Collections Archives - Page 4 of 13

Chrysanthemum Society

This Society was started in 1891 by Thomas Wells and Martin McDermott, J R S Richardson, Mrs Willis, and Jos Chambers. More keen members joined – W F Buckland, Miss Ewen, the Misses Sharkey, G…

William Kennedy Carter had his stables on the block of land now occupied by Briscoes, bordered by Lake, Kirkwood and Brewery (Empire) Streets and the National Hotel. He came from Halifax, Canada and started his…

Depression Days in the 1930s

Imagine you are back in the 1930’s depression. Your family is struggling on a farm on Buckland Road. Many neighbours are just walking off their farms. Aunty Ethel in Australia leaves you some money in…

First Cambridge Borough Council

The Cambridge Borough Council came fighting and yelling into the world at their first meeting on 7 September 1886 – twenty two years after Cambridge was founded. (The first local body was the Cambridge North Highway…

Leamington School

The school was opened 12 October 1880 with 46 pupils and Mr H Hyatt teacher. He was remembered 50 years later by Tom Hicks as … a unique teacher who did his best to set…

Leamington Cemetery Monument

The following is inscribed on a Monument at the Leamington Cemetery. Maori War This memorial marks the last resting place of eleven men of the Colonial Forces who died during the Maori War, and whose…

Looking for a Death in NZ

In the Cambridge Cemetery there are already thousands of potted family histories, a garden and an art gallery of headstones and statues. But the unmarked gaps between the headstones are the most tantalizing. The 3rd…

Motoring in Cambridge

The first motor car in Cambridge arrived in 1905 and was owned by Mr James Sinclair of the Masonic Hotel. It was a White Steam Car, and took an hour to raise sufficient steam to…

Mystery Creek

By Bernard Johnson © ‘Mystery Creek’ is clearly a place with an intriguing past, and fortunately a classic local history source gives us the background to the name. In ‘Plough of the Pakeha’ (1975) Eric…

The National Hotel

The National Hotel has always been a Landmark in Cambridge. In 1866 in the infant town of Cambridge, the Alpha (now National) was erected for Mr Robert Kirkwood – his name is perpetuated in a…