On 26th May 1906, the statue to honour the service of the late William Rolleston (pronounced Rolston) was unveiled on Rolleston Ave. It was sculpted by Herbert Hampton. He had been Canterbury’s fourth and last Superintendent – serving from 1868 to 1877. He was further honoured in 1904 when the northern end of Antigua Street …
In 1906, on the South East corner of Manchester and Hereford Streets, New Zealand’s tallest building was opened with grand ceremony. Designed by the Luttrell brothers, the seven storey structure was Christchurch’s first steel reinforced, commercial building; blending together the stately Edwardian design style with the worldly building flare of America. It was the New …
McKenzie & Willis, the South Island’s leading home furnishing retailer, began as a house and land agency that also dabbled in auctioning of second-hand furniture as a side business. They took up the first floor of the one year old Royal Exchange Building (now demolished but was located at the western cnr of Cathedral Square and …
On 26 December 1905, the Automobile Association hosted the Great Automobile Gymkhana at Addington Raceway. 30 cars featured. Numerous races took place, including the one believed to be the first stand alone car race in New Zealand. The Automobile Association – known today as the AA – was only 2 years old at the time …
On 16 December 1905, while on the first All Black’s international overseas rugby tour, Christchurch born player, Bob Deans scores the only try of the game against Wales. Unfortunately for the All Blacks, by the time the referee made it down to the goal line, the Welsh had pulled Deans back over the line. The …
Despite of the Barbadoes Street section of land – allotted by the Canterbury Provincial Council – being rather water-logged, Christchurch’s Roman Catholics couldn’t hide the excitement of the arrival of spiritual leaders in the city and the upcoming plans of a church building in 1857. In October 1860, after being built elsewhere and transported to …
With the completion of the Royal Exchange Building in May 1905, it not only boasted of being Christchurch’s handsomest building but it also had New Zealand’s first passenger lift. Named after one of the building’s tenants – the Royal Exchange Assurance Company – it was also home to McKenzie and Willis, and the offices of …
The grounds of Mona Vale were once the most beautiful and well kept paddocks on the farm at Riccarton. In a move that would later grieve the Deans family, this land with its ‘…splendid river frontage…’ was sold in 1899 for £100 per acre. Riccarton House had grown too small for all thirteen occupants and …
When Waimate born George Edgar Sevicke Jones returned to Canterbury to live in 1905, he had his eyes set firmly on his future career as an Optician in Christchurch. He opened his first office on Hereford Street. From proud settler stock, Jones’ parents had arrived aboard the ‘Strathallan’, Timaru’s first immigrant ship in 1859. As …
On 25th May 1903, the term of ‘Market Place’ for the once busy inner city trading area became a part of our history as it was renamed Victoria Square with the unveiling of the Queen Victoria Statue. As early as Canterbury’s 50th anniversary celebrations in December 1900, talk was made about the erection of a …
