The Yaldhurst Museum is located in the suburb of Yaldhurst, Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...

, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, close to Christchurch International Airport

Christchurch International Airport

-Facts & figures:As the gateway for Christchurch and the South Island, Christchurch International Airport is New Zealand’s second largest airport.5,908,077 passengers travelled in and out of Christchurch International Airport from 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009...

, Riccarton

Riccarton, New Zealand

Riccarton is a suburb of Christchurch. It is due west of the city centre, separated from it by Hagley Park. Upper Riccarton is to the west of Riccarton.-History:...

 Race Course and Ruapuna Speedway. The museum has a large collection of road transport vehicles and it opened to the public in 1968.

History

The museum was established by Alfred Thornhill Cooper, also known as Jake Cooper. He began collecting vehicles in 1950 and in 1963 purchased his ancestral home Dudley House at Yaldhurst, to build his museum. The property had a two-story colonial style dwelling built in 1876, two stables and small shed on 8 acres (32,374.9 m²) of land. Additional display and storage facilities were constructed and the museum opened to the public on Boxing Day 26 December 1968. The original name was Yaldhurst Museum of Transport and Science.

Exhibits

Many of the exhibits are displayed in their original condition and include cars, racing cars, commercial vehicles, motorcycles, scooters, power-cycles, horse-drawn carriages, bicycles, tractors, agricultural equipment, stationary engines, military items and fire engines. Also at the museum is the original Yaldhurst School building relocated in April 1984.

Horse-drawn vehicles

The horse drawn vehicle collection came from throughout the South Island

South Island

The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...

 and comprises 119 vehicles, the oldest is an American Buggy of 1810. Examples of gigs

Gig (carriage)

A gig, also called chair or chaise, is a light, two-wheeled sprung cart pulled by one horse.-Description:Gigs travelling at night would normally carry two oil lamps with thick glass, known as gig-lamps. Gig carts are constructed with the driver's seat sitting higher than the level of the shafts. ...

, swamp drays, drag

Drag

- In science and technology :* Drag , the force which resists motion of an object through a fluid* Drag equation, a mathematical equation used in analyzing the magnitude of drag caused by fluid flow...

s, brougham

Brougham

Brougham could betransport:* Brougham , a single-engined aircraft of the 1920s and 1930s.* Brougham , a light four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage* Brougham , an automobile with a similar style; later applied to any luxurious car...

s, phaeton

Phaeton

Phaeton, Phaëton, Phaethon, or Phaëthon may refer to:In Greek mythology, several figures with astral associations:*Phaëton, son of Helios*Phaethon , guardian of the temples of Aphrodite...

s, bakers' carts, surrey

Surrey (carriage)

A surrey is a horse-drawn, four-wheeled, two-seated pleasure carriage with an open spindle seat.-Overview:The name comes from Surrey, the county in southern England where it was first built. It resembles a cabriolet but has a straight or nearly straight bottom, sometimes cut under...

s, expresses, rigs, sociable

Sociable

The Sociable or Buddy Bike or Side By Side Bicycle is a bicycle that supports two riders who sit side by side.This type of bicycle should not be referred to as a tandem bicycle as "tandem" is defined as: "a group of two or more arranged one behind the other ..."-History:The Sociable is said by some...

s, governess cart

Governess cart

A Governess cart is a small two-wheeled horse-drawn cart. Their distinguishing feature is a small tub body, with two opposed inward-facing seats. They could seat four, although there was little room for four large adults. The driver sat sideways on one of these seats. The centre rear of the body...

s, night carts and milk carts are exhibited. One of the rarest vehicles on display is a c1886 hearse

Hearse

A hearse is a funerary vehicle used to carry a coffin from a church or funeral home to a cemetery. In the funeral trade, hearses are often called funeral coaches.-History:...

. It was used in Invercargill

Invercargill

Invercargill is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. It lies in the heart of the wide expanse of the Southland Plains on the Oreti or New River some 18 km north of Bluff,...

 by funeral

Funeral

A funeral is a ceremony for celebrating, sanctifying, or remembering the life of a person who has died. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember the dead, from interment itself, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor...

 directors Macdonald and Weston and said to have carried the body of New Zealand prime minister Richard Seddon

Richard Seddon

Richard John Seddon , sometimes known as King Dick, is to date the longest serving Prime Minister of New Zealand. He is regarded by some, including historian Keith Sinclair, as one of New Zealand's greatest political leaders....

 at his death in 1906. The hearse is one of only three known to have survived in New Zealand. The other hearses are held in the Naseby Early Settlers' Museum. Naseby

Naseby, New Zealand

Naseby is a small town, formerly a borough, in the Maniototo area of Central Otago, New Zealand. It is named after a village in Northamptonshire, England....

