Queen Victoria Jubilee Memorial Home in Jubilee Street

Queen Victoria Jubilee Memorial Home in Jubilee Street foundation stone was laid in February 1888. The words Queen Victoria Jubilee Memorial Home were on the building but the image I found is copyrighted so I can’t share it. It was mostly known as Christchurch Jubilee Memorial Home or as Jubilee Home. In 1970 it changed it’s name to Jubilee Hospital. Lots of entries on Papers Past and many were obviously death notices. Fundraising and activities for the inmates were also frequently mentioned. Yes the elderly in this home were called inmates. Because the Heathcote River ran behind the home there were at least two of the residents who drowned. The home was for the aged poor and there was at least one mention that they should look at a better class of the poor. Several articles were about men being allowed to live here. Some authorities said that yes elderly men are allowed to be admitted to the home. Other authorities said that only married men could be admitted along with their wives. If the wife died they were then moved to a home in Ashburton. One man after his wife died was moved to Ashburton. He ran away from the home in Ashburton and managed to make his way back to Christchurch. He was found by the police wandering around the Woolston area confused and lost. I didn’t found out if he was returned to the Jubilee Home or back to Ashburton.

In 1888 a chapel was erected in the Woolston cemetery but once the cemetery was full up the chapel fell into disrepair. In 1949 the Church Property Trustees gave it to the North Canterbury Hospital Board who moved it to the Jubilee Home and renamed it St Luke’s Chapel. It was repaired and used for many years. The Jubilee Home was closed in 1990 against the wishes of the residents. The building was demolished and the site is occupied by a business. The chapel was moved to the city mission on Hereford Street so I looked on street view. I then checked my photos from when I walked Hereford Street and I have a photo of the chapel. The only photo that I could download for the Jubilee Home as it wasn’t copyrighted shows a group of men in front of the building. This surprised me as news articles made it clear that men weren’t encouraged to be residents of the home.