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New Zealand’s First Passenger Lift – May 1905
With the completion of the Royal Exchange Building in May 1905, it not only boasted of being Christchurch’s handsomest building but it also had New Zealand’s first passenger lift. Named after one of the building’s tenants – the Royal Exchange Assurance Company – it was also home to McKenzie and Willis, and the offices of …
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‘Karewa’ renamed To Mona Vale – 1905
The grounds of Mona Vale were once the most beautiful and well kept paddocks on the farm at Riccarton. In a move that would later grieve the Deans family, this land with its ‘…splendid river frontage…’ was sold in 1899 for £100 per acre. Riccarton House had grown too small for all thirteen occupants and …
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Christchurch First To Offer A Better View – 1905
When Waimate born George Edgar Sevicke Jones returned to Canterbury to live in 1905, he had his eyes set firmly on his future career as an Optician in Christchurch. He opened his first office on Hereford Street. From proud settler stock, Jones’ parents had arrived aboard the ‘Strathallan’, Timaru’s first immigrant ship in 1859. As …
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Queen Victoria Statue Unveiled – 25th May 1903
On 25th May 1903, the term of ‘Market Place’ for the once busy inner city trading area became a part of our history as it was renamed Victoria Square with the unveiling of the Queen Victoria Statue. As early as Canterbury’s 50th anniversary celebrations in December 1900, talk was made about the erection of a …
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