By Roselyn Fauth

The Oxford Building at 100: A Story of Timaru, the Turnbulls, and the People Who Built a City

In 2013, The Oxford Restaurant moved into the Oxford Building. This listed 1925 Historic gem, in the old heart of Timaru. A beautiful corner building, it has embossed 15-foot ceilings on all four floors, which was the inspiration behind the restaurant's branding. timaru.govt.nz/Historic-Heritage-Assessment-Report-HHI61-Oxford-Buildings-Category-B.pdf

In 1925, a bold new four-storey Oxford Building rose over Stafford Street, instantly reshaping Timaru’s skyline. Its inter war style, concrete strength, and Union Jack motifs signalled confidence in a growing town. A century later, it still stands as one of Timaru’s most recognisable and well-loved heritage landmarks.

Gates of the timaru cemetery designed by James Turnbull - his fathers monument is the white obelisk - Photo Roselyn Fauth 2025

How a lockdown walk led to a century-old story

I never expected to end up writing about the Oxford Building. It all began during Covid lockdown walks when many of us explored places close to home. I used to take our two young girls to the Timaru Cemetery so my husband could focus on work. I used to find interesting headstones and then go home and learn about the people who rested there. One day I noticed a tall obelisk in the centre if the cemetery's gates. On closer inspection I realised it wasn’t a gravestone, but a memorial to Richard Turnbull. I thought to myself he must have a great story if he got a headstone and a monument, so I started to learn about the early merchant and Member of Parliament.

That small spark of curiosity turned into years of research, side stories, and discoveries about the Turnbull family. Their legacy took me through archives, old maps, family history and stories, and Timaru's footpaths. Eventually that journey led me to this corner... to the elegant four-storey Oxford Building, now celebrating its 100th year in 2025.

ABOVE: Turnbull and Clarkson’s wooden shop ‘The Corner’ on Stafford St and George St around 1862-68 before the Great fire. – South Canterbury Museum CN 201904932. 

From Lyttelton to Timaru: The beginnings of a partnership

Richard Turnbull arrived in Lyttelton with his wife, Mary Hepzibah, in the early 1850s. Their first decade in Canterbury was spent breaking in a small farm, raising children, and hauling produce to market. Those carting trips introduced Richard to David Clarkson, an established Christchurch merchant who came from a family deeply embedded in the drapery trade.

In 1854 David, his wife Esther, and her sister Elizabeth opened a modest drapery on Cashel Street. Esther, a trained milliner from Dunstable in Bedfordshire, had begun by selling imported straw hats and clothing from the front room of their cottage. Her success quickly led to a purpose built shop, and by late 1854 the enterprise was being advertised as a new drapery establishment. As the business grew, it gained a large two storey extension and adopted the name Dunstable House. The shop changed hands in 1864 when William Pratt purchased it and continued to develop the business, before selling to John Ballantyne in 1872. Over the following decades the firm expanded through family partnerships, eventually becoming the company known as Ballantynes.

Ballantynes has had a long association with the Theatre Royal. from  1883 to 1913 the shop occupied a site almost next door, between the Theatre and Woollcombe Street. - The Gala Concert to celebrate the re-opening of the Theatre Royal 4th, 5th & 6th November, 1993: Official Programme (1993). Aoraki Heritage Collection aorakiheritage.recollect.co.nz/7479 The first Theatre Royal opened on this site in 1877. The original structure had been built as a stone store by Richard Turnbull in 1869/70; it was known as Turnbull’s Hall by 1876. The hall was remodelled by local architect Maurice Duval for JL Hall in 1877 and for Moss Jonas in 1882-83. Shops on the street front flanked a hallway that led to the theatre beyond until at least the early 1960s, when the foyer was rebuilt. The auditorium dates to 1911 and the façade and foyer were reconstructed to local architect Barrie Bracefield’s design in 1992-93. The building was acquired by Timaru City Council in 1961 and remains in council ownership and management today. timaru.govt.nz/Historic-Heritage-Assessment-Report-HHI60-Theatre-Royal-Category-B.pdf

When the Clarksons sold the Christchurch store in early 1864, the timing aligned neatly with a new opportunity further south. That same year Richard Turnbull and David Clarkson travelled to Timaru, then still one of the smallest European settlements in New Zealand. Their arrival marked the beginning of a new phase in their working relationship and in the commercial development of the young town.

They had 14 children: Mary 1852-1852. Thomas 1853-1933. Katherine 1855-1931. Charles 1856-1874. Ellen 1858-1936. Arthur 1860-1919 MERCHANT. Esther 1862-1898. James 1864-1947 ARCHITECT. Richard 1866-1867 MERCHANT. David 1868-1951. Saxby 1869-unknown/ Ethel 1872-1947. Gerald 1874-1875. Wilfred 1875 - unknown 

1907 Dunstable House and Ballentines in Timaru - Stafford Street looking North Timaru NZ Industria series Addressed to Miss L Roberts and postmarked.

A branch of Ballantynes would later become part of that story. The company opened its Timaru store in 1883, establishing a long standing presence on Stafford Street. It shifted to its current site in 1913, with later extensions and modernisations reflecting the town’s growth and changing retail expectations. The building itself has a family connection too: the architects were Messrs Clarkson & Ballantyne. Mr Clarkson being a son of the founders of Dunstable House, while Mr Ballantyne was a nephew of John Ballantyne... tying the Timaru premises back to the original Dunstable House founders and to the wider Ballantyne family who carried the business into the twentieth century.

