Linwood House was built as the homestead for Joseph Brittan, who, as surgeon, newspaper editor and provincial councillor, was one of the dominant figures in early Christchurch, New Zealand.

During that time, Rolleston was the 4th (and last) Superintendent of the Canterbury Province, and Linwood House served for many important political and public functions.

[2] Brothers Guise and Joseph Brittan, and their friend Charles Fooks had in common that they all married one of the four Chandler daughters.

[4] Guise Brittan held a role of responsibility for the Canterbury Association,[5] and he came to Christchurch on Sir George Seymour in December 1850, and his wife and four children travelled with him.

He remarried in a manner that was illegal at the time, socially unacceptable and causing a scandal—he took Elizabeth's sister Sophia, the fourth Chandler daughter, as his second wife.

[6] They sailed for Christchurch on the William Hyde, which left Deal, Kent on 21 October 1851 and arrived in Lyttelton on 5 February 1852.

[8] By mid-1852, Joseph Brittan purchased RS 300, comprising rural land about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) east of Cathedral Square.

[10] Joseph Brittan chose land a short distance downstream along the Avon River and had his homestead, Linwood House, built in 1857.

[1] Fooks was the architect for Linwood House,[1] and, based on an assessment by art historian Dr Ian Lochhead, it is likely that he also designed Englefield Lodge.

He played cricket in Hagley Park within a fortnight of reaching Christchurch, and later helped improve the grounds and raised money for fencing the area.

Joseph Brittan had a portable harmonium and as in the early years, Lyttelton was culturally more important than Christchurch, he joined a musical group in the port town.

Both Joseph and Sophia Brittan were opposed to a marriage, which is surprising, given that Rolleston was intelligent, well educated, successful and, if anything, of higher social standing.

Maybe Sophia Brittan did not want to lose her daughter, who was in effect running the household and entertained guests, as she was often too ill to look after these tasks herself.

But Rolleston was offered and accepted the role of Under Secretary for Native Affairs, which required moving to Wellington.

[23] In 1868, there were rumours that William Sefton Moorhouse would resign as Canterbury Superintendent, and Rolleston was encouraged to make himself available.

Mary Rolleston arranged for her oldest brother Joe, who had some disability, to live with his aunt, Mrs Fooks.

[1] With Rolleston Superintendent until the abolition of Provincial Government at the end of 1876,[25][28] Linwood House hosted many important social and political functions.

[31] Whilst the Rollestons had carried the Brittan family financially over the last decade, their contributions went practically unrecognised.

[1] Mary Rolleston inherited £400 and the piano, her oldest brother received an annual annuity of £20, and Frank Brittan was given the farm, the house and all its contents.

[33] Linwood Estate was located east of Stanmore Road,[35] and comprised the extensions of Cashel, Hereford, and Worcester Streets.

[36] At the same auction, Brittan sold all his stock and farming implements, as he had bought Kelsie Estate in Selwyn County.

[1][40] Hiorns was Masonic Grand Master of New Zealand, and attended the 1897 Queen Victoria Golden Jubilee in England in that capacity.

[1] Frank Brittan sold Linwood House to Hiorns in 1889, who commissioned architect John Whitelaw to design an extension.

[1][43] In September 1903, Helen McKee[44] and her mother relocated their boarding and day school for girls, Avonside College, from Inveresk (the former dwelling of John Anderson) to Linwood House.

Immediately after the purchase, Ethel Pyne engaged Sidney and Alfred Luttrell to design a £700 extension to the house, and it is assumed that this was the addition of a second storey to an earlier service wing.

He died in 1972, and his widow sold the property in the same year to Advance Buildings (Nelson) Ltd; her daughter was a partner in that company.

The upstairs and the roof got braced after the event, and this was beneficial when the 2011 Christchurch earthquake struck, but internal walls and fireplaces just "crumbled".

[64] One of the papers given was "Gentlemen's residences in 1850s Christchurch: An examination of the homes of William Rolleston and John Cracroft Wilson".

An 1871 photo by Alfred Barker, held by the Canterbury Museum, shows a verandah on the north-west side of the building only.

The south-west wing, 'behind' the original house, used the different architectural style of a Victorian villa for the two-storey addition.