At 12.51 p.m. on Tuesday 22 February 2011, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake caused severe damage in Christchurch and Lyttelton, killing 185 people and injuring several thousand.
A PDF copy of a publication promoting Milestone Homes.
A PDF copy of a publication promoting Canterbury businesses.
A story submitted by Kayla to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Courtney to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Christine Pater to the QuakeStories website.
An extract from SCIRT's Alliance Agreement, detailing SCIRT's objectives.
A story submitted by Rachel Jennings to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Rosie Belton to the QuakeStories website.
A story submitted by Rosie Belton to the QuakeStories website.
A PDF copy of a publication promoting Boxing Day sales.
A PDF copy of a guide to the 2011 Home Show.
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…
One of Christchurch’s most well known and successful chemist and druggist shops was on Colombo street and owned by George Bonnington.
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 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…
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 …
‘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 …
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 …
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 first part of the twentieth century was the heyday for the department store in New Zealand. The iconic department store, Hays, was a ‘household name’ in Christchurch from its incept…
One of the most famous literary figures of the nineteenth century to visit Christchurch, was author, raconteur, journalist and social critic, Mark Twain. Tired and elderly, yet a force to be recko…
Marking Time in Sydenham In 1912, the impressive Sydenham Post Office stood as a sentinel on the busy corner of Colombo and Brougham Streets. It was a huge post office which served a large communit…
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…
The streets are quiet – a parked car sits outside Dalgety’s, a lone tram rumbles towards the tram sheds and a tired delivery horse stands with his head bowed, eating chaff from his feed…
By Helen Solomons Mortimer Cashman Corliss was a true Victorian patriarch, gentleman and government servant who lived in Christchurch for most of his adult life, contributing to the city’s de…
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…
The most beautiful quadrangles lead to the Botany and Physics Department and Observatory of the Canterbury College, University of New Zealand in 1919. In 1873 the Provincial Council passed the Cant…
The underlying geological issues hidden beneath Christchurch’s swampy plains meant that the city’s founders and their surveyors who chose this site for their planned city, knew nothing …
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…