a title to the land on which they were about to settle; but they had the support of the Government, which instructed Mr. Robinson, the Magistrate at Akaroa, to facilitate their settlement.
Mr. William Deans sailed from Wellington on February 11, 1843, in Mr. Sinclair’s 30-ton schooner, and reached Port Levy ten days later. He brought with him two assistants, Messrs. Gebbie and Manson, and their families. From Port Levy the journey was continued in a whale-boat as far as “The Bricks,” and then by canoe to a large pool at the gully west of the present Hospital. Here the party disembarked and completed the Journey to Potoringamutu on foot.
Mr. William Deans had brought with him the framework of a house, but the nails had been left behind, and their place had to be taken by wooden pegs. The substitution did not affect the stability of the building, for it remained standing till 1890[1]. The name of Riccarton was given to the settlement after the home of the Deans family in Ayrshire. Mr. John Deans joined his brother at Riccarton in the following June, arriving from Sydney where he had gone to buy stock. He brought with him a number of valuable animals, and succeeded in landing them all safely.
It was some years before a title could be obtained for the land, but in 1848 Colonel Wakefield sent Mr. Alfred Wills to inspect the property. The following quotation from his report, dated September 21, 1848, will serve to indicate its tenor:—“It may be proper that I should mention that Messrs. Deans have expended a considerable sum in improving their station; an excellent house has been built, also kitchen and several out-buildings, a
- ↑ The distinction of being the first house built on the Canterbury Plains was claimed for a two-roomed hut built in 1840, in Hagley Park, for Mr. Pollard, a surveyor. This building was removed in 1852 to the back of the old Gaiety Theatre, and was afterwards used as a laundry for Warner’s Hotel.