Mary Hepzibah Turnbull (Book Richard Turnbull a Timaru Pioneer) Richard Turnbulls Chair  South Canterbury Museum-CN-6108.  Right Clarkson and Turnbulls wooden store on the Corner of what is now Stafford Street and George Street. The Turnbulls Home was next door.

Clarkson & Turnbull: A store that helped to literally stitch the town together

Timaru in 1864 had fewer than a thousand residents. Ships had to anchor offshore and unload by surfboat at the foot of George Street. But Richard and David saw enormous potential. They opened Clarkson & Turnbull on this very corner, selling drapery, hardware, boots, household goods, and everything a growing hinterland needed.

Most of their stock arrived by sea. They understood that for Timaru to thrive, shipping needed to be safer and more reliable. Their conviction was so strong that in 1865 they minted a penny token featuring the dream of a future harbour. It became a small but powerful symbol of their belief in the town’s potential.

Their business grew steadily. Richard and Mary welcomed more children — their eighth, James, was the first to be born in Timaru in 1864. Their tenth, David Clarkson “D.C.” Turnbull, born in 1868, was named in honour of his father’s business partner.

Clarkson & Turnbull went on to become the first merchants to export flour from Timaru to London, a bold move that helped establish South Canterbury grain in international markets.

ABOVE: 1865 “New Zealand Timaru” Token , by Clarkson & Turnbull. The reverse shows a ship in harbour, behind a breakwater. The business was the first to export flour from Timaru. The harbour at Timaru was unsafe for vessels in high winds until the construction of a breakwater, a project that did not begin until 1879. – Courtesy Te Papa (NU005401)

ABOVE: c1877 The Roadstead in Timaru before the breakwater was constructed. Courtesy of Private Collection. - Illustrated Australian News (Melbourne, Vic. : 1876-1889) Wed 3 Oct 1877.

The Great Fire of 1868: Loss and resilience

In December 1868, disaster struck. A boy melting glue near the corner of Church and Stafford Streets accidentally sparked a blaze. Strong nor’west winds drove flames through central Timaru. In just three hours, wooden shops and homes from the crossroads to Woollcombe Street were destroyed. Among them were Richard and Mary’s home and the Clarkson & Turnbull store.

It is difficult to imagine the hardship of that time. But they rebuilt — this time in brick and stone, laying the foundations of the Edwardian and Victorian streetscape we love today.

The cabinet maker's workshop highlighed with the arrow is where the 1868 fire originated, now hosts Hallensteins on the corner of Church St and Great Southern Rd, now Stafford St. Photo Timaru Centenary.

Fanned by a hot nor-wester,  the December 1868 flames roared through the wooden stores and homes from church Street corner, down what used to be called Great North Road, to near Woollcombe Street in just three hours.

Section of a Timaru map from 1875. It's hard to imagine how people managed through that time. But they rose from the ashes and built stronger in brick and stone, making way for the Edwardian and Victorian architecture that we love so much today. 

You may have heard of Charles Bowker – famous for his gift of the land and the bluestone arch at the top of the Centennial Park. He worked for the David and Richard as their store manager, and became a very successful land agent.

ABOVE: 1870 photograph of what was then known as South Road, Timaru (present day Stafford Street) showing construction underway of Richard Turnbull’s Stone Store up the hill on the left.  On the corner is Richard Turnbulls shop that was rebuilt in stone after the 1868 fire. – Alfred Charles Barker, Canterbury Museum ID 13/57.

Life after the fire: New paths, new businesses

After the fire, the partnership eventually dissolved. David returned to the wholesale drapery trade, making 13 business trips to Britain and establishing ties in Sydney and Melbourne. He built a significant warehouse operation in Christchurch before his death at Coogee Bay, NSW, in 1889. His wife Esther lived to the age of 80.

Richard remained in Timaru, rebuilt a stone store on the corner with architect Francis J. Wilson and constructed a new warehouse a few doors down which became know as Turnbull Hall, the site of today’s Theatre Royal. He hosted a town meeting there, and the first harbour board was formed, championing the breakwater project.

Richard, as well as being in the thick of merchant trading, got stuck into the local politics. So he could make an impact on the growth of the town. He helped establish Timaru’s first public school and Mechanics’ Institute, served on the Municipal Council (1865), and became a member of the first Timaru Borough Council in 1870. He served on the Hospital Board, lead religious services, and read letters to prisoners. George Gabites also served as a Borough Councillor.

1877 Richard becomes Member of Parliament for Timaru (1877–1890) after Sir Edward Stafford’s resignation. Stafford Street used to be called Great North Road. It was renamed Stafford Street after him. As a Liberal, he supported education, workers’ rights, and harbour works, and secured a £100,000 government grant for the harbour development.

George Street, Timaru. Hocken Digital Collections, https://hocken.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/23495

Timaru, 1875, Dunedin, by Burton Brothers, Alfred Burton. Te Papa (C.014371)

Arthur Gabities' store in Temuka. King Street, Temuka, New Zealand, 1912, Temuka, by Muir & Moodie. Purchased 1998 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. Te Papa (PS.001496) No Known Copyright Restrictions

Richard moved on from his corner store, and the Gabites moved in.

