First Four Ships website

The First Four Ships carried the Canterbury Association’s first settlers. The Association, founded in 1848 and guided by Edward Gibbon Wakefield and John Robert Godley, imagined the founding of an Anglican Church settlement in New Zealand comprising a cross-section of English society. In late 1848, the Association’s land surveyors found what they considered the ideal site for the proposed settlement of Canterbury and its chief town, Christchurch (originally, the Wairarapa was to be the site). In May 1849, official sanction was gained and the Association in London was notified. By July 1849, the setting out of the port town and surveying of the Bridle Path and Port Hills were under way. On January 3, 1850, the Association’s purchase terms were approved for a reservation of 2½ million acres in the Canterbury region. With that, the Association began recruiting emigrants, and by July 1850, preparations were well under way for the voyage to New Zealand.
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