On 28 March 1889, George Gould – Christchurch’s first general store owner – died in his ‘Hambledon’ property located on the corner of Bealey Ave and Springfield Road. He had built his fine home in 1856 and named it after the town where he was born. Sadly, this house collapsed during the quake on 22 February 2011.
Even though George Gould and his young bride were in Wellington at the time of the arrival of the Canterbury Association’s First Four Ships, George would be the first in the central city of Christchurch to have a completed house standing. It was in this humble structure that George made his living, a living that is very much a part of the working life of Christchurch today.
I’m sure George first got noticed by his fellow settlers as he had arrived with his small house already built. It was sailed around to Sumner and taken into Christchurch by the Avon River. There on the eastern corner of Colombo and Armagh Street it was placed. This was the first General Store in Christchurch – 3rd May 1851.
Today, this humble beginning is now the Pyne Gould Corporation and its spinoff company, PPG Wrighton.
For a more in depth look at the Gould Family, please check out the following link: http://www.peelingbackhistory.co.nz/the-goulds/
* Image courtesy of Victoria – The University of Wellington – http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/
