Before and after the “Sign of the Kiwi”

Articles, Lost Christchurch

“Jog on, jog on, the footpath way. And cheerily hent the stile, A merry heart goes all the way, Your sad tires in a mile.” — “A Winter’s Tale,” Sheakespeare. Such is t…

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…

Zealandia’s Turpin

Articles, Lost Christchurch

Charismatic, athletic and intelligent, Jonathan Roberts came from a respectable family. A native of Cornwall, he immigrated to New Zealand with his family as a small child in 1862. After leaving sc…

The Savoy Theatre, Cathedral Square

Articles, Lost Christchurch

After World War One, there was a growing appetite for the glitzy glamour of the ‘Jazz Age’ and Hollywood. Christchurch residents were hungry to embrace American culture and its new comm…

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…

Government Geologist reports on ‘extraordinary earthquake phenomena’

Articles, Lost Christchurch

After the September, 1888 earthquake centred in Hanmer caused extensive damage to the Christchurch cathedral, the government geologist, Alexander McKay was sent out to review the land damage. This …

A Poor Joke! A Premonition of What Was Yet to Come.

Articles, Lost Christchurch

This photographically produced postcard of Christchurch’s Provincial Government buildings, appearing twisted and warped, was a semi-humorous card sent out at Christmas after the Murchison ear…

1880s Christchurch – Dull and as Flat as a Kitchen Table

Articles, Lost Christchurch

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…

“It’s over!” Armistice Day in Cathedral Square

Articles, Lost Christchurch

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…

Whaling, Forty Mile Beach, A Gruesome Discovery – A Pioneer’s Story

Articles, Lost Christchurch

By a Pioneer of the Fifties Many years previous to, and some few years after the arrival of the first four ships, the coast of New Zealand was frequented by whalers, notably those of England, Ameri…

“Letter From New Zealand” …or Provincial Propoganda?

Articles, Lost Christchurch

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…

September 1888 – the most destructive earthquake since the Canterbury Pilg…

Articles, Lost Christchurch

Shortly after 4 o’clock this morning the whole of the South and a portion of the North Island was shaken by a violent shock of earthquake, the most severe experienced for more than 20 years……