Kennedys Bush

Kennedys Bush is a south-western suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand.

History
Kennedys Bush was first settled by Thomas Kennedy, an Irishman born in Cork around 1819, who arrived in New Zealand from America in 1838. He met Sophia Streeter in Wellington and they later married.

In 1841 the couple moved to Akaroa where Kennedy worked as a constable for the French settlers. Five of the Kennedy’s twelve children were born in Akaroa.

In 1856 Kennedy bought 28 acres on the hills above Halswell with a licence to cut the bush.

Kennedy opened a sawmill and felled trees from the bush using a team of bullocks to haul the processed timber on a sledge down a track. This was known as ‘Kennedys Track.’ Later it became ‘Quarry Road’ then ‘Pattersons Road’ (after one of the quarry managers), and eventually ‘Kennedys Bush Road.’

The full length of the road was surveyed in the late 1850s and constructed in 1863.

Kennedy established the first timber business in Christchurch selling sawn timber, posts and rails and firewood-all sourced from the hills above Halswell. He built two houses, the first in the bush, the second on flat land opposite the present quarry park. He named this ‘Waterford.’ Neither house remains, though the site of the Kennedy home is now a featured location on one of the bush walks below the Sign of the Bellbird.

The flat land at Kennedys Bush was originally owned by W. G. Brittan and Michael J. Burke who bought it as part of the Lansdowne Run from the Canterbury Association in 1851. Brittan bought Burke out in 1860 and in 1873 sold a block of land on the south side of Kennedys Track to Premier Sir Edward Stafford who lived in Old Tai Tapu Road in his house called ‘Lansdowne.’

In 1859 relatives of Kennedy’s wife Sophia arrived from Australia to work for Kennedy. These included Alfred Streeter who married Margaret Watkins. The young couple bought an acre of land from Sir Edward Stafford in 1874 and built a house on the corner of Kennedys Bush Road and Glovers Road. They raised twelve children there. This house still stands, probably the oldest surviving dwelling in Kennedys Bush.

The first residential subdivision in the area was in 1913. In 1954 the Christchurch City Council sold 32 subdivided sections on the quarry-side of Kennedys Bush Road, possibly to help fund the royal visit that year.

Halswell Quarry Park is located within Kennedys Bush.

Demographics
Kennedys Bush statistical area covers 9.88 km2. It had an estimated population of as of  with a population density of  people per km2.

Before the 2023 census, the statistical area had a larger boundary, covering 12.01 km2. Using that boundary, Kennedys Bush had a population of 906 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 57 people (6.7%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 222 people (32.5%) since the 2006 census. There were 321 households. There were 453 males and 453 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.0 males per female. The median age was 50.2 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 129 people (14.2%) aged under 15 years, 153 (16.9%) aged 15 to 29, 459 (50.7%) aged 30 to 64, and 162 (17.9%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 94.7% European/Pākehā, 3.0% Māori, 1.3% Pacific peoples, 3.0% Asian, and 2.6% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities).

The proportion of people born overseas was 20.2%, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people objected to giving their religion, 52.3% had no religion, 40.4% were Christian, 0.7% were Hindu, 0.3% were Buddhist and 1.0% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 279 (35.9%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 72 (9.3%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $48,200, compared with $31,800 nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 393 (50.6%) people were employed full-time, 144 (18.5%) were part-time, and 15 (1.9%) were unemployed.