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Remembering Lost Christchurch
Articles, Lost Christchurch
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…
Sharing Memories
Articles, Lost Christchurch
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 …
Port Lyttelton – ‘a mean, insignificant little place’
Articles, Lost Christchurch
This land-locked port of Lyttelton – called occasionally Port Cooper and sometimes Port Victoria – is the main, or rather the only, entrance to the Province of Canterbury. The surroundi…
Why Our Historic Buildings Are Important
Articles, Lost Christchurch
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…
Christchurch Gardens – Early History
Articles, Lost Christchurch
“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 …
Tram vs Bus in 1930s Crush
Articles, Lost Christchurch
The busiest intersection in the central city heaves under a rush of pedestrians, buses, trams, cyclists and private motor cars, pushing passed each other as they head for various parts of the city.
A Great Pilgrimage Over the Clouds
Articles, Lost Christchurch
Imagine an event so exciting, so spectacular, that 38 trains were required travelling at 28 minute intervals to convey curious sightseers to Lyttelton in order to witness it. The roads from Christc…
Was Christchurch the birthplace of Mary Poppins?
Articles, Lost Christchurch
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…
Government Building Worcester Street – Building for the Future
Articles, Lost Christchurch
The construction of government buildings have long attracted opinion and criticism and the Italian Renaissance style Government Buildings on the corner of Worcester street and Cathedral Square were…
Antigua Street Bridge – from the beginning until 1945
Articles, Lost Christchurch
“Bridges are as much a distinctive part of the Christchurch landscape as its well-planted appearance and its old Gothic style provincial buildings. The chance which placed the city by the river Avo…
Cakes & Confectionery on High Street
Articles, Lost Christchurch
Sandwiched between the White Hart Hotel and the Universal Boot Depot at 223 and 225 High Street, was the business founded by Mr James Freeman, pastry cook and caterer. After browsing through Messrs…
Rosa Harris’ Corner Shop, Beckenham 1919
Articles, Lost Christchurch
It is the start of the second week of June 1919 and New Zealand’s Prime Minister, William Massey and the Minister of Finance, Sir Joseph Ward, are in Paris awaiting the signing of the Peace Treaty …
Christchurch’s Countess – Léontine, Countess de la Pasture
Articles, Lost Christchurch
To the inhabitants of colonial Nelson, Léontine, Countess de la Pasture was the epitome of Victorian refinement and manners. To her husband – Gerard Gustavus Ducarel, the fourth Marquis de la…
From Thames to a New Life in Christchurch
Articles, Lost Christchurch
In early October 1889, my 2 x great aunt, Clara Wright leaves her family home in Thames and travels on the steamer, ‘Tarawera’ to start a new life with her estranged father in Christchu…
Bonnington’s Chemist, High Street and the growth of Irish Moss
Articles, Lost Christchurch
One of Christchurch’s most well known and successful chemist and druggist shops was on Colombo street and owned by George Bonnington.
From Cabstand Corner to Triangle Corner 1884 – 2011
Articles, Lost Christchurch
1884 Outside the City Hotel, a stream of Hackney and Hansom cabs wait for fares at ‘Cabstand Corner’ (later known as the ‘Triangle’.) The year is 1884 and it appears t…
Bathing Machines and Indecent Swimming Attire – New Brighton and Sumner Be…
Articles, Lost Christchurch
Bathing machines are at last to be established at Sumner, and they will supply a want which has long been felt. There is one already at New Brighton in connection with the Hotel, but I should imagi…
John Peacock and his Controversial Fountain
Articles, Lost Christchurch
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…
The Royal Exchange, Cathedral Square, 1905
Articles, Lost Christchurch
The Royal Exchange’s beautiful tower, dome and decorative facade is taking shape as the building nears completion. Fresh to the shores of New Zealand, the Australian architect brothers …
Ethel Bradley and the Cashel Street Mystery
Articles, Lost Christchurch
Peering into the mirror, Ethel May Bradley places on her head the large black hat that her sister-in-law, Clara has trimmed for her with ribbon. Reflected back is a neat figure dressed in a dark bl…
Iconic Ice-cream Charlie, Cathedral Square
Articles, Lost Christchurch
‘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 …
Sumner Tram Excursion
Articles, Lost Christchurch
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 …
Shaves & Shampoos on the North West Corner of Cathedral Square
Articles, Lost Christchurch
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 Triangle – Noxious Exhalations and a Special Earthquake
Articles, Lost Christchurch
“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 …
Site Founder
Articles, Lost Christchurch
Wendy Riley A relative newcomer to Christchurch, Wendy has deep-rooted connections to the city. Her ancestors, like many colonial New Zealanders, traced their origins to Scotland and England. After…
The Wanderings of a Spiritualist – Sherlock Holmes Creator Visits Christc…
Articles, Lost Christchurch
Conan Doyle’s fascination with the supernatural brought him to New Zealand in 1920, where he met a special terrier named ‘Darkie’ who he believed had mystical powers. In the podca…
The Oldest Building in Canterbury
Articles, Lost Christchurch
“To settle what seems to be a somewhat vexed question, a representative of the Lyttelton Times yesterday made inquiries among a number of the Pilgrims with regard to the authenticity, or otherwise,…
The Glenmark – Tragedy and a Fortune in Colonial Gold
Articles, Lost Christchurch
“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 Publican and the Sinner.”
Articles, Lost Christchurch
The story of a rugby mad church cleric, his neglected wife and a widowed publican. Read time approximately 26 minutes. He was a widower and father of two children. She was a cleric’s wife, te…
Notes on a Journey: Ōtautahi
Articles, Lost Christchurch
“In the bay in which we landed, we found two or three miserable primitive Maori cabins, inhabited by half-a-dozen helpless old creatures and a few diseased children — forming a pa named Rapaki.”…