George Gabities worked for Clarkson and Turnbull.  He was born in Lincolnshire (1829-1914) went to the Australian goldfields where he owned a drapery business. George came to Timaru to scope the place out before giving his family the green light to jump on a ship and move to Timaru. His brothers Arthur and Robert, and cousin Fletcher, arrived in 1870. Both George and Arthur had apprenticed in the drapery trade in England.

George became a proprietor of the shop and then partnered with Robert, and I think he bought the Clarkson’s Timaru business in 1871.

The store eventually became known as Gabites’ Corner where their family sold clothes to our District for over a century.

Timaru with the rest of New Zealand, suffered a financial depression in the 1880s, and George Gabites’ business almost went into voluntary liquidation. His younger brother Arthur was able to revive it, opening “The Corner” men’s clothing store in Timaru. Arhtur managed the business until his death from pneumonia following a tuberculosis attack in 1898, aged 53. The store was then run by his sons.

Stafford Street, Timaru (1880-1884). Hocken Digital Collections, accessed 10/09/2025, https://hocken.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/66686

Pictorial postcard of Stafford Street entitled "The Cabstand Stafford St Timaru," circa 1910. Depicts a line of horse-drawn carriages on the side of the road outside the Bank of New Zealand and the NZ Loan and Mercantile Agency. In the background the Club Hotel can be seen on the corner of George and Stafford Streets and 'A Gabites' on the opposite corner. South Canterbury Museum 2006/104.114

The Post Office and the Public Library, Timaru. Hocken Digital Collections, accessed 10/09/2025, https://hocken.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/23731

In 1890, after representing Timaru for 13 years and while sitting in parliament one day, Richard Turnbull died. He was brought home from Wellington, and 1000s watched his funeral procession to St Mary’s church. His wife Mary died in 1912; both rest together at the Timaru Cemetery.

Richard’s vision for a strong port and prosperous town directly shaped Timaru into a commercial hub of exchange between South Canterbury, and global markets.

Richard Turnbull’s funeral in 1890 was a significant event in Timaru, reflecting his prominence as both a businessman and the sitting Member of Parliament for the town. After his sudden death in Wellington from Bright’s disease while attending Parliament, his body was returned to Timaru by ship. The Timaru Herald reported that shops closed and flags flew at half-mast as a mark of respect. His funeral cortege was one of the largest the town had seen, with civic leaders, harbour board members, business associates, and townspeople joining Mary and their children to pay tribute. The procession moved through Stafford Street to the Timaru Cemetery, where he was laid to rest in the Anglican section. Speeches at the graveside praised his dedication to Timaru’s harbour development, his long-standing role in local commerce, and his service as their parliamentary representative. For Mary, now widowed after nearly 40 years of marriage, it marked the end of an era. 

Mary lived on another twelve years. She died in Timaru on 14 October 1912 at the age of 73 and was buried beside Richard in Timaru Cemetery. She had seen the town transform from an isolated landing place to a busy port with churches, schools and stone buildings. Her burial beside him would later link them both permanently to the town they helped build. Today when you visit the cemetery Richard has a monument prominently in front of the cemetery gates. The Timaru Cemetery Gates were designed by their architect son, James Turnbull.

Left: Richard Turnbull's Will and Right Mary's signature on the will. https://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE64655168 

These papers are about the probate of Richard Turnbull, an auctioneer from Timaru, Canterbury, who died in Wellington on 17 July 1890. His will, written on 13 April 1887, left everything he owned to his wife, Mary Hephzibah Turnbull, and named her as the executor and guardian of their children. After his death, Mary gave a sworn statement on 4 August 1890, confirming his death, agreeing to carry out his wishes, and noting that his estate was worth less than £300. The District Court in Timaru officially approved the will and granted Mary probate on 5 August 1890, giving her the legal right to manage his estate, pay any debts, and distribute what was left. The will was signed by two witnesses, D. Turnbull, a clerk, and W. Sutton, a butcher, both from Timaru. The court documents include Mary’s affidavit, the probate order, and stamps showing fees paid, completing the legal process that allowed Mary to take charge of her husband’s estate.

Imagining Mary Hepzibah Turnbull's Life Through a Chair

 By Roselyn Fauth

Mary Hepzibah Turnbull (Book Richard Turnbull a Timaru Pioneer) Richard Turnbulls Chair  South Canterbury Museum-CN-6108. 

Right Clarkson and Turnbulls wooden store on the Corner of what is now Stafford Street and George Street. The Turnbulls Home was next door.

Sometimes, connecting to history begins with an object. For me it was a monument at a cemetery and then it was a chair.

While browsing the South Canterbury Museum’s online archive and searching for “Turnbull,” I came across a photograph of a chair labelled as Richard Turnbull’s. I included this in a pull up banner for D.C Turnbull & Co when they celebrated their 130 year milestone of business. The timeline absorbed a lot of time, but I really enjoyed the deep dive and side quests over the last five years.

Recently, I have been taking Harvard University’s free course Tangible Things, which encourages looking at objects not just for what they are but for what they can represent. For a unit module I decided to revisit the chair, and pull Mary into the story so we can learn about the woman behind Richard Turnbull. Today's blog is not about the chair, it is about what the chair might have meant to Mary Hepzibah Turnbull, and using the object to connect to her story in the chapters of Timaru's past.

