The first known arrivals were Bishop Henry John Chitty Harper and his wife Emily Woodridge who came to Christchurch aboard the Egmont in 1853. He was a grandson of Elizabeth Chitty(1725-1792) whose husband was Adam Jellicoe. He resigned as Bishop of Christchurch in 1890 and died three years later, Their children married into some prominent Canterbury families including the Tripps.
It is a distant connection to the Clendon Bros. He was the husband of their 6th cousin 4x removed.
Waikato Chittys
Walter Chitty (1849-1933) and his wife Alicia de Vere Hunt (1859-1936).They arrived separately and married on 22 February 1874 in Hamilton establishing a significant family. It is likely that Walter at least arrived in the early 1879s as he was in England for the 1871 England Census.
The had a family of 4. A son in law, Lt Philip C Gannaway married to Alice Chitty was a casualty of World War 1. Two sisters – Fanny and Mary Ann also came to New Zealand. It is believed they were or became nuns.
One of the more interesting accomplishments of the family was the establishment of a prominent horse stud in Karaka which has been in the family for some 60 years, Haunui Farm It is currently owned by Mark Chitty and his wife Sarah Schofield.
There was a second Chitty family in Waikato. Charles Chitty (1845-1915) son of Tompson Chitty, the english lawyer, arrived some time around 1870 from Middlesex. He married another immigrant Mary Bright (1854-1935) in 1874. They had a family of 3.