Joseph de Malmanche’s plaque.

Joseph’s headstone is the only one remaining in the Akaroa cemeteries written in French. It is getting very faded and worn with the elements, so we reached out to the family members for donations to get an interpretation panel before the text is lost. It has both the French inscription and the English translation on the panel. The plaque was unveiled by great great nieces of Joseph, Joclyn Sharpe, and Joy Chilton at the Descendants weekend in November 2023. Another piece of French history saved.

Memorial Entrance

 The Memorial Entrance at the Catholic Cemetery to honor the early settlers is now finished and looks fabulous. Many years of hard work have come together working with the council and fundraising. We held the official opening on 25th November 2023.

Cemetery Walkway

In conjunction with the Christchurch City Council, we have installed further steps and are still working on a handrail down the side of the Dissenters Cemetery. We were kindly donated the hardwood sleepers to use as steps.

Cleared Land at the Catholic Cemetery

Due to the lack of burial space, we have worked hard with the Akaroa Cemeteries Group to clear the spare overgrown land to increase the capacity of the Akaroa Cemetery. This has now been council-approved and design and work is underway for the development.

Heritage Park Project

We have an area to maintain and plant trees in memory of descendants within the Heritage Park. Each tree is recorded. This photo is of Ray Sinclair and the tree was the first planted in memory of his late wife. Ngaire was one of our founding committee members. If you would like further information about planting a memory tree please contact us.

180th Anniversary Weekend

A very successful weekend was held on the 26-28th March in Akaroa celebrating the arrival of our ancestors 180 years ago. We had close to 200 attending with many families represented. Many enjoyed the walking tours, dinner and unveiling of 3 restored headstones. The Akaroa Museum also joined in the celebrations with a temporary exhibition on the ‘Comte de Paris 180’.