Up until February 22nd, 2011, the city of Christchurch was a unique, historic and cultural living and breathing entity. Inherited from a long list of valuable contributors dating back to its incep…
Up until February 22nd, 2011, the city of Christchurch was a unique, historic and cultural living and breathing entity. Inherited from a long list of valuable contributors dating back to its incept…
“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…
Cathedral Square hosted one of New Zealand’s most significant historic events after the armistice was signed by the Western Allies and the Central Powers on 11th November 1918 in Paris, Franc…
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…
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 …
The pace of town appears leisurely as pedestrians meander across High Street, while several trams slowly move past them c. 1929. There are a large number of men on they bicycles – perhaps th…
The wide stretches of the Avon River provided a suitable stretch of water for rowing to become a major sport and past time for Christchurch residents. The Canterbury Rowing Club was formed in 1861 …
The tide at New Brighton could go out a long way and the sand was hard, making motor and bicycle racing on New Brighton beach a popular past time that would draw the crowds. Many cycling and motor …
During the past year or two it has been customary for a number of parties of young men to go into camp at Sumner for the summer months, and to come up to Christchurch during business hours. Special…
“Christchurch people of the younger generations and strangers to the city who wander among the ordered prettinesses of the Christchurch Botanical Gardens, and pace along the pleasant winding paths …
In 1877, the world was abuzz with the news of Professor Bell’s invention – the telephone. The Steinway Hall, in New York, was packed to capacity on the 2nd of April, 1877 with the firs…
(From our correspondent.) Christchurch (N.Z.) Ten years ago I visited Christchurch for the first time, and recorded my impressions of the place in the columns of The Daily News. A decade means a go…
Christchurch Described Christchurch, New Zealand, is called the “City of the Plains” for its streets are as level as a billiard table, giving the visitor an impression that each street…
According to the Press, feeble out of doors, useless in domestic duties, the Christchurch girl’s most deplorable feature is her absolute lack of brains and mental culture…
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 …
In response to the loss of our inner city of Christchurch, we were inspired to create this website, Lost Christchurch, as a freely accessible archive of photographs, social history and memories of …
By Helen Solomons Mortimer Cashman Corliss was a true Victorian patriarch, gentleman and government servant who lived in Christchurch for most of his adult life, contributing to the city’s de…
When Christchurch was Young Written for Ellesmere Guardian by Mr W. A. Taylor, 1944 The Avon river (Otakaro) predates its sister stream the Heathcote (Opawaho) as a navigable course to Christchurch…
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…
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…
“Of all the beautiful places in New Zealand – Christchurch is one of the prettiest. As the metropolis of the Canterbury province, the city has been built in the old Elizabethan style, …
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…
In 1886, an English woman who called herself ‘Hopeful’, wrote of her experiences after emigrating to Christchurch, New Zealand. She berated the agents of shipping companies who painted…
By Our Special Reporter Yesterday morning I was at the Christchurch railway station with the intention of going to Port by the five minutes to eight train, in order to meet Mr Rudyard Kipling, who …
Almost a century ago, the story of Mary Poppins and the Match-Man was published for the first time – in Christchurch’s afternoon newspaper, The Sun. But how did the story of the world’s most famous…
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…
Beside Christchurch’s Town Hall, stood Solomon Nashelski’s hardware and ironmonger’s shop. Called ‘Melbourne House’, this small shop was later replaced with a permane…
One of Christchurch’s most well known and successful chemist and druggist shops was on Colombo street and owned by George Bonnington.