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A club for Christchurch gentlemen
Articles, Christchurch uncovered
At the start of an archaeological investigation we often consult historical documents to learn as much as we can about a site’s past. Such research can identify the buildings that were once present, the people associated with the site through … Continue reading →
A lot of old rubbish!
Articles, Christchurch uncovered
…this yard being kept in a disreputable state, there are no cinder pits in proper places to throw the refuse of cooking and things in general, as at home, so old bones, vegetable remains, scrapings of plates, cinders, tea leaves, … Continue reading →
“the marvellous antiquity…of our beloved ritual” – Past Master G. W. Speth…
Articles, Christchurch uncovered
Context is an important concept in archaeology. Everyday artefacts, often mundane and fragmented, can take on a powerful meaning due to an unusual placement or an association with other material of a different type or function. These circumstances will often … Continue reading →
Cleanliness and Quality Combined
Articles, Christchurch uncovered
It came as a bit of a surprise when over 1000 fragments of broken stoneware jars were unearthed at an otherwise ordinary Christchurch archaeological site. But there, sitting under some old petrol tanks, was Christchurch history waiting to be found.What … Continue reading →
Let me tell you a story…
Articles, Christchurch uncovered
Historical archaeology has many facets, it includes recording buildings and features, artefact analysis, names and dates, but if you take a moment, collaborate all that data, you have a powerful tool for telling someone’s story. Some call this type of … Continue reading →
A humble home
Articles, Christchurch uncovered
Today’s post presents the story of William Bowen, a prominent Christchurch builder, as told by his residence at 441 Madras Street. Archaeologists recorded this building using building archaeology techniques before and during its post-earthquake demolition. 441 Madras Street was initially … ...
Medicating the masses: a wholesale druggist in Edwardian Christchurch.
Articles, Christchurch uncovered
In our last post, Jeremy talked about the site of H. F. Stevens, wholesale druggist, on Worcester Street near Cathedral Square. We excavated the site in 2011 and found a number of artefacts, including the Udolpho Wolfe’s bottles featured last … Continue reading →
Inside an asylum
Articles, Christchurch uncovered
Bedlam. That’s how most people think of 19th century hospitals for the mentally unwell. The phrase ‘lunatic asylums’ – which was how such institutions were known at the time – doesn’t conjure up much better images. But what if the … Continue reading →
Black deeds in Draper Street
Articles, Christchurch uncovered
Today, through the wonders of archaeology and Papers Past, we bring you the story of Charles Henry Cox, a man whose crime has been buried – literally – for over 100 years. But let’s not get too carried away. As … Continue reading →
‘It isn’t all beer and skittles’
Articles, Christchurch uncovered
- Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown’s School Days, 1857 It’s hard to picture what many of Christchurch’s buildings looked like before the earthquake. For many locals the torn down remains of a building or an empty lot remind them of a … Continue reading →
Fizz, bang, pop!: Christchurch’s early soda water industry.
Articles, Christchurch uncovered
Coke. Fanta. Lemonade. Lemon and Paeroa. Mountain Dew. Ginger beer. Dr Pepper. Seven Up. Ice-cream soda. Coke and raspberry. Lift. Fizzy drinks, or sodas, are everywhere in our society. In all the flavours and colours of the rainbow, they grace … Continue reading →
‘Is your breathing embarrassed?’
Articles, Christchurch uncovered
Many of you will probably have heard of Baxter’s Lung Preserver, a local Christchurch product created in the 19th century and still sold today. Bottles of Baxter’s, with the name of the product embossed on the sides, are common finds … Continue reading →
Baker, hotel-keeper, confectioner, merchant…..mayor.
Articles, Christchurch uncovered
Once upon a time, there was a baker (a pie-maker, even) who left his home in Germany and travelled the length of the world to a small country in the South Pacific. There, in a young city built on a … Continue reading →
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…
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…
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…
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…