BEFORE THE FIRST FOUR SHIPS
Sumner was surveyed as a suitable access port for the new city of Christchurch. On this spot the first buildings were erected in anticipation of the arrival of the Canterbury Association settlers in 1850.
... In late 1849 a store was built here for the Canterbury Association to house goods in transit from Lyttelton to the city site.
A PIONEER ENTREPRENEUR
Like most successful pioneers, the first permanent resident in Sumner in 1849, George Day, could turn his hand to anything.
Goods shipped by Day in his 10-ton schooner Flirt, here to Clifton Bay from Banks Peninsular included timber for the Christchurch barracks and the first government buildings. He supervised North Island Maori labourers working on the road from Lyttelton to Sumner and became the first publican in Sumner.
In 1854 Day bought the Canterbury Association store and converted it into a hotel. A landmark here for many years, it became known as Days Hotel.
ACROSS THE BAR
Crossing the Sumner bar proved treacherous. The first recorded mishap involved three notable pioneer families.
In 1845, the Gebbies and Mansons set off from Deans farm at Riccarton to take up land at the head of Lyttelton harbour. In rough seas the men offloaded the women and children on the beach here to spend a cold night in a nearby cave. The men set off across the bar, but the boat capsized. They all survived although William Deans reached shore only by clinging to a box of tea.
Despite the difficulties, until the railway linking Lyttelton and Christchurch was completed in 1867 all heavy goods were landed here then shipped across the bar to the Avon or Heathcote rivers.