His sister Susannah emigrated to New Zealand in 1849 and in the following year, many Bishop siblings followed her on the Charlotte Jane, one of the First Four Ships of organised settlement of Canterbury.

Bishop died at his home in Cranmer Square in 1887 having never been married, and he is buried in a family grave in Barbadoes Street Cemetery.

[10] His oldest sister was Mary Ann (1810 – 21 August 1877), who married the veterinarian Edward Knapman on 8 December 1858 at St Michael's Church.

Two of her diaries that describe their emigration journey and their early time in the colony until May 1851 are held by Christchurch City Libraries.

The next sibling was his sister Susannah (September 1812 – 17 October 1858), who had married Augustus James Alport (1816–1886) on 18 May 1844 at St Mary's Church, Islington, London.

[13] Alport assisted Captain Joseph Thomas, the chief surveyor of the Canterbury Association, with getting Lyttelton ready for the First Four Ships.

[14] Alport established Brenchley Farm on the hillside above Lyttelton, based on the name of his wife's family estate.

[25] His second brother and youngest sibling was Frederick Augustus (14 March 1818 – 16 October 1894), who married a daughter of Charles Kiver in 1859.

[6] Bishop and his brother Frederick bought land at the southern end of Colombo Street at the Ōpāwaho / Heathcote River.

[36] Ratepayers started to withhold their rates, and in April 1866 the Council was forced to drastically cut expenditure in order to fend off bankruptcy.

[38] A shipment of pipes that had just arrived from England was sold off, and Christchurch's reputation as the "most polluted and unhealthy city" in New Zealand was retained for another 20 years as a consequence.

[37] Wynn-Williams eventually lost the lengthy case and left the Ratepayers' Mutual Protection Association, which then folded.

During 1866, the road over Arthur's Pass was completed by the Canterbury Provincial Council, which gave easier access to the West Coast.

[42] In the following year, he produced an abstract of the Municipal Corporations Act so that citizens could inform themselves of the workings of city councils.

On the evening of his election, Bishop gave a banquet for 50 people at the Clarendon Hotel, with those present representing the who is who of colonial Christchurch.

Councillor Calvert proposed Michael Hart as mayor, as he had shown administrative skill as the chairman of the works committee.

[49] Whilst Christchurch City Libraries lists the 7th mayor, Michael Hart, as the one who gave the first link to the Christchurch mayoral chain,[50] this tradition was in fact started by Henry Sawtell, who gave the first link on the day his successor, Edward Bishop, was chosen.

[52] He had first acted as returning officer for the Christchurch City Council on special appointment by the Superintendent, William Rolleston, in September 1874.

At the time, it was feared that the mayor, Michael Hart, would stop the election from going ahead, and Bishop's appointment was to counter that.

[2] He was a churchwarden at St Luke's,[58] and was on the committees of the Mechanics' Institute (which eventually developed into the Christchurch City Libraries),[59] and the Agricultural and Pastoral Association.

[66] Bishop died at his home at 2 Cranmer Square, Christchurch Central City, on 25 April 1887; he had no children and had never been married.