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Story: Canterbury region

Early Canterbury

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Early Canterbury

Canterbury is a region of extensive views, as artists soon recognised. This 1851 etching, ‘Part of the great plain, Canterbury settlement’, is from a drawing by future premier William Fox. The vista stretches from the Bridle Path, at the top of the Port Hills, and across the Canterbury Plains, where the Heathcote River winds to the coast. The hills of North Canterbury are in the distance.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: PUBL-0001-3

by Thomas Allom

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

John Wilson, Canterbury region – Overview, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/artwork/10288/early-canterbury (accessed 10 June 2026).

Story by John Wilson, published 2 March 2009.