Terminus Hotel
The Terminus Hotel, built in 1877, was situated on the north east corner of Manchester Street and Moorhouse Avenue.
By 1874, a partnership of builders, formed by Alfred Buckley, George Stevenson Marshall, and David Midford Marshall, was operating from a site on the corner of High Street and St Asaph Street under the name of Buckley and Marshall.
With the foundation stone of a new railway station on South Town Belt having been laid in November 1876, the proprietors of Buckley and Marshall foresaw the business potential that a nearby hotel could provide. On 6 March 1877, they applied for a license for a proposed hotel which would be situated at the corner of South Town Belt and Manchester Street, directly opposite the railway station. However, they needed investors to support them, and could not obtain the required capital unless the licensing court granted them a license first. The application was adjourned and at a further hearing, held on 13 March, the application was refused.
Despite this setback, by 20 April 1877, architect Johann Siegmund Martin Jacobsen was advertising tenders for the construction of a new hotel on the site chosen by Buckley and Marshall. By October, Buckley and Marshall were advertising tenders for the lease of a new hotel building. Construction of the new building had been completed when, on 4 December 1877, Buckley and Marshall applied again for a license. This time the license was granted. The hotel was initially known as the Canterbury Hotel.
The main entrance was on South Town Belt. Within, was a hall decorated with fluted columns. The ground floor consisted of a bar which was accessed through a door in the chamfered corner or through a private door on Manchester Street. There were also two bar parlours, a commercial room, a dining room, two private parlours, two bathrooms for men, and a kitchen. A double staircase led up from the hall to the landing of the first floor. From there, entrance was provided to four private dining rooms, which looked south towards the Port Hills, and a sitting room. Off from the hall passage were twenty five single bedrooms and two bathrooms for women. At the eastern end of the hall were stairs which provided employee access from the kitchens.
On 20 March 1878, the license was transferred from Buckley and Marshall to George William Wearing of Kaiapoi. It was at this point that the hotel became known as the Terminus Hotel. The license was later transferred from Wearing to Thomas Richmond in November 1878.
On 29 February 1879, Alfred Buckley, George Stevenson Marshall, and David Midford Marshall dissolved their partnership. A new firm, Marshall Bros, was established by George Stevenson Marshall.
By May 1879, Thomas Richmond was bankrupt. In December, the license for the hotel was transferred from his trustee to William Muff. In April 1880, the license was transferred from Muff to Cecil Louisson, the manager of the Crown Brewery Company. However, in September 1880, a dispute arose between Louisson and Marshall regarding the lease.
On 11 August 1883, Louisson applied to transfer the license to George Stevenson Marshall.
On 15 May 1884, a fire destroyed some bedrooms in the Terminus Hotel.
By August 1884, George Stevenson Marshall was bankrupt and had left Christchurch for America with his family. On 18 August the license was temporarily transferred to an individual titled as Mr Mitchell. By December 1884, an application was made to transfer the license from E. C. Latter, the trustee in bankruptcy of the property of George Stevenson Marshall to David Midford Marshall after an agreement had been made with William Burnip that he would apply for a temporary license in January 1885.
On 27 December 1884, the property was auctioned on behalf of the mortgagees. The license was temporarily transferred to David Midford Marshall on 8 January 1885 and on 23 March 1885, William Burnip applied for the license.
On 9 September 1886, Burnip was warned by the licensing committee for allowing thieves and prostitutes to congregate in the hotel. On 8 December 1886 the license was temporarily transferred from Burnip to Frederick Storey. On 3 May 1887, Storey applied for the license. This was granted in June. Under Storey in 1891 the hotel was renovated. New bathrooms were added along with a drain connected to the main sewer.
The hotel became known as Storey’s Family Hotel when, in December 1900, Storey advertised the lease for purchase. On 18 March 1901, Storey applied to transfer the license to Reuben Ogden. Ogden applied to transfer the license to Francis (Frank) Walter Millward on 7 May 1902.
In 1904, South Town Belt was renamed Moorhouse Avenue. The site of the building now became the corner of Manchester Street and Moorhouse Avenue.
On 11 May 1907, Millward applied to transfer the license to William James. William James transferred the license to George Sidney James in December 1910. On 5 July 1918, James applied to transfer the license to Walter James Blake. The license was transferred from Walter James Blake to Alfred John Lawrence on 7 December 1923. On 6 June 1927, the license was transferred from Lawrence to Edmund Michael Sheedy. In June 1932, the license was transferred from Sheedy to Stewart Frederick Storey.
In 1933, the license was transferred from Stewart Frederick Storey to Elizabeth Watkinson and the name of the hotel was changed to Storey’s Tourist Hotel. On 23 July 1935, Watkinson applied to transfer the license to Robert Michael Cox. On 28 October 1936, Cox applied to transfer the license to Clarence Sydney Griffiths.
In December 1939, the license was transferred from Griffiths to Herbert Fox. In March 1941, the license was transferred to Walter Carlton. In December 1941, Carlton transferred the license to William Ewart Donnithorne.
On 29 October 1943, Donnithorne applied to transfer the license to John William Hoare. On 24 October 1945, Hoare applied to transfer the license to Horace Lawton Dyer. On 27 September 1947, Hoarce Lawton Dyer applied to transfer the license to James Reginald Bonner.
In June 1956, the name of the hotel was changed to Bonner’s Tourist Hotel.
In October 1967, Bonner and his wife, Una Florence Bonner, filed for bankruptcy. By the end of October, the hotel had been purchased by John Clifton Ramsden. Ramsden renovated the building and sold it in September 1969 with the name Interisland Hotel.
By 1978, it was known as the Station Hotel. At the time, the manager was Frederick William Sharp.
In June 1984, Patrick Timothy O’Connell applied for the license. The property was sold in this year before being sold again to Cockram Car Sales Limited. The hotel closed on 14 December 1985 and an auction for the chattels was held on 19 December. The building was demolished by January 1986 and the site subsequently became a sales yard for Cockram Car Sales Limited.
Moorhouse Avenue aerial view
View taken from an aeroplane along Moorhouse Avenue near the railway tracks. Colombo Street is to the left with the railway station and the intersection with Manchester Street in the centre.