The area now known as the Diocese of Christchurch was originally part of the Diocese of New Zealand. The Canterbury Association Chaplains took services, including Baptism, Marriages and Burials area under the auspices of the Bishop of New Zealand from 1850 until the arrival of Henry John Chitty Harper in 1856.
1856-1868: Harper was Bishop of the area south of the Hurinui River on the east coast to the Islands south of Bluff. On the West Coast the boundary with the Diocese of Nelson was the Teramakau River, however the clergy in this area also took services and performed Baptisms, Marriage and Burials as far north as Cobden, and included Greymouth.
The area that would become the Diocese of Dunedin was administered by a Rural Deanery Board.
1868-1990: 1868 saw the establishment of the Diocese of Dunedin. From this date until 1990 the area bounded by the Waitaki River in the south, and the Hurinui River in the north, and the West Coast, including Kumara, Hokitika and Ross and South Westland became the Diocese of Christchurch.
1990: The North Canterbury Parishes of Cheviot, Amuri and Hanmer Springs were transferred from the Diocese of Nelson.
2000: The Parish of Kumara, which had been ministered to by the Parish of Greymouth for many years was formally transferred to the Diocese of Nelson.
To date, the transcriptions have concentrated on the first known Baptism Registers for different parts of the Diocese, to create a spread of information.
West Coast: Ross and Hokitika
South Canterbury: Geraldine and Temuka, Timaru and Waimate
North Canterbury: Woodend, Oxford-Cust, Kaiapoi, Flaxton
Central Canterbury: Sheffield, Southbridge, Springston
Harbour and Basins: Lyttelton, Governor’s Bay, Akaroa
City and Suburbs: Papanui, Cathedral, Addington, St Michael & All Angels, St John the Baptist.
