For details on opening hours see our Museums of Banks Peninsula information.
Legal history of the land - part of Reserve 34
- 1851: The area within Oxford Street and Norwich Quay was made Reserve 34 and used as the Immigration Barracks. These were used initially for housing and later served many purposes e.g. the Church of England School was located in the Barracks in the 1860’s.
- 1863: The Lyttelton Municipal Council takes over the Reserve in 1863. It is recorded in the deeds as following: – "The Lyttelton Municipal Council incorporated by an Ordinance made in the 20th session of the Provincial Council of the Province of Canterbury instituted 'The Lyttelton Municipal Council Ordinance 1863' hereinafter called the Lessors of the one part and ...."
- 1867: According to J.Johnson in The Story of Lyttelton in this year "the old barracks was sold for removal..."
- 1868: The 1868 rates map (L.B.C. Archives) shows several buildings on Reserve 34. The Town Hall is in the approximate area. (See 'early buildings on the site').
- 1911: Foundation stone is laid for Seamen’s Institute opened the next year.
- 1967: The building is re-modelled in about 1967.
- 1977: The building is leased from the Lyttelton Borough Council (Banks Peninsula District Council from 1989) for use as a museum.
Early buildings on the site
Immigration Barracks
Reserve 34 is the early site for these Barracks. The deeds of 1850 show them proposed. There are many references made to their use in early histories of Lyttelton. And they can be seen on the early maps of Lyttelton.
Town Hall
The Town Hall is shown in the 1868 Rates Map. It is first mentioned in Council in the year 1864 "A room in the Town Hall is henceforth being used for the council meetings." Therefore it must be on Reserve 34 at the same time as the Immigration Barracks as they were not removed until 1867.
This building has been seen in some early photographs of Lyttelton. In the Harbour Board’s collection (Album 1 p.26) there is a photo dated approximately 1900, which shows a 2-storey square building on the site of the present museum building.
Owners and occupiers
The Seamen’s Institute
Opened 1912. The building was built as a Seamen’s Institute. 'The Weekly Press' of Christchurch described the laying of the foundation stone on December 9th, 1911. There are several photos printed in this article. The Mayor at the time was Malcolm J. Miller. The magazine also tells us that: "The Governor travelled to Lyttelton (with Lady Islington) for the event. £1,000 had been collected at this date by generous subscriptions and government subsidy, but over £1,500 was still required to complete the work so the governor appeals for help".
The inscription on the stone reads:
"This stone was laid by his Excellency Lord Islington, D.S.O., Governor of New Zealand. For the Glory of God and the good of His Seafarers, December 9th, 1911."
An extract from the book'The Story of Lyttelton' by J.Johnson see page 207 'Voluntary Agencies.'(Published in 1952 when the Seamen’s Club was still operating) reads:
"The Seamen’s Institute work goes a long way into the past. In 1878 it is recorded that the Harbour Board asked the Government to invest it with a site for the purposes of a Sailors Home, the Board also doing its share by giving £500 to help. A Sailors Home Committee was appointed and eventually a building was erected and opened in December 1883. This was situated on Norwich Quay (but was demolished.) Another earlier building, known as the Sailors Rest, getting into financial difficulties was taken over by the Board in 1894 and an extra room built on the east side of the Home. Later, ten more rooms were added, so that sailors could stay here when ashore. Equipment for games and the pastimes were bought in 1908 and again in 1921... In the early thirties this building was closed however as a Sailors Home".
"In the meantime, some years earlier, the much wider British and Foreign Sailors’ Society reached Lyttelton and sought land for a building site. That was in 1911. Eventually the present site under the hill at the east end was leased from the Borough and the King George V Institute erected as a Coronation Memorial for the town. A gracious gift to the sailors who bring and carry away our goods*.... the public having contributed £1,000 towards its cost. The Reverend Elliot Chambers was prominent in the campaign and the secretary, Mr R.A. Dearsley. Over the years a Port Missionary has been in charge, religious services are held on Sunday evenings, ocean libraries are available and rooms are kept open daily for sailors use with games and canteen. Sports are arranged for visiting ships and dances organised".
*N.B. John Johnson’s book states that the building was opened by Lord Jellicoe in 1911; but research by Baden Norris shows that in fact Hon. F.M. Fisher opened the building on 31st August 1912.
This two-storey building was also known as 'The Mission' built in celebration of King George V’s coronation. It offered an alternative venue for sailors in Port from the plentiful hotels and less desirable places, with a social hall for dances and concerts, library and reading room upstairs; downstairs was the Government Shipping Office and the Missions quarters. A third storey was added for ships officers, this included a billiard room.
In 1933 the Government Shipping office moved and this area was taken over by an essential service: the St. John’s Ambulance Brigade. The ambulance service stayed here until the late 1940’s when a restaurant took its place.
Architectural features
Exterior
Style: The exterior architecture shows a transition from the earlier classical type public building to a newer modern style. The front face and corner still feature classical motifs, but they are now very angular in shape.
A comparison can be made with the Chief Post Office in Auckland, which is of the same year; also the Community Centre in Sumner is built in 1907.
Classical features of Seamen’s Institute 1911
Detailed cornice at top of building is also repeated at level of window caps. Front windows are semi-circular at top and feature keystones. The architraves are column-shaped.
Alterations
The front door was originally below the present Museum sign; this is now closed off. See photograph of Lord Bledisloe at the original front entrance. This framed photograph is in Lyttelton Museum by front office counter.
Interior
The interior was completely re-modelled in 1967. The staircase was modernised and early features were lost.
However, the building was saved and used as the Lyttelton Museum and the original chapel remains (in front of the new entrance). Museum displays are housed on the lower storey and in the upper rooms. There are also on the top storey, other rooms presently in flats. The land is still leased from the Banks Peninsula District Council. The building has served as a Lyttelton Museum since 1977.