I haven't been successful in finding specific information about the chair. But, I think it travelled with her and Richard from Oxfordshire in 1851. It would have been packed onto the emigrant ship Fatima as part of their few possessions. Perhaps it stood in their cottage in Lyttelton, where she gave birth to her first child just weeks after arriving in New Zealand while Richard farmed at Halswell. Perhaps it moved with her to Timaru, into the home on George Street where she raised ten children and lived through events that would shape a town. It may even have survived the Great Fire of 1868, carried once more into a rebuilt home. 

The chair sits in the museum's archive. I have never physically seen it. I only knew about it from a history hunt online. It is identified only with Richard’s name in the description. Why not Mary’s? As information about the chair is scarce, so I turned back to a book written by Mary's great grandson Phillip, to learn more about Mary, and imagine her with the chair, and what it could have meant to her.

I think Mary Hepzibah’s story can invite us to imagine how women shaped early Timaru in ways that often went unrecorded. It asks us to look beyond official names and public positions to recognise the endurance that built households and communities. I believe that by learning about her life, we can learn a bit more about ourselves by reflecting on the past with our own lens. Her story has helped me realise what I am grateful for. And that raising my children with my husband is significant in itself to contributing to the future. What we do in our lives don't have to be the trailblazing firsts, or the winners, or the notable people. We all make a difference in how we live our lives and raise our families. 

From Bread Riots to New Beginnings: Leaving Oxfordshire for a New Life in Canterbury: The World They Departed

When Mary Hepzibah Watts married Richard Turnbull in 1851, she was about 21 and he was around 25. Soon after, they boarded the Fatima and left Oxfordshire behind. To understand what they were seeking in Canterbury, I thought it might help with we look more closely at the world they were leaving.

Richard Turnbull was born in 1826 in the city of Oxford, the son of James Turnbull, a baker and confectioner, and his wife Elizabeth (née Hall). He grew up in a tradesman’s household in a bustling university city before training as a draper (to specialise in selling cloth, textiles, and sometimes ready-made clothing) a trade that would later define his career in New Zealand as a merchant and storekeeper.

Mary Hepzibah Watts, on the other hand, was born in 1830 in rural Oxfordshire to Thomas Watts, an agricultural labourer, and Elizabeth Smith. She grew up in one of the small villages or parishes scattered through the county (a landlocked area of south-east England with roots in medieval boundaries) where life revolved around farm work, seasonal rhythms, and close-knit rural communities.

I wonder how they met.

Oxfordshire in the 1830s and 1840s was a patchwork of thatched cottages, old market towns, and agricultural estates. Most families lived modestly in stone or brick cottages, fetching water from wells and cooking over open hearths. Their diets were simple. Bread, porridge, and potatoes formed the staples, with meat an occasional luxury.

Mary’s birth year, 1830, coincided with the Swing Riots, a wave of rural protest across southern England. Agricultural labourers, angry at low wages, soaring food prices, and the introduction of threshing machines that took away winter work, rioted and destroyed machinery. In Oxfordshire and neighbouring counties, “Captain Swing” letters threatened landlords, while the Poor Law offered little support, and the enclosure of common land stripped villagers of rights they had once depended on.

Food costs added to this hardship. Bread was the staple of working-class diets, and in the mid-1800s a standard loaf cost around six to eight pence. (For context, I think a loaf of bread in 2025 costs about $3–$4 NZD (around £1.50), whereas in the mid-1800s it was probably the equivalent of $6.80–$9.10 NZD (or £3.25–£4.33) at a time when working families relied on bread far more heavily than we do today.) 

Families might spend over half a day’s wages each week simply to afford enough bread. In bad years, grain prices spiked, and older villagers could still recall the bread riots of earlier decades, when loaves became unaffordable and hunger swept through rural communities.

For Mary and Richard, this was the world they knew: one of narrow lanes and hedged fields, shaped by class divisions and limited opportunity. Oxford’s dreaming spires were near enough to see but far beyond their reach. Emigration promised something England could not: land of their own, food they could grow themselves, and an escape from the relentless grind of rural poverty.

Emigrating to Canterbury

Mary was pregnant when she boarded the Fatima. The voyage took more than three months. Cabin passengers like Mary and Richard had purchased land orders through the Canterbury Association, which entitled them to land and better accommodation on board than those travelling in steerage.

When they reached Lyttelton in December 1851, the settlement was raw and basic. Mary gave birth within weeks, but their baby, also named Mary, survived only a month. Over the next decade, she bore six more children while Richard farmed 300 acres at Halswell, clearing Harakeke (flax) and tussock. Mary stayed in Lyttelton, where at least there were shops and neighbours, while Christchurch remained muddy, flat and plagued by poor drainage.

In a letter written years later to her cousin Edmund Jackson, Mary described those early years: “We lived a struggling life with so much to do.” She also wrote, “God has given me a good kind Christian husband or I should have felt the separation from my relatives much more.” It is a glimpse of her loneliness, but also of her determination to keep going in the face of isolation.

Moving to Timaru

In 1864, Richard and Mary moved with their children south to Timaru. It was only five years since the first immigrant ship, the Strathallan, had landed. Their new home was on George Street, close to the shore where ships anchored offshore and unloaded cargo by surfboat.

Richard opened his shop with David Clarkson.

