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The Chief Post Office
Articles, Lost Christchurch
The moving of the Post Office from Market Square to its new site in Cathedral Square, was a significant development in Cathedral Square’s importance in Christchurch business and city life. Th…
Holly Lea – a Rich Man’s Folly?
Articles, Lost Christchurch
An elderly man, dressed in a plum coloured suit and bow tie, stands gazing at his nearly completed home. It is September 1900, and this is no ordinary home, it is reputed to be the largest wooden r…
Alfred Preece’s Cyclists’ Exchange, Cashel and Colombo Street Corner
Articles, Lost Christchurch
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…
Human Bones Under the Public Library
Articles, Lost Christchurch
A large collection of human bones were uncovered on the corner of Cambridge Terrace and Hereford Street during the 1850s. They belonged to the early Waitaha inhabitants (1000 – 1500 AD) who h…
The Royal Exchange, Cathedral Square, 1905
Articles, Lost Christchurch
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 …
The Square and the Disappearing Old World of Christchurch
Articles, Lost Christchurch
Dominating a once simpler Cathedral Square, are the formidable buildings – Government Life Insurance Building, the Grand Theatre, the Crystal Palace Theatre, the Reuters Telegram Company Buil…
William H. Harris, Wholesale Tinsmith, 101 Colombo Street, 1898
Articles, Lost Christchurch
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…
The Clarendon Hotel – from town house to public house fit for Royalty
Articles, Lost Christchurch
Christchurch’s newest and grandest hotel in the first decade of the 1900s was the Clarendon Hotel situated on the corner of Oxford Terrace and Worcester Street. It replaced the former two-sto…
From Hotel to Hospital – St. Helen’s Maternity, Durham Street, Sydenham, 1…
Articles, Lost Christchurch
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…
Iconic Ice-cream Charlie, Cathedral Square
Articles, Lost Christchurch
‘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 …
The Canterbury Ladies’ Slaves
Articles, Lost Christchurch
Imagine you were born 100 years ago… what job would you have done? If you are female, part of the working class and living in England, then there is a one in three chance that you would be pa…
Mrs Merritt’s Boarding House
Articles, Lost Christchurch
Drunkeness was a serious problem in Christchurch by the late 1870s. It didn’t help that for a city of its size, there were 47 hotels and breweries as opposed to just 10 dentists and chemist …
Telephone Girls, The Telegraph and Post Office, Cathedral Square
Articles, Lost Christchurch
Written by Helen Solomons In 1879, my great grandfather, Mortimer Cashman Corliss, was promoted to head telegraphist in Christchurch’s newly built Post and Telegraph Office in Cathedral Squar…
Are Historic Buildings Important?
Articles, Lost Christchurch
Up until February 22nd, 2011, the city of Christchurch was a unique, historic and cultural living and breathing entity. Inherited from a long list of valuable contributors dating back to its incep…
Lichfield Street, between Colombo and High Streets, 1883
Articles, Lost Christchurch
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 …
Sumner Tram Excursion
Articles, Lost Christchurch
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 …
Down Town from High Street
Articles, Lost Christchurch
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…
Sharing Memories
Articles, Lost Christchurch
In response to the loss of our inner city of Christchurch, we were inspired to create this website, Lost Christchurch, as a freely accessible archive of photographs, social history and memories of …
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…
When a City Falls
Videos, NZ On Screen
Gerard Smyth's acclaimed documentary about the Christchurch earthquakes is the story of people coping — for better or worse — with the huge physical and emotional toll that the quakes, and continuing aftershocks, inflicted on them, their homes and their city. It began as a home movie while the devastation of September was surveyed (with thanks given that no-one had been killed); but, as shooting of the recovery continued, the February quake compounded the destruction and claimed 182 lives (including their researcher and 16 colleagues at CTV).
Chimney Book
Videos, NZ On Screen
Chimney Book takes rubble from the Christchurch earthquake, and turns it into the building blocks of a film exploring life in the quake zone. Christchurch musician Blair Parkes took bricks from his chimney — destroyed in the 22 February 2011 aftershocks — painted a letter or symbol on each, then scanned them into his computer. Sound and word form the spine of the result, which is part diary, part experimental film. Parkes explores his experiences of living in Christchurch since the quake through words like 'dust', 'memory', 'place', and a question: 'is it over?'
What Now? - 30th Birthday Show
Videos, NZ On Screen
New Zealand television's longest running children's show turns 30 with a two hour live extravaganza — far removed from its modest, half hour beginnings back in 1981. Current hosts Charlie, Johnson and Gem are joined by a parade of past presenters who reminisce, and compete to find the show's best decade. Masterchef finalist Jax Hamilton provides snacks, and celebrities send greetings. In amongst the cupcakes, gunge, fart jokes and mayhem, the programme enters its fourth decade as an institution, watched by the children of its original audience.
Media7 - Series Seven, Episode 13
Videos, NZ On Screen
This 2011 episode of the Russell Brown-fronted media commentary show examines how Christchurch is dealing with the aftermath of two devastating earthquakes. First up: the CEISMIC Digital Archive is working to preserve the memories and experiences of Cantabrians, and The Press editor Andrew Holden explains why his newspaper is donating everything it has published to the project. Then CERA CEO Roger Sutton talks about the key role of media relations, and filmmaker Gerard Smyth describes shooting his acclaimed chronicle of the quakes: When a City Falls.