[8] The Cookson family arrived in Canterbury's port town Lyttelton on 28 August 1851 on the Dominion from Gravesend.

[9] They first lived in London Street in Lyttelton, and sketches of their house and his office prepared by his wife are held by the National Library of New Zealand.

They then moved to the Christchurch side of the Port Hills and the valley where they lived was known as Hammerton based on the name of their 40 hectares (0.40 km2) property.

[20] Cookson resigned from his political roles in October 1862 as he had received news of his only daughter Louisa having fallen seriously ill in Europe.

The Superintendent of the Canterbury Province, James FitzGerald, presided over a private dinner on 13 October attended by some 60 people.

After leaving Saint Thomas, one of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea, she fell ill and died within a couple of days.