David Clarkson and Richard Turnbull first crossed paths in the commercial networks of early Christchurch. Clarkson, a draper and founder of Dunstable House, depended on carriers to move his imported goods from Lyttelton to the rapidly growing town. Richard Turnbull, working as a carrier with stables near Cashel Street, was part of this vital supply chain. Their shared involvement in Christchurch’s merchant district placed them in close proximity, forging a professional connection built on trade, transport, and mutual trust.

By the early 1860s, both men were in the thick of Cashel Street’s business hub... Clarkson operating his expanding drapery and Turnbull running his transport services nearby. When Clarkson sold Dunstable House to William Pratt in 1863 and shifted focus toward wholesale and regional trade, Turnbull’s logistical experience made him an ideal partner. Together, they seized on Timaru’s emerging port and growing population, founding Clarkson & Turnbull Ltd in 1863.

Their complementary skills drove the firm’s success. Clarkson brought retail expertise and London import connections, while Turnbull provided the transport knowledge and regional distribution networks essential for supplying outlying settlements. The partnership quickly became one of Timaru’s earliest and most influential mercantile ventures. 

In 1865, they issued copper penny tokens showing a ship and an imagined breakwater. At that time, Timaru had no breakwater or proper port. The token was a symbol of belief in the future.

For Mary, life would have been full of practical demands. Cooking was done over open fires, water was carried by hand and floors were scrubbed on hands and knees. Raising a family of young children in this environment required constant work.

ABOVE: Turnbull and Clarkson’s wooden shop ‘The Corner’ on Stafford St and George St around 1862-68 before the Great fire. – South Canterbury Museum CN 201904932

Their partnership created one of Timaru’s earliest wholesale and drapery businesses (Clarkson & Turnbull Ltd, 1863–68), forming a bridge between Christchurch’s Cashel Street trade (Dunstable House) and Timaru’s provincial commercial development.

ABOVE: The intersection of Stafford and George Streets, Timaru, circa 1864 to 1868. Clarkson and Turnbulls store over the road on the right. And up the hill you can see houses including Mr. and Mrs. Byrne's residence on the sites where the Criterion and the Theatre Royal are today. – Section of a photo by William Ferrier. South Canterbury Museum CN: 6108

John Liddington Higgs (1864-1919). Timaru Coastline, 1884. Oil on board. Aigantighe Art Gallery Collection 2002.1

In this painting John L. Higgs captures the view from Patiti Point looking north towards central Timaru and its harbour in 1884. He has given prominence to a large six-storey building known as the Timaru Milling Company. The Timaru Milling Company building was built in 1882, replacing a wooden mill that burnt down on this site in in 1881. The mill was the first in New Zealand to use steel rollers rather than grindstones for milling. This fact and how the painting records the height and size of the new brick Timaru Milling Company, seems to be a celebration of the feat of engineering – a human accomplishment depicted alongside, and as a comparison, to the natural beauty, but also vast wildness, of the Timaru coastline. John L. Higgs was the son of John and Alice Higgs who had a farm on Wai-iti Road. Higgs later moved to Blenheim, where he ran a picture framing and signwriting business for many years. - Aigantighe Art Gallery

Photograph of Flockton Well near the corner of George St and the Great North Road (Stafford St), between April and December 1868. It is viewed looking along George St to the west. The original wooden Bank of New Zealand building is visible on the corner (centre of image), with Clarkson and Turnbull across the road (left of centre) and the Club Hotel and Flockton Well in the foreground at the left-hand side of the image. There is a man standing on the well and two boys in front of it. The Russell Ritchie and Co. building is on the right corner. The photograph is mounted on a card backing with the photographers' details and "View Up George St., Timaru." handwritten on lower edge. There are also handwritten labels on the top and lower edges of the mount (with small arrows pointing to the appropriate site) that identify the buildings. - nzmuseums.co.nz/3359/flockton-well-corner-of-george-st-and-the-great-north-roadSouth Canterbury Museum

The Great Fire of 1868

On 7 December 1868, Timaru burned. A fire tore through the business district, destroying three quarters of the wooden town, including Richard’s shop and their family home. The Timaru Herald estimated losses of £70,000.

I imagine Mary standing on Stafford Street, watching flames leap from roof to roof, the smell of smoke sharp in the air. Neighbours formed bucket lines, but little could be done. I wonder what it was like to work through the shock, the grief of loss of all their hard work, and then to muster the energy to rebuild.

Richard rebuilt quickly. His new bluestone store was described as “an ornament to the town,” with its stone pillars and white cornice. Yet the cost was heavy. Richard sold furniture, 500 books and even a Queen Anne china cabinet at auction to meet expenses. Mary would have seen treasured possessions carried away, a reminder that progress often came at a personal price.

ABOVE: 1870 photograph of what was then known as South Road, Timaru (present day Stafford Street) showing construction underway of Richard Turnbull’s Stone Store up the hill on the left.  On the corner is Richard Turnbulls shop that was rebuilt in stone after the 1868 fire. – Alfred Charles Barker, Canterbury Museum ID 13/57.

The 1868 fire wasn't the only flames to damange their home. 

