The Living City — 28

Press, 20 March 1982, Page 15

The Living City — 28

Drawing by OWEN R. LEE

Text by

DERRICK ROONEY

working in his spare time. No. 63, at the southern end of the group, was built first. The Hitchings family initially lived in this house, but after more children were born the family needed more room, and Hitchings built a bigger house at No. 69. Later he filled in the group with No. 65 and No. 67. The remaining houses were built later, starting in 1886, and are more ornate, indicating that Hitchings’s business was prospering. Nos 71, 73, and 75 were built first, by Hitchings himself. The other three were built by his son Richard, one of three sons who joined him in the bricklaying trade. The houses were placed, English-style, on the street-line, with their gardens out of the public gaze behind. Frank Hitchings, in his retirement, apparently became a keen gardener and had a large glasshouse in his yard, where he grew tomatoes and other vegetables. He was also a keen amateur astronomer, and spent many hours in the observatory that he built on his bouse. He died in 1920, at the age of 77, and it is said that he had the last horse-drawn funeral in Christchurch. (This is the final drawing in the present series)