William Moorhouse statue

The William Moorhouse statue stands in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens and was unveiled in 1885.

William Sefton Moorhouse (1825-1881) twice served as the Canterbury Provincial Superintendent (1857-1862 and 1866-1868).

Following the death of Moorhouse in 1881, Christchurch Mayor, James Gapes, raised a subscription for a commemorative statue to be erected. The statue was cast in bronze from a model carved in London by sculptor G.A. Lawson (1832-1904) and shipped to Lyttelton in 1885. Aesthetically, the statue can be considered as belonging to the Victorian New Sculpture style.

The inscription on the stone plinth reads:

William Sefton Moorhouse to whose energy and perseverance Canterbury owes the tunnel between port and plains.

The statue is situated in the Christchurch Botanic Gardens opposite the western end of Hereford Street and was unveiled on 22 December 1885.