, Otago and the Museum of Transport and Technology

Museum of Transport and Technology

The Museum of Transport and Technology is a museum located in Western Springs, Auckland, New Zealand. It is located close to the Western Springs Stadium, Auckland Zoo and the Western Springs Park. The museum has large collections of civilian and military aircraft and other land transport vehicles...

 (MOTAT), Western Springs, Auckland

Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

.

Cars

Yaldhurst Museum has 137 cars including vehicles such as Austin

Austin Motor Company

The Austin Motor Company was a British manufacturer of automobiles. The company was founded in 1905 and merged in 1952 into the British Motor Corporation Ltd. The marque Austin was used until 1987...

, Dodge

Dodge

Dodge is a United States-based brand of automobiles, minivans, and sport utility vehicles, manufactured and marketed by Chrysler Group LLC in more than 60 different countries and territories worldwide....

, Singer, Morris

Morris Motor Company

The Morris Motor Company was a British car manufacturing company. After the incorporation of the company into larger corporations, the Morris name remained in use as a marque until 1984 when British Leyland's Austin Rover Group decided to concentrate on the more popular Austin marque...

, Ford, Triumph

Triumph Motor Company

The Triumph Motor Company was a British car and motor manufacturing company. The Triumph marque is owned currently by BMW. The marque had its origins in 1885 when Siegfried Bettmann of Nuremberg initiated S. Bettmann & Co and started importing bicycles from Europe and selling them with his own...

, Willys, Plymouth, Jaguar, Wolseley

Wolseley Motor Company

The Wolseley Motor Company was a British automobile manufacturer founded in 1901. After 1935 it was incorporated into larger companies but the Wolseley name remained as an upmarket marque until 1975.-History:...

, Chrysler

Chrysler

Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....

 and others. Rarities include a 1938 International car coupe, one of only five bodied in New Zealand, and an early 1908 Daimler

Daimler Motor Company

The Daimler Motor Company Limited was an independent British motor vehicle manufacturer founded in London by H J Lawson in 1896, which set up its manufacturing base in Coventry. The right to the use of the name Daimler had been purchased simultaneously from Gottlieb Daimler and Daimler Motoren...

.
There is a replica Fire Station housing nine appliances, including a c1874 Merryweather manual appliance, a 1924 Leyland 6 cylinder appliance and a 1938 Ford v8 appliance that attended the infamous J. Ballantyne & Co department store fire

Ballantyne's store disaster

The Ballantyne's fire on 18 November 1947 remains the deadliest fire in New Zealand history. Forty one people died in the blaze in the Christchurch Central City; all were employees who found themselves trapped by the fire or were overcome by smoke while evacuating the store complex without a fire...

 in Christchurch on 18 November 1947, the worst fire in New Zealand history when 41 people died.

Printing

The museum print shop houses a significant collection of printing presses and allied equipment. The plant mainly consists of letterpresses and several small offset presses. The most impressive machine is an 1863 Wharfdale flat bed tumble cylinder press requiring two operators. Manufactured by W. Dawson and Sons of Otley

Otley

-Transport:The main roads through the town are the A660 to the south east, which connects Otley to Bramhope, Adel and Leeds city centre, and the A65 to the west, which goes to Ilkley and Skipton. The A6038 heads to Guiseley, Shipley and Bradford, connecting with the A65...

, England, this newspaper press was first used in Invercargill

Invercargill

Invercargill is the southernmost and westernmost city in New Zealand, and one of the southernmost cities in the world. It is the commercial centre of the Southland region. It lies in the heart of the wide expanse of the Southland Plains on the Oreti or New River some 18 km north of Bluff,...

 about 1863 to print the Southland Times. It was moved to Waimate

Waimate

WaimateUrban AreaPopulation:2,835 Extent:Territorial AuthorityName:Waimate District CouncilPopulation:7,206 Land area:3,582.19 km² Mayor:John ColesWebsite:...

in 1914 to print the Daily Advertiser. It came to the museum in 1972 where it is still operational and occasionally demonstrated.

External links

• Yaldhurst Museum website