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The first people to live in the place now known as Christchurch were Moa hunters.The hunters cleared large areas of mataī and tōtara forest by fire and by about 1450 the moa had been killed off.
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Ngati Māmoe and later Ngāi Tahu arrived in Canterbury between 1500 and 1700. The remaining moa-hunters were killed or taken into the tribes.
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Captain James Cook in his ship the Endeavour first sighted the Canterbury peninsula. He thought it was an island, and named it Banks Island after the ship’s botanist.
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Without their labour, the development of public works, such as roads, slowed over the next three years.
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New Zealand was divided into six provinces, each with their own administration, including an elected Superintendent.
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During the time he was superintendent, the sale of the back-country runs gave the Provincial Council a regular source of money.Canterbury prospered in these years, with wool exports steadily increasing the amount of money available in the province.
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The Provincial Council took over what had earlier been the role of the Canterbury Association and appointed an agent in England to select the emigrants. Between 1863 and 1864 over 6,000 new settlers came to Canterbury.
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Canterbury’s growing wealth and prosperity during the boom years of 1857-64 had a big effect on the city. More banks opened Christchurch branches.
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