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A Whale of a Time at Sumner

Articles, Lost Christchurch

Whale at Sumner Provides Amusement for Trippers “Considerable excitement was caused at Sumner at about 3 o’clock yesterday afternoon, when it was reported that something like a large upturned boat …

Christchurch’s Countess – Léontine, Countess de la Pasture

Articles, Lost Christchurch

To the inhabitants of colonial Nelson, Léontine, Countess de la Pasture was the epitome of Victorian refinement and manners. To her husband – Gerard Gustavus Ducarel, the fourth Marquis de la…

Christchurch’s first phone call

Articles, Lost Christchurch

In 1877, the world was abuzz with the news of Professor Bell’s invention – the telephone. The Steinway Hall, in New York, was packed to capacity on the 2nd of April, 1877 with the firs…

Loners, Vagrants and Deserters – The Port Hills Cave Dwellers

Articles, Lost Christchurch

Since early European settlement, the caves that honeycombed the Port Hills, from Sumner to Lyttelton, have been used by all manner of loners, vagrants and deserters as places of escape or retreat O…

Flax, Coffee, Tea and Chicory – the Trent Brothers’ Christchurch Empire

Articles, Lost Christchurch

It is ten days before Christmas, 1877 and two brothers, Frederick and James Trent, stand expectantly before the Reverend Henry Crocker Marriott Watson at altar in St John the Baptist Church, Latime…

Ethel Bradley and the Cashel Street Mystery

Articles, Lost Christchurch

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…

The Old Sumner Road Cave Dweller

Articles, Lost Christchurch

A Pitiable Case As a man was walking around Sumner road, in October 1901, a lady passed by and drew his attention to a small cave in the side of the hill where she said an old lady and her husband …

Captain Lorraine’s Final Fatal Balloon Ascent

Articles, Lost Christchurch

Captain Lorriane Loses his Life The Balloon Carried out to Sea A Terrible Fall. The Aeronaut Drowned, Fruitless Search for his Body. Star, Issue 6633, 3 November 1899, Page 4 Not one of the thousan…

The Mystery of the Severed Hand

Articles, Lost Christchurch

“When the Clerk of the Court, in his quiet, matter-of-fact way, called Arthur Robert Howard, there was a hush of the murmured conversation among the crowd, and everyone looked towards the doo…

“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…

A Penny Stamp for All Places – Cathedral Square c.1908

Articles, Lost Christchurch

“There are two classes of Christchurch postcards – those with the Cathedral and those without.” [1] The elegance of a lost age is captured in this exquisite photochrom post…

D.I.C. 1909 – ‘An up-to-date Emporium’

Articles, Lost Christchurch

The New Premises of the D.I.C. Cashel and Lichfield Streets, Christchurch From the ashes of the conflagration which ravaged the business heart of the city a year ago, there has arisen a wonderfully…

Rudyard Kipling’s Flying Visit to Christchurch

Articles, Lost Christchurch

By Our Special Reporter Yesterday morning I was at the Christchurch railway station with the intention of going to Port by the five minutes to eight train, in order to meet Mr Rudyard Kipling, who …

Mrs General Mite – ‘one of the most interesting personalities that has eve…

Articles, Lost Christchurch

It was a warm fair day on the 16th December 1919, a light nor’easterly breeze was blowing through the city. Much the same weather was being experienced throughout the whole of the Dominion. T…

The Spanish Beauty and the Beast – The Manchester St Murder

Articles, Lost Christchurch

For £55, reports The Press in 1909, an Antipodean may travel to London and back via the Cape, and secure a very pleasant holiday. For boarders and employees at Alfred and May Burn’s ‘Silver Grid’ b…

Handsome and substantial – Warner’s Hotel, Cathedral Square

Articles, Lost Christchurch

On the north east corner of Cathedral Square, the Commercial Hotel, owned by John Etherden Coker (1832 – 1894) was opened in 1863. The name Warner’s was not used until the hotel’s…

D.I.C. Opens for Business in Cashel Street, 1884

Articles, Lost Christchurch

“…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 Sick, Faint Feeling of Violent Shakes,” Jane Deans

Articles, Lost Christchurch

For one of our city’s most famous early women settlers, poor health had marred not only her voyage to New Zealand but also her arrival to her new home at Riccarton. From the moment Jane Deans…

Shaves & Shampoos on the North West Corner of Cathedral Square

Articles, Lost Christchurch

It’s just before 3pm on a late summer day in 1914. Prolific Christchurch photographer, Steffano Webb is setting up his camera equipment inside the gents’ hairdressing saloon of well kno…

Early Days in Sydenham, how the Pioneers Fared

Articles, Lost Christchurch

An interesting contribution to the history of the early days of Christchurch, and especially of the district now known as Sydenham, was made by Mr Henry Ffitch, of Glandovey road, Fendalton, in a s…

Going Under Canvas at Sumner – 1890s

Articles, Lost Christchurch

During the past year or two it has been customary for a number of parties of young men to go into camp at Sumner for the summer months, and to come up to Christchurch during business hours. Special…

Electric Trams – “Horses No Longer Required”

Articles, Lost Christchurch

Christchurch was the last of the four cities to introduce electric trams. They had tried to introduce the system in 1902, but it was prior to the amalgamation of the boroughs, so with the advent of…