Five-Roomed House Damaged by Fire - Timaru Herald, Volume C, Issue 15321, 15 April 1914, Page 3

At 4 a.m. yesterday, a five-roomed house on Nelson Terrace, owned by Mr. R. C. Macfarlane of Wanganui and occupied by Mr. T. Turnbull—auctioneer for the New Zealand and Australian Land Company—was partially destroyed by fire.
Mr. Turnbull, who was alone in the house at the time, awoke to find his bedroom filled with smoke. Upon escaping, he discovered that the rear portion of the house was ablaze. He roused a neighbour, who quickly contacted the Fire Brigade by telephone.
The Brigade responded promptly, but the fire had already taken a strong hold and was clearly visible throughout the neighbourhood. Two leads of hose were deployed to bring the main fire under control, but as the flames had spread above the ceilings, firefighters had to remove sheets of roofing iron to extinguish the final embers.
The back of the house was almost completely destroyed. However, the two front rooms and their contents were saved—though they suffered considerable damage from heat, smoke, and water.
Mrs. Turnbull and the family were away in Dunedin at the time. Mr. Turnbull is unable to determine the cause of the fire, noting that no fires had been lit in the house since the previous Thursday. He believes it may have started in the kitchen.
Mr. Turnbull held insurance of £225 on his belongings with the National Insurance Company. Mr. Macfarlane carried a policy of £450 on the building with the South British Insurance Company.

Timaru, 1875, Dunedin, by Burton Brothers, Alfred Burton. Te Papa (C.014371)

Stafford Street, Timaru (1880-1884). Hocken Digital Collections, accessed 10/09/2025, https://hocken.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/66686

The Post Office and the Public Library, Timaru. Hocken Digital Collections, accessed 10/09/2025, https://hocken.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/23731

The Dunstable House name remained on the building after the 1869 rebuild because it continued to operate under that title, even after David Clarkson sold it to William Pratt in 1863. Pratt retained the name for its established reputation, and when John Ballantyne took over in 1872, he also used it briefly (“J. Ballantyne & Co., late Dunstable House”) to reassure customers. In Victorian retail, shop names often outlasted their founders, functioning both as business brands and building identities, so the signage persisted for continuity despite changes in ownership and structure.

Richard's Vision for the Port.

In 1873, Richard hosted a public meeting in his warehouse. Seven hundred locals gathered to discuss the future of Timaru’s port. Richard had long recognised that the town’s growth depended on having a reliable and efficient port. Years earlier, he had minted a token to use as currency in his shop, which featured a dream image of a harbour, even before Timaru became an official port of entry.

The 1873 meeting led to the establishment of the Timaru Harbour Board. Work on the breakwater began in 1878, though not without opposition. Government marine engineer John Blackett warned that the new structure might disrupt coastal sediment flows. He even recommended the breakwater be destroyed.

Many locals were unconvinced by Blackett’s opinion. In protest, they constructed an effigy of him, paraded it through the town, filled it with fireworks and blew it up.

Over the years, around 30 ships were wrecked off Timaru’s coast. It is easy to understand why Richard and others considered the breakwater essential. Remarkably, Timaru’s was one of only two independently owned ports in the country, the other being Tauranga. Local ratepayers were both investors and owners of the port.

ABOVE: 1865 “New Zealand Timaru” Token , by Clarkson & Turnbull. The reverse shows a ship in harbour, behind a breakwater. The business was the first to export flour from Timaru. The harbour at Timaru was unsafe for vessels in high winds until the construction of a breakwater, a project that did not begin until 1879. – Courtesy Te Papa (NU005401)

ABOVE: c1877 The Roadstead in Timaru before the breakwater was constructed. Courtesy of Private Collection. - Illustrated Australian News (Melbourne, Vic. : 1876-1889) Wed 3 Oct 1877. P155

Engraving showing the Timaru Breakwater 1888. Picturesque atlas of Australasia"; The Picturesque Atlas Publishing Co. 

Since the 1860s, wool had been Timaru’s primary export. Between 1870 and 1913, Canterbury held over half of New Zealand’s wheat land. Mills lined the port skyline. In 1885, freezing works were established, supporting the growing frozen meat trade. All these industries needed intermediaries. Richard’s business played a crucial role, connecting farmers with global markets.

Since the 1860s, wool had been Timaru’s primary export. Between 1870 and 1913, Canterbury held over half of New Zealand’s wheat land. Mills lined the port skyline. In 1885, freezing works were established, supporting the growing frozen meat trade. All these industries needed intermediaries. Richard’s business played a crucial role, connecting farmers with global markets.

Family and Daily Life

By 1881, Mary wrote proudly to Edmund Jackson: “We have ten children living, the eldest Tom is now 28, the youngest Wilfred Watts is nearly 6… we keep no servant but each one does their part to help.” Their son Saxby, born in 1869, carried a story too. He was named during the “Saxby tidal wave” scare, when a British astrologer, Commander Saxby, predicted that a combination of lunar alignment and atmospheric conditions would cause catastrophic high tides and a tidal wave that would submerge New Zealand’s coasts. Newspapers spread the prediction widely, and it caused considerable alarm among settlers living near the sea, including those in Timaru, where the shoreline was central to daily life and shipping. Of course, nothing happened. The tides rose slightly, but no disaster came. Perhaps Mary and Richard laughed and kept the name anyway. 

Their household must have been full of noise, work and routine. Water was carried, bread baked, floors scrubbed and younger children minded. This unseen domestic labour was as much a part of Timaru’s growth as the public work and harbour breakwater.

