3-017-186 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Cutting the First Turf of the Great Southern Railway at Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand, 1865. Engraving from a sketch by Mr. W. B. Jones. '...the Great Southern Railway...is to traverse the great plains extending southwards, as far as the rising port and town of Timaru, about 120 miles from Christchurch, and thence, still further south, to the province of Otago, with its rich gold-fields. The ceremony was performed by Mrs. Bealey, wife of his Honour the Superintendent of the Province, on the Queen's birthday, May 24, in a paddock near the Christchurch railway station...The hills in the distance are those which shut in the head of Port Cooper, separating Lyttelton from the inland countr...after turning the turf, with the help of Mr. Richardson, Mrs. Bealey placed it in the wheelbarrow with her spade, and wheeled it along a plank to the appointed place. The weather was delightfully fine for this time of year; but as May in New Zealand corresponds with an English November, it was cold, with a sharp south-westerly wind; nevertheless, this occasion brought together a goodly concourse of people, and, with the cavalry and volunteers, who had mustered their best in honour of her Majesty, they made quite an imposing sight'. From "Illustrated London News", 1865.