Tracking Captain Thomas: A Journey in Search of the Unacknowledged Founder of Canterbury

(Paperback)

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The continuing myth that Canterbury was born in December 1850 with the arrival of the First Four Ships has to be dispelled. Canterbury did not, like the legendary Athena, spring 'fully-armed from the head of Zeus' (in this case, John Robert Godley) as succeeding generations after 1851 have been led to believe. So much of the initial work was carried out by the Canterbury Association Chief Surveyor Captain Thomas; so much of this effort, intentionally or unintentionally, was obscured by the settlers of the 1850s, Thomas deserves recognition as a Canterbury founder.