Stephen Corlett

Stephan Corlett, an agricultural labourer and his family arrived at Lyttelton in 1850 on the Sir George Seymour.

The Sir George Seymour was one of the First Four Ships to carry emigrants from England to the new colony of Canterbury in New Zealand on behalf of the Canterbury Association.

The Corlett family shifted to Christchurch to work for J. C. Watts Russell, at Ilam. Unfortunately, they lost their equipment and heavy baggage on the Sumner Bar. The Corletts lived for some time in a dugout on the upper Avon River and it was under these conditions that William died of tuberculosis on January 1, 1852.

In the winter of 1853, Stephan Corlett bought 50 acres on the south side of Riccarton Road, and it was there he built a cob house and named the property “Capesthorne Farm’’. The Corlett family home became a regular preaching place on Sunday afternoons. Curletts Road, which was originally Corlett’s Lane, is named after the family.

On May 10, 1853, Stephan Corlett bought his first piece of land near St Peter’s Church, Riccarton, for £90. The description on the deed was of 50 acres on the south side on the public road out from Christchurch and Riccarton towards Lake Ellesmere and near the fork of the same road called Harewood Road.

On January 16, 1860, Stephan bought a further 50 acres in the Lincoln district, for which he paid £100. Several months later he applied for 20 acres of land at Easdale Nook in the Upper Christchurch District, paying £2 an acre.

On January 10, 1854, the Corletts lost another child, John, to tuberculosis.

Jane Corlett, a Wesleyan, was a great worker in the cause of religion. Prayer and Bible meetings were held in a number of settlers’ homes in the neighbourhood, and in about 1854 the Corletts’ house was made a preaching place for Sunday afternoons, hosting services and Sunday school. In the late 1860s or early 1870s, the Corletts built a wooden home in Riccarton that was apparently the first two-storeyed house in the area. In 1875, Stephan Corlett began selling off his land around Lincoln, investing the money in more land in North Canterbury for his sons Thomas, Benjamin and Alfred. Three hundred acres were bought in June 1876, 192 acres in August and 42 acres in September. In 1877, after Jane’s death, and in 1878 Stephan subdivided his land in Riccarton. Stephan died on September 15, 1880.

Source: http://www.firstfourships.co.nz/pics/person.php?pos=gs3

• Updated from MyHeritage Family Trees by SmartCopy: May 26 2015, 21:42:09 UTC

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Came to Canterbury 1850 on the Sir George Seymour