The Yaldhurst Museum is located in the suburb of

Yaldhurst Yaldhurst is a semi-rural suburb on the western outskirts of Christchurch city. Frederick William Delamain (1835–1910), a settler and horse breeder, named a horse Yaldhurst after some stables in England. The area was named after the horse. The ...

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

, close to

Christchurch International Airport Christchurch Airport is the main airport that serves Christchurch, New Zealand. It is located to the northwest of the city centre, in the suburb of Harewood. Christchurch (Harewood) Airport officially opened on 18 May 1940 and became New Zea ...

Riccarton Riccarton may refer to: New Zealand * Riccarton, New Zealand, a suburb of Christchurch ** Riccarton (New Zealand electorate), the electorate named after it ** The location of Riccarton Race Course * a locality on the Taieri Plains in Otago Scotlan ...

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 American colonial architecture includes several building design styles associated with the colonial period of the United States, including First Period English (late-medieval), French Colonial, Spanish Colonial, Dutch Colonial, and Georgian. ...

dwelling built in 1876, two stables and small shed on of land. Additional display and storage facilities were constructed, and the museum opened to the public on Boxing Day (. The original name was Yaldhurst Museum of Transport and Science.Yaldhurst Museum of Transport and ScienceChristchurch Holidays
New Zealand.

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 A horse-drawn vehicle is a mechanized piece of equipment pulled by one horse or by a team of horses. These vehicles typically had two or four wheels and were used to carry passengers and/or a load. They were once common worldwide, but they have m ...

collection came from throughout the

South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the smaller but more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman ...

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

brougham Brougham may refer to: Transport * Brougham (carriage), a light four-wheeled horse-drawn carriage * Brougham (car body), an automobile with a similar style Automobile models * Cadillac Brougham, 1987–1992 * Chrysler New Yorker Brougham, c. 1 ...

s, phaetons, bakers' carts,

surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

express Express or EXPRESS may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * '' Express: Aisle to Glory'', a 1998 comedy short film featuring Kal Penn * '' The Express: The Ernie Davis Story'', a 2008 film starring Dennis Quaid Music * ''Express'' ...

es, rigs,

sociable The sociable or buddy bike or side by side bicycle is a bicycle that supports two riders who sit next to one another, in contrast to a tandem bicycle, where the riders sit fore and aft. The name "sociable" alludes to the relative ease with which ...

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

hearse A hearse is a large vehicle, originally a horse carriage but later with the introduction of motor vehicles, a car, used to carry the body of a deceased person in a coffin at a funeral, wake, or memorial service. They range from deliberately a ...

. It was used in

Invercargill Invercargill ( , mi, Waihōpai 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. The city lies in the heart of the wide expanse ...

funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect ...

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

Richard Seddon Richard John Seddon (22 June 1845 – 10 June 1906) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 15th premier (prime minister) of New Zealand from 1893 until his death. In office for thirteen years, he is to date New Zealand's longest-se ...

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 is a village in West Northamptonshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 Census was 687. The village is 14 mi (22.5 km) north of Northampton, 13.3 mi (21.4 km) northeast of Daventry, and 7&nb ...

, Otago and the

Museum of Transport and Technology The Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) is a science and technology 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 l ...

(MOTAT), Western Springs,

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...

Cars

Yaldhurst Museum has 137 cars, including vehicles such as

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

, Singer,

Morris Morris may refer to: Places Australia *St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia Canada * Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry * Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba ** Morris, Manitob ...

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

Triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...

, Willys, Plymouth,

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

, Wolseley,

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automotiv ...

and others. Rarities include a 1938 International car coupe, one of only five bodied in New Zealand, and an early 1908 Daimler. There is a replica fire station housing nine appliances, including a c. 1874 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 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 is a market town and civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the population was 13,668 at the 20 ...

, England, this newspaper press was first used in

about 1863 to print the ''

Southland Times ''The Southland Times'' is the regional daily paper for Southland, including Invercargill, and neighbouring parts of Otago, in New Zealand. It is now owned by media business Stuff Ltd, formerly the New Zealand division of Fairfax Media. Histor ...

''. It was moved to

Waimate Waimate is a town in Canterbury, New Zealand and the seat of Waimate District. It is situated just inland from the eastern coast of the South Island. The town is reached via a short detour west when travelling on State Highway One, the main No ...

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

References

Bibliography

*Vercoe, G (1991), ''Historic Racing Cars of New Zealand'', p. 175. .

External links

Yaldhurst Museum website
{{authority control Museums established in 1968 Museums in Christchurch Automobile museums in New Zealand Transport museums in New Zealand Carriage museums Printing press museums