In the early 1900s, Saturday was the day the farming community traditionally came to town, and while the men did the rounds of the various Timaru businesses, their wives attended to the domestic shopping and spent time at one of the town’s tearooms for a chat and a cup of tea.
One Saturday afternoon early in 1904, a group of seven friends gathered in Miss McLaren’s teashop in George St, and decided to put their "meeting" on a more formal basis, establishing the South Canterbury Women’s Club.
The seven founders of the club were recorded in the May 1904 minutes as Mrs RH Rhodes, Mrs AS Elworthy, Mrs AS Jamison, Mrs G Robinson, Mrs S Mackenzie, Mrs Cartwright and Mrs Lindsay.
Each paid £5 to rent and buy furniture for a room in Stafford St, opposite Calder Mackay.
The main purposes of the club in those days was to provide a comfortable and relaxing atmosphere in which women could meet, relax and chat, and enjoy a cup of tea after finishing their shopping, and before undertaking what could be a long drive home in horse and buggy along dusty or muddy roads, or a train ride.
The club was only the second of its kind in New Zealand, but rapidly grew to a membership of 243.
On Monday, the club — membership now numbering about 44 — marked its 120th anniversary at its current venue, the Timaru Town and Country Club.
With a lunch and cake to mark the occasion, the purpose of the gathering remained true to the founders’ vision, providing a place to relax and enjoy the company of friends.
