kōrako, so we know the information is trustworthy.

CanterburyStories

This is a great website to look for images, information, and digitised (online) publications from Christchurch and Canterbury.

• To find information about places, select Exhibitions Ngā Whakaaturanga at the top of the page.

• One good exhibition to look at is Places of Christchurch.

• Another way to use this website is to put your keywords into the search engine at the top of page. Use the name of the place you are researching as a keyword to see what you can find.

Tips: CanterburyStories is run by Christchurch City Libraries. If we look all the way down to the bottom of the page we can see their logo.

Tips: Websites like these can be good for looking at how things have continued or changed over time. Remember, stories can be told in different ways so it’s helpful to look at multiple information sources to find different perspectives.

Canterbury Museum Collections Online

The Canterbury Museum has over 150 000 items available online including pictures and objects.

• Select the Search button or look down the page for the search box.

• Enter in the name of a place.

• Select an item to get more details.

Matapopore

Matapopore is in charge of making sure that Ngāi Tahu and Ngāi Tūāhuriri voices and values are included in the rebuild of Christchurch after the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. They have worked on lots of projects in the central city area, and their website is a great way to find out about the Māori history of these places, like Victoria Square, or the Ōtākaro Avon River.

• Select Project Sheets along the top of the page.

• Then, choose a building or an area you want to know more about, and select it to read more.

Tips: Websites that have .com or .co in the address can have good information, but you need to assess how reliable it is. Check the About us link on the website. That can tell you what the company’s mission and values are. From here we can tell that Matapopore was established by Te Ngāi Tūāhuriri Rūnanga.

Rehua Marae

Te Whatu Manawa Māoritanga o Rehua Marae is a community based marae in Christchurch. This website has information about it's history.

• Select the tab History.

General New Zealand resources

These websites have information about the histories of places in New Zealand Aotearoa, including Christchurch.

Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand

Te Ara is an excellent starting point for all questions about New Zealand Aotearoa, including Christchurch. If we look down to the bottom of the page we can see that the website belongs to the Ministry for Culture & Heritage, so the information is well-researched and reliable.

• To find information about Christchurch, go to Stories A-Z, choose C.

• You can find information about Christchurch under both Canterbury Places or

  Canterbury region, so explore both of them to see what you can find.

• You can also do a keyword search on Te Ara, using the search box at the top of the page.

Tips: Search words, or keywords, are the most important words in our question. Usually it’s better to leave out small words like ‘the’, ‘a’ and ‘of’ and just choose the main ones, eg Christchurch. We can always change our keywords or add more if we need to.

NZHistory

NZHistory is a great website for information about New Zealand Aotearoa. If we go all the way down the page we can see that the website belongs to the Ministry for Culture & Heritage, so the information is well-researched and reliable.

• To find information on Christchurch, first choose Places at the top of the page.

• Then choose Canterbury.

• Then you can choose Christchurch.

• You can also choose a specific area of Christchurch to look at too eg Addington, Halswell, Linwood, or Waltham, so have a look down the list and see if you can spot your area.

• There are also links to events in Christchurch and biographies of Christchurch people.

NZHistory - Memorials Register

This part of NZHistory's website is dedicated to memorials all over the country. This includes memorials to different wars, but also memorials to people like Robert Scott, and disasters like the Ballantynes' Fire and the Christchurch earthquakes.

• From the list, choose Canterbury memorials map.

• Then you can zoom in to your area and search for memorials near you. Each coloured pin represents a different memorial.

• Select a pin and you will see its name. Select its name to be taken to a page with pictures and more information.

Tips: NZHistory is a great website for information about New Zealand Aotearoa. If we go all the way down the page we can see that the website belongs to the Ministry for Culture & Heritage, so the information is well-researched and reliable.

Papers Past - Newspapers

The Papers Past website has a collection of early New Zealand newspapers that have been digitised. To use this website to find information about Christchurch people, places and events you can:

• Browse newspapers by going to the tab By Region then selecting All regions and choosing Canterbury to find a list of Canterbury newspapers.

• Enter your keywords into the search bar and filter by date and title.

• Limit your search to Ngā Tānga Reo Māori only to find titles printed in te reo Māori.

Tips: We like sites like this because they’re reliable. You can tell because of their web address – they have .govt meaning they are from government organisations. They’re also New Zealand sites, so relevant for us.

Papers Past - Magazines and Journals

Papers Past also has magazines. To find information about Christchurch people, places and events you can search all magazines or search individual titles like Te Ao Hou.

• Open the search bar at the top left and enter your keywords.

• Try 'Christchurch' or 'Otautahi' to find articles that mention Christchurch.

• Or you can enter search words like the name of a person, place, or event.

• Please note, this website does not recognise macrons.

Tips: Search words, or keywords, are the most important words in our question. Usually it’s better to leave out small words like ‘the’, ‘a’ and ‘of’ and just choose the main ones. We can always change our keywords or add more if we need to.

DigitalNZ

DigitalNZ is a search site that focuses on New Zealand history and brings together results from lots of different websites. It’s an easy way of searching online resources from New Zealand libraries, museums, universities and government sites all at once, and has lots of primary sources.

• Enter your keywords into the search bar.

• You can choose images, videos, newspapers, articles, research papers and more.

Tips: Websites that have .org in the address can have good information, but you need to assess how reliable it is. Check the About us link on this website. That can tell you what the organisation’s mission and values are.

Rārangi Kōrero | New Zealand Heritage List

This is part of the Heritage New Zealand website. It is a record of place-based heritage in New Zealand.

• To browse places, under Local Authorities select Christchurch City.

• Then select the Show listings button to see all the places.

• You also have the option to use filters to search by keywords, list types or show listings.

New Zealand Gazetteer

This is a tool on the Toitū Te Whenua | Land Information New Zealand website where you can search for place names in New Zealand. Some places will tell you where the name came from, or other names a place may have had.

• Enter a place name into the search bar.

• Names in bold are an official place name.

• Look in the Details section for history or meaning of the name.

Ko Taku Reo | Deaf Education New Zealand

This is the website for Ko Taku Reo, the provider of education services for Deaf and hard of hearing children in New Zealand. It has information about it's history including the Van Asch Deaf Education Centre.

• Go to About us at the top of the page and choose Our history.

• Select History of van Asch for a timeline.

Books

For any Māori topic you are researching, visit Tūranga, the central library in Christchurch, and look at Waruwarutū on Tuakiri, Level 2. This is where you will find the Ngā Pounamu Māori collection. There is a special reference collection here called Ngā rākau teitei e iwa, the Ngāi Tahu collection, which holds books by and about Ngāi Tahu.

As well as these resources, check out your school or local public library for books. You can ask for help finding books on specific suburbs or areas, or have a look through some titles we have found:

• Christchurch changing : an illustrated history by Geoffrey Rice.

• City and peninsula, the historic places of Christchurch and Banks Peninsula : Otautahi and Horomaka by John Wilson et al.

• Grand narratives by Te Maire Tau et al.

• Panau : the archaeology of a Banks Peninsula Māori village, by Chris Jacomb.

• Place names of Banks Peninsula and the Port Hills by Gordon Ogilvie.

• The runaway settlers by Elsie Locke.

• Te Wai Pounamu : the greenstone island : a history of the Southern Maori during the European colonialization of New Zealand by Harry Evison.

• Te pou herenga waka o Rehua : the story of Rehua Hostel and Marae : the first 50 years by Claire Kaahu White.

More about Christchurch