“The tale of a shipwreck has for most readers a fascination unequalled by any other of the many forms of tragedy which from time to time sweep some unlucky band or section of humanity into et…
The steamer run from Wellington to Lyttleton is 175 miles, and the fare £1. As we travelled at night time and in a very fast boat we saw nothing, and in fact, as we got in very early in the morning…
By Fabian Bell The Avon is a lovely river. Of course I know that many people will say that it is no better than a ditch, &c. I pity their want of taste. Of course the stream is narrow and does …
This intriguing photograph taken at the junction of Cashel and High Street draws us back to a typical summer day in Edwardian Christchurch in February 1913. A summer rain fall has just cleared, all…
Written by Helen Solomons In 1879, my great grandfather, Mortimer Cashman Corliss, was promoted to head telegraphist in Christchurch’s newly built Post and Telegraph Office in Cathedral Squar…
For one of our city’s most famous early women settlers, poor health had marred not only her voyage to New Zealand but also her arrival to her new home at Riccarton. From the moment Jane Deans…
The underlying geological issues hidden beneath Christchurch’s swampy plains meant that the city’s founders and their surveyors who chose this site for their planned city, knew nothing …
“The most historic bridge in Christchurch” The iconic stone arch which spans over Cashel Street bridge – linking Cambridge with Oxford Terrace is “a visible symbol” wh…
In Christchurch Hospital’s busy, twenty first century entrance foyer, patients, staff and visitors hurry past a distinguished man immortalised in bronze. These days, many do not have time to …
It was hard to avoid sinking up to your knees in wet weather in Market Square in 1862. This panoramic photograph shows Christchurch’s Market Place (later renamed Victoria Square) the damp ge…
One of Christchurch’s most well known and successful chemist and druggist shops was on Colombo street and owned by George Bonnington.
It’s just before 3pm on a late summer day in 1914. Prolific Christchurch photographer, Steffano Webb is setting up his camera equipment inside the gents’ hairdressing saloon of well kno…
The streets are quiet – a parked car sits outside Dalgety’s, a lone tram rumbles towards the tram sheds and a tired delivery horse stands with his head bowed, eating chaff from his feed…
Before Christchurch had a morgue, the gruesome task of storing a dead body was left to Christchurch’s public hotels. On practical terms, they had the space to hold a coroner’s inquest a…
Tiny British-made locomotive engines first began chugging between Ferrymead’s Wharf on the estuary and the city on December 1st, 1863. This was New Zealand’s first public railway line, …
During the year 1857, developments moved closer towards making colonial Christchurch a working city. The Bridle Path opening in March, provided emigrants direct access to and from Lyttelton, on a s…
The magnificent, four storey Strange’s & Co Furniture Department Building was built in 1900 on the corner of Lichfield and High Streets, replacing a row of old dilapidated weatherboard sh…
“There are two classes of Christchurch postcards – those with the Cathedral and those without.” [1] The elegance of a lost age is captured in this exquisite photochrom post…
Our city is a repository for the social and historical narrative of our past Each street, wall, facade, interior is an integral part of the people who walked passed them, shopped in them, worked in…
‘Ice Cream Charlie’ operated a well-known ice cream cart in Cathedral Square for much of the first half of the twentieth century. He was reknowned for his friendly nature and delicious …
On this summer’s day in 1906, the ten o’clock morning tram to Sumner is about to depart from outside the Royal Exchange in Cathedral Square. An excursion to Sumner was a popular outing …
John Jauncey Buchanan and his Valuable Allotment Before arrival in Christchurch, the family of Scotsman John Jauncey Buchanan purchased land on what would become the centre of Christchurch. It was …
One of the most famous literary figures of the nineteenth century to visit Christchurch, was author, raconteur, journalist and social critic, Mark Twain. Tired and elderly, yet a force to be recko…
German born colonist, Sir Julius von Haast, was an explorer specialising in geology. Amongst his many achievements was the founding of the Canterbury Museum. Born Johann Franz von Haast in 1822, in…
A Tale of Convicts, Ship Wrecks, Strange Family Relations, and a £500 Bequest. Before the Canterbury Settlement was inaugurated, a young Australian lad landed at Port Cooper in the company of his f…
In the Tasmanian News “Miscellaneous Wanted” section of the 18 March 1892 issue, a small classified, nestled among advertisements for pears, clean rags, and 250 pigeons, read, “Wanted a…
An open field along the west side of Manchester street, bounded by a row of well-grown English Poplars and known as the Circus Paddock, was regularly used for touring circuses which came to town.
“William Wilson was formerly a cabbage dealer in Canterbury; but fourteen years ago he was poor, whereas now he is rich, a circumstance attributable to a lucky speculation in a piece of land …
Marking Time in Sydenham In 1912, the impressive Sydenham Post Office stood as a sentinel on the busy corner of Colombo and Brougham Streets. It was a huge post office which served a large communit…
Dear Father and Mother, l arrived here all safe on the 23rd of September, after a splendid voyage of 94 days without a single storm. I enjoyed the voyage very much and was kindly treated by everybo…