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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Canterbury Provincial District]

[Dunsandel]

Dunsandel is in the county of Selwyn, and on the main line of railway, twenty-five miles from Christchurch. It is the centre of a farming district, and has a population of 236 persons. The railway office and post office are combined, and there is a telephone service.

The Dunsandel Hotel, Dunsandel. This hotel stood for many years near the Selwyn railway station, where it had been erected in consequence of the rapid growth of the village as a terminus. Shortly after the continuance of the railway line further south, the hotel was closed, but remained in its original position until 1895, when it was removed to Dunsandel. It is a well-built wooden house, two stories in height, and imposing in appearance. The ground floor is occupied by a large dining room—extending the full width of the building—a commercial room, a bagatelle room, the kitchen, the bar and the bathroom, and the second storey contains about a dozen neatly arranged bedrooms, and a cosy private sitting room. Water of good quality, obtained by means of an artesian well, is laid on all over the house, and the bathroom is supplied with both hot and cold water. Land to the extent of about even-and-a-half acres is at the service of the hotel, five acres of that area being a railway reserve. The remaining area, two-and-a-half acres, on which the hotel stands, is well laid out in orchard, and is bounded towards the east by a belt of tall pines. The outbuildings are conveniently appointed for the accommodation of horses and vehicles. As it stands at the junction of the main roads of the district, and within a few chains of the railway page 781 station, the Dunsandel Hotel is conveniently placed for the travelling public. The table is furnished with every luxury of the season, and cordiality and solicitude from proprietor and staff are met at every turn.

Dunsandel Hotel.

Dunsandel Hotel.

Mr. Ernest Richards, Proprietor of the Dunsandel Hotel, is a native of Kent, England. He was born in September, 1861, in the village of New Cross, where he received a public school education. When about fifteen years of age he embarked on a merchant vessel for the East, and remained for fifteen years at sea. During that time he served upon several large trading vessels, and made many voyages to China, India, and various parts of Australasia. Finally he obtained employment on the “Tongariro,” and after voyaging between England and New Zealand for several years, he determined to make his home in this colony. Accordingly, in 1891, he landed at Lyttelton, spent five years at the boot manufacturing trade, and in 1896 entered into busines as proprietor of the Dunsandel Hotel. Mr. Richards was married, in 1891, to Miss Eliza Lawrence, and has a family of two daughters.