Island of New Zealand were deforested by either the Māori or the so-called moa hunters in the mid-1300s, Papanui Bush was one of the few stands of pine and tōtara left in the Canterbury region at the time of European colonisation. European colonisation The Canterbury Association's surveyor Captain Joseph Thomas and his team of surveyors arrived in Lyttelton (originally named Port Cooper) on 15 December 1848 on the ship Fly. They began to survey the Port Hills and Canterbury Plains around what would become Christchurch and its suburbs. As chief agent for the association Thomas was also responsible for preparing the infrastructure for the arrival of the first settlers at Lyttelton in December 1850. The First Four Ships, Charlotte Jane, Randolph, Sir George Seymour and Cressy landed 773 colonists. By the first anniversary of the first landing fifteen more ships had arrived bringing the colonist population to 3,000. By 1876 the estimated population of the city and suburbs was around 23,000 with the number increasing to 44,000 by 1886. Papanui Bush When the pilgrims first began to settle in Christchurch in the early 1851, Papanui Bush attracted a number of sawyers who made a living from milling tōtara and pine timber for construction and fire wood. Near the bush a settlement sprung up along on the old Māori track leading north to Kaiapoi which eventually became the Main North Road. The settlement soon boasted a hotel, store, blacksmiths, clothing shop, butchers, chemist, dispensers, and a school room appeared in 1853. Due to the pressing need for building materials in Christchurch, Papanui Road was one of the first roads built outside the city boundaries. The Papanui Bridge was also built over the Avon River in March 1852 to allow the timber to be brought by bullock drawn wagons directly into the Market Square near the city centre. In 1857 sawmilling had attracted a population of 692 to the Papanui village compared with 953 in Christchurch in the same year. Farm land By 1857 most of the trees in the area were felled and market gardening and orchards began to flourish. The land around Papanui proved to be remarkably fertile for farming once ditches and drains were dug to relieve the swampy areas. Gradually more immigrants settled in Papanui, crops were sown and sheep and dairy farms were established in the surrounding areas. Exports of wheat and wool soon became the main