Editing Christchurch (section)

==History==

*Maori people first [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Canterbury_Region inhabited the Canterbury area] about a thousand years ago.

*These first inhabitants were moa-hunting tribes and these were followed by the Waitaha who are thought to have migrated from the east coast of the North Island in the 16th century. This migration was joined by the Ngati Mamoe and Ngai Tahu and continued until about 1830.

*The first European landed in Canterbury in 1815, 45 years after Captain James Cook sighted what he named "Banks Island", later found to be a peninsula.

*In 1840 the first Europeans settled on the plains and whaling ships were operating out of Lyttelton by 1850.

*During 1850-1851 the first organised groups of English settlers, the founders of Christchurch, arrived on the 'first four ships' into Lyttelton Harbour.

*Christchurch became a city by Royal Charter on July 31, 1856, making it officially the oldest established city in New Zealand.

*In 1893, New Zealand women were the first in the world to win the right to vote. A memorial to Kate Sheppard, who led the Women's Suffrage movement, can been seen on Oxford Terrace, alongside the Avon River at the Worcester Street corner.

*Canterbury's economy was built on dairy and sheep products.  Canterbury now has a diversified regional economy with growth across a range of sectors.