Christchurch: A Chronology to 1989

A timeline of Christchurch events in chronological order from pre-European times to 1989.

Go to a year between 1700 & 1989

August 28, 1890: "Great maritime strike" (the first of New Zealand’s 3 major waterfront strikes) spreads to Lyttelton.
August 31, 1959: Princess Margaret Hospital opens.
August 31, 1974: Death of Prime Minister Norman Kirk, M.P. for Sydenham. He had earlier been M.P. for Lyttelton, and Mayor of Kaiapoi.
September 1, 1888: Earthquake causes damage throughout City. Cathedral spire badly damaged.
September 1, 1906: First Timaru to Christchurch cycle race.
September 1, 1924: New City Council offices in Manchester Street open. The first of the Council’s 2 recycled office buildings, this had been the Canterbury Exhibition Hall, gutted by fire in 1917.
September 1, 1940: New Zealand Railways railcar sets a speed record of 125 kilometres per hour (78 miles per hour) near Rolleston. This is still the highest speed officially acknowledged on the New Zealand rail system.
September 2, 1885: Public meeting of 25,000 (possibly the country’s biggest to that time) in Hagley Park in support of the proposal to build a railway to the West Coast (the Midland Line).
September 3, 1879: Canterbury Industrial Association formed (now the Canterbury Manufacturers Association).

This resource includes images from our photographs collection - clicking on the image will take you to a larger version of that image.
This resource links to various other local history resources on our website.