Christchurch 1880: Canterbury Provincial Council & Supreme Court Buildings

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This is an 1880 photograph of the Canterbury Provincial Council buildings on the east side of Durham Street North. Built between 1857 and 1865, they are seen in this north-easterly view from Gloucester Street West, near to the junction with Cambridge Terrace.

The only purpose-built New Zealand provincial government buildings still in existence, with the 1876 abolition of the provincial governments, the buildings were in use as offices of central government departments by the time that this photograph was taken.

A regular subject for photographers, this is not a particulary important historical photo, but for one significant exception. With its central tower rising above the roof line, to the extreme Left can be seen the Great Hall of the Supreme Court (below). The Court building is partially obscured by the workshops of the Christchurch City Council at the corner of Armagh Street, which were replaced in 1890 by the extant Canterbury Society of Arts gallery.


Built in 1869 to the design of Alexander Lean (1824-1893), the stone Supreme Court building complimented the Canterbury Provincial Council Chamber, which is widely considered to be the finest example of the medieval Gothic style in the Southern Hemisphere. Similar to the Provincial Council Chamber, a public gallery at the eastern end seated 200 juridicial spectators.


In the early 1880s the 12.3 by 15.35 metre hall acquired substantial extensions along two sides, as seen above in this circa 1885 photograph, taken from across the Avon River at Victoria Square.

The Supreme Court extensions were progressively demolished from 1974 to make way for the current Law Courts building (below), with the 115 year-old Great Hall succumbing in 1984 to what must be one of the city's worst acts of cultural vandalism.


An aside: in 1849 the Surveyor Edward Jollie laid out a rectangular Common bounded by Colombo, Armagh, Durham and Kilmore Streets. Advised by its Solicitor, Henry Sewell (later Prime Minister of New Zealand), that it was unlawful to do so, the Canterbury Provincial Council subverted parts of the public reserve for the construction of buildings. Thus it is that the property titles now occupied by the Law Courts, along with the Salvation Army, the Town Hall and the Crowne Plaza Hotel, might still be deemed unlawful.

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We're greatfully indebted to Steven McLachlan of the Shades Stamp Shop at 108 Hereford Street, Christchurch for the top photograph, which precipitated this article.

Christwegian Courtesans & Other Less Interesting Developments.

Subsequent to the opening of the second Railway Station on Moorhouse Avenue in 1867, Manchester Street South became the principal tram route between the inner city and the station. As a consequence, that part of Manchester Street from High Street to Moorhouse Avenue became lined with hotels, restaurants and various places of entertainment, etc.

Not surprisingly, in a tradition spanning at least 130 years, the street has been the favoured haunt of those practitioners of what is reputed to be among the world's older professions. Although probably unaware of their long precedent, Christwegian courtesans are still to be found plying their precarious trade along the more northern part of Manchester Street during the hours of darkness.


Marrying a rich widow, the dandified John Etherden Coker built his third hotel on her land. Opened in 1880, it would be far from the largest, but quite the most luxurious of the Manchester Street hotels. Pictured above is the hotel's dining room. With its marble statuary and starched table linen this room offered elaborate farinaceous repast to such notables as Rudyard Kipling and the Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott. Two years after Coker's demise the hotel's public bar was reported to be the haunt of prostitutes and their consorts.


Alas all hotels have their heyday and long gone are the Terminus, Silver Grill, A1 Temperance, Railway, Manchester and Leviathan, but in much reduced circumstances, Coker's Hotel lingers on as a Backpacker's hostel. A significant part of its formerly elegant facade is now artistically rendered to represent a semi-derelict wooden shanty and the sadly dilapidated dining room (above) continues to serve a similar, but more modest purpose.

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In 1938 William Gray Young (1885-1962) submitted a Bauhaus inspired design for a new Railway Station. To be the city's largest building, construction was delayed until 1953 and the somewhat modified design was finally completed in 1960. The Railway Station survived as such for only 31 years to be sold off for redevelopment as an entertainment centre.

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Much touted as Christchurch's tallest building, the 86 metre, 23 level C1 apartment building in Gloucester Street East has been plagued with problems. Although all but four of the apartments have been pre-sold, the above photographs indicate the minimal extent of construction development between May 2008 and May 2009.

Christchurch Library Anniversary

This year the Christchurch Library, that municipal repository of our community's collective memory, is celebrating what is alleged to be its 150th anniversary. That hypothesis is based upon the library being situated in the High Street Town Hall from 1859.

In the interests of historical accuracy we would like to point out that a public reading room was opened in the Land Office at the corner of Oxford Terrace and Worcester Street in 1851 (above). Converted into our first Christchurch Library the following year, with more than a thousand books, an annual fee of one guinea ($2.10) entitled members to use the Lyttelton Library as well.

The source of the foregoing is The Early Days of Canterbury: a miscellaneous collection of interesting facts dealing with the settlement's first thirty years of colonisation 1850-1880, compiled by A. Selwyn Bruce and published by Simpson and Williams at Christchurch in 1932 (republished in facsimile by the Kiwi Publishing Company in 1995).

The poet Alfred Selwyn Bruce (1866-1936) was the son of the 1851 pioneers Ellen (1833-1928) and Thomas Bruce (1826-1899). In his interesting book Bruce aimed to immortalise the memory of many of the rank and file of our settlers, who were the founders of the province.

Bureaucratic Hypocrisy?

Against strong public opinion the Christchurch City Council allowed the demolition of the historically significant 1880 Sunnyside Hospital at Addington.

Now plans to restore part of the Hospital garden as a public park are being released by the Council for comment.

Christchurch City Council Parks and Waterways Planner David Sissons says it is proposed that features of the garden be restored, to recognise the historical significance of the site and to suit a new residential subdivision.

The neo-Gothic Sunnyside Hospital was demolished by Ngai Tahu Property Limited.

A property Project Manager formerly in the employ of what is probably Christchurch's most enduring political dynasty is now Development Manager of Ngai Tahu Property Limited.

The Chairman of a major City Council subsidiary company is also Chairman of the aforementioned political dynasty's property holding company and Policy & Research Manager for Ngai Tahu.

Further reading:

Christchurch City Council Press Release, 1 August, 2008.

Tombstone Territory

The tombs of many of the city's earliest settlers enjoy an elevated Westerly view of the central business district from the 1880 Linwood Cemetery.

Christchurch is somewhat flatter than the city known to its original inhabitants, only the old cemeteries retain the original contours.

Most of the graves evidence neglect and damage, but only the Jewish section of the cemetery shows the care and honour bestowed upon its founders by a subculture that continues to value its heritage.

See from where this photograph was taken.

Christchurch Art Gallery Podcasts

A brief history of public art in Christchurch - from the Canterbury Society of Arts, to the Robert McDougall Art Gallery, through to today's striking Christchurch Art Gallery.

Jenny Harper, Director of Christchurch Art Gallery, welcomes the listener to the Gallery and its collections.

Download Director's Welcome [MP3 450KB]

Photo by Alex Robinson

The history of the Robert McDougall Art Gallery, Christchurch's first public art museum, with quotes from art administrator and historian Warren Feeney, architect Edward Armstrong, former curator Neil Roberts and former directors Rodney Wilson and John Coley.

Download History of the Gallery [MP3 2.4MB]

The story behind the planning and building of Christchurch Art Gallery, including the controversy that surrounded this major community effort and quotes from former director Tony Preston, architect David Cole, sculptor Graham Bennett and Prime Minister Helen Clark.

Download Building the new Gallery [MP3 2.4MB]