Politics and Later Years

Richard served on the Provincial Council, the Harbour Board and later in Parliament. While he travelled to meetings and sessions in Wellington, Mary managed the home. His letters often discussed which sons might help in the business and who was working where, a glimpse into family life behind the public roles.

Richard died in 1890 while attending Parliament in Wellington. By then, Timaru had gas lamps, asphalted streets and a working port.

Richard Turnbull’s funeral in 1890 was a significant event in Timaru, reflecting his prominence as both a businessman and the sitting Member of Parliament for the town. After his sudden death in Wellington from Bright’s disease while attending Parliament, his body was returned to Timaru by ship. The Timaru Herald reported that shops closed and flags flew at half-mast as a mark of respect. His funeral cortege was one of the largest the town had seen, with civic leaders, harbour board members, business associates, and townspeople joining Mary and their children to pay tribute. The procession moved through Stafford Street to the Timaru Cemetery, where he was laid to rest in the Anglican section. Speeches at the graveside praised his dedication to Timaru’s harbour development, his long-standing role in local commerce, and his service as their parliamentary representative. For Mary, now widowed after nearly 40 years of marriage, it marked the end of an era. 

Mary lived on another twelve years. She died in Timaru on 14 October 1902 at the age of 73 and was buried beside Richard in Timaru Cemetery. She had seen the town transform from an isolated landing place to a busy port with churches, schools and stone buildings. Her burial beside him would later link them both permanently to the town they helped build. Today when you visit the cemetery Richard has a monument prominently in front of the cemetery gates. The Timaru Cemetery Gates were designed by their architect son, James Turnbull.

Left: Richard Turnbull's Will and Right Mary's signature on the will. https://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE64655168 

These papers are about the probate of Richard Turnbull, an auctioneer from Timaru, Canterbury, who died in Wellington on 17 July 1890. His will, written on 13 April 1887, left everything he owned to his wife, Mary Hephzibah Turnbull, and named her as the executor and guardian of their children. After his death, Mary gave a sworn statement on 4 August 1890, confirming his death, agreeing to carry out his wishes, and noting that his estate was worth less than £300. The District Court in Timaru officially approved the will and granted Mary probate on 5 August 1890, giving her the legal right to manage his estate, pay any debts, and distribute what was left. The will was signed by two witnesses, D. Turnbull, a clerk, and W. Sutton, a butcher, both from Timaru. The court documents include Mary’s affidavit, the probate order, and stamps showing fees paid, completing the legal process that allowed Mary to take charge of her husband’s estate

George Gabites also served as a Borough Councillor. His younger brother Arthur later revived the business after financial hardships in the 1880s, opening “The Corner” menswear store that became a local landmark.

These photographs show the same corner of the Great South Road and George Street. The road was later renamed Stafford Street in honour of Premier Edward Stafford. Richard Turnbull, whose building appears in both views, followed Stafford as the area’s Member of Parliament from 1878 to 1890.
IMAGE 1. Clarkson and Turnbull’s wooden corner store stood just a block from the early port where surfboats brought goods ashore. In 1867 they became the first business to export flour from Timaru to London. That same year Richard Turnbull, with Henry Le Cren, G. G. Russell and Captain Henry Cain, formed a landing service in front of what is now the Landing Service Building on George Street.

IMAGE 2. The corner building was rebuilt in stone after the 1868 fire. Further up the road, Richard built a warehouse that hosted a public meeting forming Timaru’s first harbour board, enabling the port’s development. The site is now home to the Theatre Royal.

The next generation: D.C. Turnbull and the merchants who shaped the harbour

Now remember the son that was named after Richard's business partner? That was D.C. He had left school aged 14 to work for his father and learn the family trade. He used his experience in the industry to found D.C. Turnbull & Co 1894, and grow the firm to handle grain, seed, wool, frozen meat, stevedoring, storage rentals, shipping, and property development.

In 1901 D. C. Turnbull purchased the former Miles, Archer & Co. site on Strathallan St beside Timaru’s first breakwater (built 1878–1881) and the rail network est 1876. The site included a 1881 brick grain store and tramway tunnel complex with an 1889 addition by architect Francis J. Wilson. This was developed for merchants George Miles and brother-in- law Fulbert Archer, who had acquired Henry Le Cren’s 1858 trading business.

Stencils used by DC Turnbulls Timaru. Phy By Roselyn Fauth 2023

Near the shore at the foot of Strathallan Street, you can see the brick Mile Archer building in Timaru (c.1880s). Hocken Digital Collections, https://hocken.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/58448

James S. Turnbull (1864–1947), D.C older brother, returned to Timaru after working in Melbourne and established his own architectural practice. 

He trained under R. W. England in Christchurch, and was awarded the prestigious Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Architects NZIA, in 1905.

His early works include the D. C. Turnbull & Co. Offices (1901), Coronation Buildings (1902), Chalmers Presbyterian Church (1903–04), and The Grosvenor Hotel (1915). He is also attributed to designing the Grant family’s 1905 Aigantighe House, now the Aigantighe Art Gallery.

By the early 1900s, South Canterbury had a reputation as the country's food bowl. And our economy was humming.

In 1919, James partners with Percy Watts Rule (1888–1953), est Turnbull & Rule. 

