One house, many stories
There once stood a house in New Brighton, and today I’d like to share some stories about it with you, starting way back in the mists of time, before the house was built. I feel like back in the mists of time is always a good place to start a story, but – more importantly – it acknowledges that the history of this piece of land doesn’t begin with the construction of the first (European) house on it.
The house. Image: K. Webb, Ōtautahi Christchurch archaeological archive.
This piece of land lies between the river and the sea but today it’s closer to the latter – just over the road from it, in fact. That river is the Ōtākaro (also known as the Avon) – for Māori, a riverine pathway through the coastal marshes and a source of food, supporting both a permanent mahinga kai and several kāinga mahinga kai. A coastal trail just to the east of the land, along Te Karoro Karoro (South Brighton Spit), provided easy travel between Kaiapoi pā and Horomaka/Te Pātaka-a-Rākaihautū (Banks Peninsula). There was a settlement on Te Karoro Karoro, too: a pā near South New Brighton Park, to the south of the land I’m talking about today. And Te Karoro Karoro was itself a significant kāinga mahinga kai (Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu 2023). It’s safe to assume that Māori would have walked over this piece of land, perhaps even pausing here amongst the sand hills, mānuka scrub, flax, fern and grass to rest or eat.
Emily Ibbott’s obituary, suggesting she may have been a rather fearsome character. Image: Star (Christchurch): 27/7/1931: 10.
From here let us skip lightly through the decades until we reach 1894 (I regret skipping lightly over these things, but in the interests of the word count, let me refer you instead to these websites: Kemp’s Deed and Te Tiriti o Waitangi). There’s still no house on the land at this point, but it’s when things start to get interesting again, from my point of view. This is when Emily Ibbott buys the section in question. On the certificate of title, she’s described as “wife of James Ibbott, caretaker, Christchurch” (LINZ 1894). Likewise, the electoral rolls give Emily’s occupation as “housewife” (NZER (Christchurch) 1893: 122). In fact, Emily was a working woman, employed as a “janitress” at Christchurch Girls’ High School from 1882-1896 (Star (Christchurch) 27/7/1931: 10). A janitress? Well, that’s a female janitor. Imagine working as a janitor and being able to afford to buy land. Especially as a woman.
But it gets better! In 1897, Emily sells the land to another woman, Harriet Snell, also described as a “wife of…” (LINZ 1897). As discussed in an earlier blog, while it wasn’t unusual for women to own land in 19th century Christchurch, it also wasn’t common, so I love this chain of women owning the land. And it just so happens that Harriet was also a working woman: she worked in a grocery store (which I’m pretty sure she and her husband, John, owned) and ran a dressmaking business that was successful enough that she had to employ others (Star (Christchurch) 26/2/1889: 2, Lyttelton Times 19/3/1889: 1). For a time, she also ran a dressmaking school (Star (Christchurch) 27/9/1897: 3). All of these were businesses she ran from her home in Elizabeth Street (now Lawson Street) in Sydenham, so Harriet would easily have been able to combine them with looking after her children. Well, maybe not easily. But women undertaking a combination of paid and unpaid work in the home is something Catherine Bishop’s research has highlighted (Bishop 2019).
Harriet’s business activities. Image: Star (Christchurch) 26/2/1889: 2.
Harriet’s husband, John, advertising the sale of items from the Central Hotel, which was being demolished at the time. Image: Star (Christchurch) 9/9/1897: 3.
It’s Harriet who builds the house in c.1899 (yes! finally we get to the house!). It was a lovely standard villa, with veranda, a villa layout and seven rooms. By this time, Harriet’s husband had a second-hand business dealing in, amongst other things, scrap metal, bottles and building materials. Including building materials from the Central Hotel: in 1897 John was advertising the sale of doors, windows and other materials from this hotel (Star (Christchurch) 9/9/1897: 3, 17/11/1897: 3). The windows on the front of the New Brighton house were typical of houses built before the 1880s and are very likely to have come from the Central Hotel (built in 1863). Harriet never lived in the house, instead renting it out, a venture that hopefully added nicely to the family’s income.
In 1920, not long before her death, Harriet sold the house and land to Jessie Catherine Price. Yes, another woman! And another “wife of…”, although unfortunately I’ve not been able to establish whether or not she did any paid work (LINZ 1897). The Price family would own – and live in – the house for nearly 100 years and, after I mentioned this house in an earlier blog post, one of the descendants got in touch. She was able to confirm the Central Hotel connection – and tell me that, during renovations, they found a board for room keys from the hotel hidden in the wall. I wonder how much of the building’s timber, etc, came from the Central Hotel? This would certainly have reduced the construction costs.
The section in 2023. Image: Google Street View.
In some ways, the story of the house ends with its demolition following the earthquakes. But, in other ways it lives on, through the memories of the family who lived there, who clearly treasured it dearly, installing a plaque on a walnut tree in the garden. Also, there’s a fantastic story of an illicit post-earthquake party in the house… The house also lives on through the archaeological recording and investigation of it that took place following the earthquakes. And, indeed, through this blog post, which has preserved – and shared – just a handful of the stories associated with this house and land.
Houses are like this: much more than simply structures to shelter us from the elements. They’re places where lives are lived, stories and memories are created and they come to mean different things to different people. For me, this house provides insights into the lives and roles of women in 19th and early 20th century Christchurch. For the descendant who got in touch, it’s a place she and her family loved.
Katharine Watson
References
Bishop, C., 2019. Women Mean Business: Colonial Businesswomen in New Zealand. Otago University Press, Dunedin.
LINZ, 1894. Certificate of title 156/201, Canterbury. Landonline.
LINZ, 1897. Certificate of title 174/242, Canterbury. Landonline.
Lyttelton Times. Available at: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/
NZER (New Zealand Electoral Rolls). [online] Available at: ancestry.com [accessed 28 May 2025].
Press. Available at: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/
Star (Christchurch). Available at: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/
Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu, 2023. Kā Huru Manu. [online] Available at: https://kahurumanu.co.nz/atlas [Accessed 29 May 2025].