Ballantynes and Hobdays on Cashel Street in 1882 The Burton Brothers captured this softly lit image of Cashel Street, the main commercial street of Christchurch. The camera sits at the corner of Hi…
The growing permanence and sophistication of Christchurch, is evident in this photograph of Lichfield Street. Taken by the Burton Brother’s, the photograph shows us that the little frontier …
Cashel Street has been taken over by the new phenomenon – motor cars. This photograph documents the quickly changing dynamics of a street which once enjoyed a more sedentary pace of life. Ch…
It is midday on the busy intersection of Manchester, High and Lichfield Streets when this photograph was taken from the corner of Bedford Row c. 1904. The street is full of activity as shoppers mak…
It is the year 1880 and Wilhelmina Arnst and John Christian Aschen have just married in the Deutsche Kirche, on the corner of Worcester and Montreal Streets. They stand outside on the street with t…
One of Christchurch’s most well known and successful chemist and druggist shops was on Colombo street and owned by George Bonnington.
For nearly forty years, the Municipal Tepid Baths provided the Christchurch public with heated swimming facilities from 1908 – 1947. The site on Manchester Street was formerly occupied by Jam…
The red brick, cream stone and plaster building on the corner of Manchester and Hereford Street, proudly displays the architectural features becoming commonplace in the commercial confines of this…
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…
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…
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…
William Potter Townend owned Townend’s Chemist and Druggist Store in the Crystal Palace Building on Colombo Street, at the corner with what was Chester Street and across the road from the Oxf…
Here we look upon one of Christchurch’s beautiful public gardens which spans Durham Street and the River Avon. This photograph shows how carefully the city authorities went about landscaping …
The magnificent, four storey Strange’s & Co Furniture Department Building was built in 1900 on the corner of Lichfield and High Streets, replacing a row of old dilapidated weatherboard sh…
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…
An open field along the west side of Manchester street, bounded by a row of well-grown English Poplars and known as the Circus Paddock, was regularly used for touring circuses which came to town.
The neat and narrow, plastered brick building of William Henry Harris, Tinsmith of Christchurch stood at 101 Colombo Street in a matching line with a set of others. Standing opposite Mason Struther…
In 1907, a former public house on the corner of Durham and Battersea Street, Sydenham, was opened as the first women’s maternity hospital in Christchurch. Founded by the Right Honorable Richa…
Oscar von Sierakowski’s factory and shop was built on the corner of Colombo and Tuam Streets in 1906. It boasted that it was the largest wire work factory in the colonies, producing decorati…
Cobb & Co.’s booking office on the corner of Cashel and High Streets was a hub of activity. Here the proprietor, W. R. Mitchell took charge of the bookings and service on this site since…
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…
The impressive Bank of New Zealand building occupied a large corner of Cathedral Square and junction of Hereford and Colombo Streets. The Bank of New Zealand was first established in Auckland in 18…
The wooden church of St Luke the Evangelist, stood in Manchester Street, just north of the Avon, from 1858 until it was pulled down in 1908 to make way for a larger stone and brick structure, faced…
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…
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…
“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…
Alfred Ernest Lyttelton Preece was born in Christchurch, the only son of Hannah and Thomas, who ran a auctioneering and produce business. Hannah and Thomas, a native of Worcester, had come to New Z…
“…the advent of a new Company that will sell goods at reasonable profits for cash…” To the Editor of the Press. Dear Sir, All undertakings of a public beneficial nature, whi…
“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…
Christchurch has a frontier appearance about it in this photograph taken by Dr. Barker in 1860 from the tower of the Canterbury Provincial Buildings. With little beyond the immediate streets, it c…