Percy was born in Napier. The family moved to Timaru in the 1890s. Son of Scottish parents, Alexander and Clara. Percy, and brother Cyril, go to Timaru Main and Timaru Boys' High Schools. After an apprenticeship as a builder, he joined James’ office in 1907 and worked his way from junior to first assistant, becoming a partner in 1919, taking over the practice in 1938 when James retired. Awarded Fellow of the NZIA, he served as its secretary.

Percy died in Timaru 1953 (age 64) and is buried with his wife Kathleen, daughter Hazel, father Alexander, and a memorial to his mother Clara.
James died in Timaru 1947 (age 82) and is buried with his wife Katharine.

1925 Gabites’ store reopened in the new Oxford Building.

Early tenants include The Press, The Weekly Press. After 110 years, the Gabites store closed its doors 1970s.
The Interwar Classical building was originally planned as three storeys, later expanded to four, becoming Timaru’s tallest commercial building at the time.
See if you can spy all the Union Jacks on the building. They, with the building name, “The Oxford” honour of Richard Turnbull’s birthplace in Oxford, England.

D.C. Turnbull, aged 83 died 1951. After over 50 years of Turnbull family ownership, the Oxford Building was sold in 1977 and became known as the Government Life Building.

The Government Life Era: When the Oxford Nearly Lost Its Name

For more than half a century, the Oxford Building carried the Turnbull family’s legacy. But in the early 1950s, its identity shifted. When Government Life Insurance purchased the four-storey landmark, the building gained a new name and, for a time, almost lost its original one.

Government Life had been established in 1869 by the New Zealand Government to offer affordable life insurance to gold miners and workers whose incomes were unpredictable. In an era when life was often short and hardship common, a government-backed policy felt reassuring. By the early twentieth century, Government Life had become the country’s largest life insurer.

Before buying the Oxford, the department had rented rooms further up Stafford Street in the Hay’s Buildings, a handsome Edwardian block completed in 1907. Local families once walked through those doors to pay premiums or seek advice, greeted by clerks with ledgers and formal collars.

As the agency grew, so did its need for space. The Oxford’s strong bones and central position made it the natural choice.

A New Name Takes Hold

Once Government Life purchased the building, locals soon began calling it the Government Life Building. For many Timaruvians, that is still the name that comes to mind. You would step off the footpath, climb the stairs, and take care of your insurance or government business in one of the smartest commercial buildings in town.

The building continued in this role for several decades, carrying the Government Life identity right through the post-war years.

The Tall Tower on George Street

In the 1970s, Government Life planned a new South Canterbury headquarters and turned its attention to George Street. Construction began in late 1973. For eighteen months a huge crane hovered over the CBD, earning almost as much local attention as the building itself.

When the eight-storey tower opened in 1976, it became Timaru’s tallest commercial building. Hundreds of guests attended the ceremony. The building housed Government Life alongside Inland Revenue, Social Welfare, Customs, Health, and the Ministry of Works. For a time it symbolised a confident, centralised era of public service — a place where locals handled everything from tax to family support in person.

Changing Times

The name “Government Life” did not last forever. National reforms in 1987 saw the department restructured as Tower Corporation, and further changes in the 1990s shifted ownership from the Crown to policyholders and later to private shareholders.

But the legacy of the Government Life era remains written across Timaru’s built landscape. You can trace it through three buildings:

Hay’s Buildings – the first rented rooms

The Oxford / Government Life Building – the mid-century headquarters

The George Street Tower – the high-rise statement of the 1970s

Together they tell the story of how government services once operated at the very centre of local life — face to face, over counters, in real rooms filled with real people.

In 2013 the Oxford Restaurant, established by Michael and Clarissa Doran, opened on the ground floor. Their fit-out celebrates the building’s shop fronts and their logo designed by me, Roselyn Fauth was inspired by the ceilings, continuing the 160 + year story.

In 2025 the building was owned and managed by Shaun Stockman, of Stockman Group Ltd. Through his vision, the Oxford Building has been carefully refurbished, maintaining its façade and interiors.

The Timaru Civic Trust contributed a heritage grant to the building's renovation in 2023, and if I quickly put my civic trust hat on, I say on behalf of our group, how grateful we are to see the care and investment that Shaun Stockman has put into this beauty of a building.

In 2025 the building and site received a national blue heritage plaque, which reinforces not just how significant this building is to us locals, but also the nation.

This building enables us to reflect on our past. It helps us learn where we have come from, who we are, and reminds us to make good choices for our futures.
Thanks to over 160 years of exchange or conversation, and commerce on this corner, and 100 years in this building, the Oxford can now stand strong for another 100 years as a defining feature of Timaru’s skyline and story.

It was D.C. who, in 1924–25, commissioned the building we now know as the Oxford, designed by his older brother James S. Turnbull with partner Percy Watts Rule.. Gabites Corner, Timaru, N.Z.. Hocken Digital Collections, accessed 17/04/2025, https://hocken.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/23620

This plan was collated by Charles Bowker, who arrived in Timaru in 1865 and first worked for Clarkson and Turnbull as a young draper. He later established himself as a land, estate, and commission agent, becoming a well-known figure in Timaru’s growing property and commercial scene. Courtesy of the South Canterbury Museum.

A great example of removing the old to make way for the new. The Oxford building opened late 1925, and has stood for a century. A stunning landmark with a story of its own on the site. - Photography By Roselyn Fauth May 2018.

The Oxford built for DC turnbull - designed by turnbull and rule opened Dec 2025. Photo Roselyn Fauth 2025