On 3 January 1883, the Lyttelton Graving Dock (also known as a dry dock) was opened with great ceremony. Considered a great status symbol for any new colony, the subject of a graving dock for Lyttelton was first brought up during the Provincial Government era. Made of masonry and concrete, it was designed by engineer, …
In December 1883, recent arrivals to Christchurch – Captain Clark and an engineer only known as “Somerton” – put their idea to water with the opening of a steam boat service from Market Place (Victoria Square) to New Brighton. On the Avon, behind the Oxford Hotel (the Oxford on Avon) a landing dock was built …
In 1883, one of the world’s first reinforced concrete structures – with the additional use of steel and cast iron – was erected in Christchurch. It was the Addington Water Tower. Prison labour was used to build it and before it was finished, the tower had already sunk 9 inches. The tower is 21.9 metres …
George Hawkes Whitcombe arrived in New Plymouth in 1870. Being French, George made a career of teaching the language – but there are no clues of what brought him down to Christchurch. He became a bookseller and publisher. In 1883, he joined with George Tombs, a printer and book binder who already had a shop …
