LYTTELTON is a port town 12 km by road from Christchurch on the eastern coast of the South Island

It was home for Maori for about 700 years
Lyttelton, or Te whaka raupo was discovered by European settlers on 16 February 1770 during the Endeavour's first voyage to New Zealand.
The earliest evidence of a human presence in the area are moa bones dating from roughly 1250.

The harbour is an inlet on the north-western side of Banks Peninsula, extending 18km inland from the southern end of Pegasus Bay. It is surrounded by steep hills formed from the sides of an extinct volcanic crater which rise to a height of 500m
Several smaller settlements are dotted along the shore of the harbour, notably Governors Bay and Diamond Harbour.

The Founding Ships (first to arrive) to Lyttelton were the "Randolph", the "Sir George Seymour" and the "Charlotte Jane" which left Plymouth in September 1850 and all 3 arrived in Lyttelton on 16 December 1850
- the "Cressy" arrived 11 days later

These then were some of the earliest settlers of Lyttelton

the List of UNCLAIMED LETTERS Lyttelton 1 January 1853:

the Postmaster was W. L. HOWARD

ADAMS, William
ALLEN, Thomas
ANCALL, Mrs
ARCHER, W.S. (3)
ATKINS, W.

BARNES, William
BARKER, Joseph
BARNETT, Jacob (2)
BARTRAM, George
BOURN, Charles
BRIDGE, Charles (2)
BRUCE, Thomas (2)
BUCHANNAN, Hugh (3)

CHAPMAN, Edwin
CHOLMONDELEY, Charles
CLEMENTS, Charles F.
CORBY, Henry
CORDY, J.
COTTON, George
COXHEAD, Edwin
CRAWFORD & TAYLOR, Messrs
CRUICKSHANK, Mr
CUI CUI

DENCH, H.F.
DENCH, E.
DISTIN, Thomas
DIXON, William (of the Barque "Jane Dixon")
DRURY, Charles
DYER, Miss (2)

EDMONDS, G. (Mitre Hotel)
EVANS, Robert - bricklayer
EVANS, Mrs

FEGIAN, Thomas - butcher
FITCH, Margart
FITZGIBBONS, Patrick
FITZMAURICE, George (2)
FITZMORRIS,Mr
FLEMING, Mrs R.J.P.
FLETCHER, Mr
FLUTE, John
FORDHAM, Julius (2)
FOX, G.H.
FREMLIN, William

GAGE, C.A.
GOLD, Miss Anne
GRAHAM, George
GRANT, A.
GREEN, Joseph
GRINDELL, James S.

HANKINSON, Donald
HARRIS, James (2)
HARRISON, Mr & Mrs
HENRYSON, F.H. (3)
HICKMETT, William
HILDEBRAND, Ross
HILL, T.
HILL, William - M.D.
HILLER, John F.
HOLME, J.R.
HOOD, Thomas
HUDSON, Edward
HUGHES, Mr - Carpenter

JENKINS, Mr
JOHNSON, Hannah
JOHNSON, John (2)

LAKE, Alfred (2)
LAMAN, Edward C.
LAWER, J.J.
Le FLEMING, Michael
LLOYD, Major John
LOGAN, John
LUCK, Isaac

MARTIN, Alexander G.
MARTIN, Charles
MEARS, Mrs
MINCHIN - Eqq
MORE, Mrd
McCLOUD, Mrs
McGRATH, John
McKAY, Hector
McKENZIE, Mrs Charlotte
MLEAN, John

O'CONNOR, John (2)
O'NEILL, William
OLDFIELD, William

PALLITT, Hannah
PARLBY, G.H.
PHELPHS, Thomas (2)
PLATFORD, W.R. (2)

RAWBONE, Thomas R.
REID, William (2)
ROBINSON, Mary
ROGERS, James D.
ROSS, William H.
ROUSE, Mrs Charles
RUMONG, Miss Charlotte

SABINE, Charles
SAFFERY, William
SATCHELL, James
SEDGWICK, W.
SIMPSON, T.
SMITH, E.A.
SMITH, Henry (2)
SMITH, William
STANFORD, Miss
STEWART, Miss G.
STREETER, Richard
STUBBS, Francis W. (20
SUTTON, William

THOMSON, John
TOWNSEND, Frederick
TUTCHEN, Josiah

IGORS, William

WARNER, Abraham
WHELCH, E. (2)
WILBRAHAM, Henry (2)
WILKINSON, Mr
WILLIAMS, Venables (4)
WILLIS, George
WOOLLEY, George H. (2)

YEATMAN, H.J.
YOUNG, Lindsay B.

the UNCLAIMED LETTERS to 31 March 1860