The photograph (above) taken for the March 19, 1974, issue of the Guardian is perhaps the last ever taken of an old Ashburton business: the Federal Hotel, also known in the past as the Federal Coffee Palace.

In the late 19th century, visitors to our fledgeling town and locals alike were spoiled for choice when it came to finding accommodation. In its prime, the Federal was perhaps one of Ashburton’s humbler, more modest options, when compared to many of its contemporaries such as the Somerset and Commercial hotels.

Early accommodation

The earliest record we have of the Federal is from 1879, one year after Ashburton’s constitution as a Borough, and at this time it was known simply as H. Nalder’s boarding house.

The business boasted a prime central location, situated on Cameron Street behind the current Baring Square Methodist Church, being only a few minutes’ walk from the Ashburton Railway Station.

The hotel’s first few years passed quietly, as there are no historic newspaper reports in the Guardian or any other Canterbury newspaper that would suggest otherwise.

In the early 1880s, the boardinghouse would have been patronised by travellers from many walks of life, from itinerant farm workers known as ‘swaggers’ or ‘swagmen’ to professional commercial salesmen, as well as many regular guests to our town.

In 1883 the proprietorship of the house was transferred to Mr. D. Lazarus, previous owner of the Victorian Dining Rooms in Lyttelton, who rebranded and re-opened the Ashburton business as the Lyttelton Restaurant.

Despite the name, Lazarus was still offering accommodation, but with a new focus on providing fine meals to customers.

A brief Guardian report from July 7, 1881, recounts the grand opening from the night before (which funnily enough was exactly 143 years ago!)

Lyttelton restaurant

According to the report, a “goodly number” of 50 guests attended the inaugural free supper, at which an abundance of food was served up “in a really creditable manner”.

There is no mention of what was on the menu that night, but apparently it was of the “best quality and in abundance”.

Toasts were drunk to the Queen, the mayor, the host, the chairman of the dinner, “ourselves”, and jovial songs were sung until a late hour, marking the Lyttelton Resturant’s launch as a success.

Despite the rousingly successful start, the course of D. Lazarus’ proprietorship over the restaurant appears to have been anything but smooth.

Between 1881 and 1887, Lazarus declared bankruptcy twice, giving us a hint that perhaps New Zealand’s economic downturn of the late 1870s to early 1890s had some impact on the hospitality sector, or maybe Lazarus’ unique financial situation was not very stable.

The Coffee Palace

In the late 1880s and 1890s, several owners took proprietorship of the ‘Lyttelton Restaurant’, also called the Lyttelton Boardinghouse in this period.

In November 1888, the business passed from D. Lazarus to Mrs Timmo, the former proprietor of the Waterloo Boardinghouse on Tancred Street, and within two years a Mrs John Campbell took over.

According to local business records, by 1891 the boardinghouse was back in the hands of D. Lazarus, who seemed to have recovered from whatever strife he had experienced in the 1880s.

In October, 1895, the boardinghouse was put up for sale by its mortgagee(s), which led to it being purchased by C. Truckle in early 1896.

Truckle and his wife Agnes gave the premises one part of its once-iconic name: the ‘Coffee Palace’ (a common alternate name for a temperance hotel, where no alcohol was served to customers.)

Eventually the boardinghouse came to be called the Federal Coffee Palace, possibly an ironic allusion to the famous hotel of the same name in Melbourne, Australia, built between 1886 and 1888.

Melbourne’s Federal was an enormous 560-room temperance hotel, built in the elaborate French Second Empire style, located on the main thoroughfare of Collins Street. Compared to its Victorian counterpart, Ashburton’s Federal was as humble as could be.

Eventually the name of the boardinghouse simply became The Federal Hotel, likely as names alluding to temperance fell out of fashion.

Life at the Federal

A Guardian Weekender feature from December 19, 1992, included the memories of Maureen Shimmin (nee Dolbey), who went to live at the Federal with her parents and siblings in 1935, and helped with work in the boardinghouse. Her grandmother, Eva Stills, had owned the Federal from 1912, having bought the business from a Mr Mitchell.

In the article, Maureen recalled the “swaggies” (itinerant workers) as well as the other permanent residents, commenting that they were “respectable, harmless people, but some could be a bit rough-looking”.

Her grandmother Eva reportedly never turned away a customer unless the house was full; often men were sent to sleep on the horse-hair couch in the men’s smoking room when the Federal was “crowded out”. The hotel had a regular capacity of 22 guests at one time.

On September 19, 1973, the Federal Hotel closed its doors for good, and was demolished on March 19, 1974, to make way for a carpark.

A Guardian photographer was on the scene that day, and snapped a photograph for the newspaper which ultimately also made its way into the Ashburton Museum exhibition Caught in the Moment: Guardian Photographs of 1974.

This photo, and many others taken during that year are on display in this special exhibition which will be open until July 21.

If you have ever wondered what life was like in Ashburton 50 years ago, or if you feel like reminiscing about days gone by, be sure to pay this special museum exhibition a visit.