Our Story

The Names

Rochester and Rutherford Hall is one of three independent colleges at the University of Canterbury, and one of only nine in New Zealand.

The life and work of John Fisher (1459-1535) is commemorated twice at the Hall - in the inclusion of Rochester in the title of the Hall, and also in the name of Fisher House, which accommodates 44 students. Fisher was made a Cardinal in the last year of his life and was canonized in 1935. A graduate of the University of Cambridge, Fisher won recognition as a renaissance scholar. His ability as a forward-thinking university administrator led to Fisher being elected Chancellor at Cambridge in 1504. That same year, Fisher was appointed Bishop of Rochester in Southern England, a position which drew him into national politics. Henry VIII, in his reforms of the Church in England, had declared himself its head. The King sought Fisher’s unequivocal allegiance on this point and on the question of his divorce. When Fisher would not give it, the King had him beheaded.

One of the most distinguished scientists of his generation and a graduate of Canterbury, Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937) is honoured in the name of the Hall. During his lifetime, Rutherford gained many distinctions, including the Nobel Prize and a peerage of the United Kingdom. As a research student at Canterbury, Rutherford investigated electromagnetic waves; later at the Universities of McGill, Manchester and finally Cambridge, he pioneered investigations related to the structure of the atom. His studies of the growth and decay of radioactive material are regarded as the culmination of his work.

More House honours the English statesman, politician and visionary, Thomas More (1447-1535). After an education as a lawyer, More considered becoming a Carthusian monk but recognized he lacked a vocation. He then entered Parliament, where his abilities brought him to the attention of Henry VIII, who honoured him with a knighthood and appointed him Chancellor of England. In his book Utopia (1516), More developed his radical and enormously influential theory of a society in which religious tolerance and universal education are the norm, and in which land is held in common. Like, Fisher, More could not acknowledge Henry VIII as head of the Church of England, therefore he was executed like Fisher. He too was canonized in 1935.

The same in size as More House (67 residents), Wilson House commemorates Malcolm Wilson (1905 – 1969), whose inspiration and drive for a new Hall of Residence at the University of Canterbury developed from a conversation with his friend John Grocott during a cricket match at Lancaster Park. A leader of broad sympathies, during his time as minister of Knox Church in Christchurch Wilson chaired the Christchurch Civil Liberties Council and was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand. Long concerned with education, Wilson served on the University Council, and on the Boards of Rangi Ruru School and St Andrew’s College.

Newman House, 12 Clonbern Place honours Cardinal John Newman (1801- 1890), an Anglican Priest, Poet, Theologian and Catholic Cardinal.

Dodd House, 16 Clonbern Place honours Jessie Dodd, a member of the Rutherford Trust Board 1987-2016, Chairperson of the Rutherford Hall Board 1992 – 2004, Member of the Executive Council 1990 – 2016, and Chairperson of the Executive Council 1992 – 2004.