Treasure found underneath Christchurch home after 50 years

A former Christchurch woman is thrilled a secret message she hid in a bottle beneath her childhood home more than 50 years ago has been discovered during earthquake repairs.

Sarah Turbott placed a handwritten message in an empty gin bottle in 1958 when she was 12 years old and hid it under her family home in Fendalton.

The note instructed the finder to "give this to a museum and tell them to look for me if under one hundred years has passed since 1958".

The bottle was discovered by a labourer this month when the house, which is now owned by Jeremy Richardson, was undergoing earthquake repairs.

The Press got in touch with Turbott, who now lives in Auckland, and told her of the find.

She said she often thought of the secret message and said the discovery gave her a "great wave of excitement".

"I am just so thrilled. I vividly remember putting it there with my brother. I have been back to look at the house a couple of times in the last few years and every time I've been there I have thought of the bottle and wondered if anyone would find it.

"I was just totally, totally amazed and surprised and happy. It is just one of those things you never dreamt would happen.

"It is a wonderful story. I am dying to tell my children and grandchildren about it."

The letter also states "this is the year the Americans launched their first successful sputnik (satellite)".

"I obviously had posterity in mind."

Richardson said it was touching to find a piece of his home's past.

"It is a wonderful piece of history. We have always loved older houses and we've been restoring this house to its former glory, so it was rather touching to find this message in a bottle from a little girl."

The house was being lifted so the foundations could be repaired. Laing Building Relocators labourer Andrew Gooding found the bottle when he was under the house untying the piles.

"We always find weird things under houses. I once found a 100-year-old cigarette packet," he said.

Turbott, whose maiden name is Oakley, is the daughter of noted Canterbury artist John Oakley.

The Christchurch Art Gallery has a handful of Oakley's paintings in its collection, including a painting of the Fendalton home's back garden.

Turbott lived in the home from when she was 3 until she was married at the age of 21.

She said she would like her children to see the time capsule.