HISTORIC BID

On the trail of $1 million

John Daysh has a special reason to celebrate the history of Christ Church in Taita.

Opened in 1854, it is the oldest church in the Wellington region and one of the oldest in its original condition in New Zealand.

Daysh, whose great-great grandfather helped build the church, said its importance went beyond its age.

John Ings Daysh arrived in Petone in 1841 aboard the Gertrude with his wife, Eliza, and six children. Their shipmate was John Plimmer, the founder of Wellington. The couple settled in Lower Hutt and had another eight children, to which their great-great grandson is eternally grateful.

‘‘I am pleased they did have 14 children because I am descended from the 14th. Otherwise I would not be here today.’’

Daysh is part of the Christ Church Heritage Trust, which aims to create a heritage trail honouring the first settlers to arrive in Petone.

The trust is hoping to raise $1 million to make the church the centrepiece of a heritage trail.

The church was built by pioneer families, many of whom are still well known in Lower Hutt. The first service was held on January 1, 1854.

An attempt in the late 1940s to move the railway line and the church resulted in a public furore.

Nationally it was one of the first times there had been a public outcry to save a building and a group was established to look after the church.

That led to the formation of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust and the church, and graveyard, have a category one registration.

Daysh believes the church and the settlers who built it deserve wider recognition.

The church has survived the catastrophic Lower Hutt floods of the 1800s, a fire and an attempt to move it.

The graveyard contains names like Boulcott, Daysh, Harris, Hooper, Mabey, Riddler and Matangi (the son of a signatory to the Treaty of Waitangi), which are still well known in the Hutt.

John Ings Daysh died aged 92 in Wairarapa but his descendants have always maintained the link to the church.

The goal is to shift one of Lower Hutt’s oldest colonial houses to the site and open the church up to visitors, as well as providing information on the early settlers and the Ma¯ori they interacted with.

Daysh believed it would become a major tourist attraction.

A large donation from funeral director Gavin Murphy has kicked off a campaign to raise $1 million for a Lower Hutt heritage trail. An artist’s impression of the colonial cottage on the Christ Church, Taita, site.

John Daysh’s relative helped build the church.