{{Short description|New Zealand pioneer and early settler in the Canterbury Region}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=August 2024}} {{Infobox person | name = John Deans | image = John Deans (pioneer).jpg | alt = | caption = Portrait of John Deans | birth_date = {{birth date|1820|05|4|df=y}} | birth_place = Kirksyle, Riccarton, Ayrshire, Scotland | death_date = {{death date and age|1854|06|23|1820|05|4|df=y}} | death_place = Riccarton, Christchurch, New Zealand | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | birth_name = | nationality = | political_party = | spouse = Jane Deans (m. 1852) | relatives = William Deans (brother) | children = John Deans II | known_for = Canterbury pioneer settler | alma_mater = | occupation = | signature = }} '''John Deans''' (4 May 1820 – 23 June 1854) was, together with his brother William, a pioneer farmer in Canterbury, New Zealand. He was born in Kirkstyle, Riccarton, Scotland. Their Riccarton farm in New Zealand was the first permanent settlement by immigrants on the Canterbury Plains. Deans returned to Scotland in 1852 to marry Jane McIlraith. They returned to New Zealand, where he died from tuberculosis at Riccarton Farm on 23 June 1854, not before he had asked Jane to keep the adjacent Riccarton Bush in perpetuity. The Deans had one son, also called John.<ref name="DNZB John Deans">{{DNZB|Miller |Graham M. |1d7|John Deans}}</ref> The Deans brothers named the Christchurch river Avon after the stream on their grandfather's farm.<ref name="Bush House Cottage">{{cite web |title=Riccarton Bush (Pūtaringamotu), Riccarton House, and Deans Cottage |url= http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Heritage/Places/Public/RiccartonBush/index.asp |publisher=Christchurch City Libraries |accessdate=30 April 2013}}</ref>
Jane and John Deans first lived in Deans Cottage, which was built in late 1843, and is now the oldest building in Canterbury. It is registered by Heritage New Zealand as a Category I structure and features as a museum.<ref name="Bush House Cottage"/><ref name="NZHPT 3679">{{NZHPT|3679|Deans Cottage|30 April 2013}}</ref> Jane Deans had Riccarton House built in 1855/56; a project that her husband wanted to do but that started only after his death. Riccarton House is also registered as a Category I structure and is today a restaurant and function centre.<ref name="NZHPT 1868">{{NZHPT|1868|Riccarton House and Bush|5 February 2020}}</ref>
Riccarton Bush was donated by the Deans family to the people of Christchurch in 1914.<ref name="Bush House Cottage" /> At that time, it was formally protected through a campaign led by MP Harry Ell and botanist Dr Leonard Cockayne.<ref>{{cite web |last=Knight |first=Catherine |title=The place of an echo: Pūtaringamotu (Deans Bush) |url= http://envirohistorynz.com/2010/06/21/the-place-of-an-echo-putaringamotu-deans-bush/ |publisher=Envirohistory NZ |accessdate=30 April 2013 |date=21 June 2010}}</ref> Today, the bush is administered by a trust. The bush contains mostly kahikatea of between 400 and 600 years of age; it is the only lowland forest left in Christchurch, and is probably New Zealand's oldest protected natural area. A predator-proof fence was installed in 2000, and the bush remains a popular urban visitor attraction.<ref name="Bush House Cottage"/>
The Christchurch suburb of Riccarton takes its name from the Riccarton farm.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/Heritage/PlaceNames/ChristchurchPlaceNames-N-Z.pdf |title= Christchurch Place Names: N-Z |last=Harper |first=Margaret |publisher=Christchurch City Libraries |page=37 |accessdate=30 April 2013}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Deans, John}} Category:1820 births Category:1854 deaths Category:Scottish emigrants to New Zealand Category:People from Riccarton, East Ayrshire Category:People from Christchurch Category:Burials at Barbadoes Street Cemetery John