John George Ruddenklau JP (23 May 1829 – 15 December 1891) was Mayor of Christchurch from December 1881 to December 1883. A baker from Germany, he was later the proprietor of the City Hotel. He was very active with a number of organisations, founded the German Benefit Association, and was the driving force behind the establishment of the German Church.
Early life
Johann George Rüddenklau was born in Niedermeiser on 23 May 1829 and baptised two days later. His birth name was later Anglicised by adopting John as his first name, and dropping the umlaut from his surname. Niedermeiser is today a suburb of Liebenau in the district of Kassel, in Hesse, Germany. His parents were John Ruddenklau and his wife, Annie Gertrude Ruddenklau (née Engelbrecht). The eldest of five children, he had two brothers and two sisters. John George Ruddenklau often signed documents and was referred to as J. G. Ruddenklau, but he was known by his middle name and he used George Ruddenklau in print when he needed to differentiate from his brother John.
Ruddenklau was apprenticed as a baker. He moved to London in 1850 or 1851 where he continued to work in his profession. He was joined in London by his younger brother John Ruddenklau (Johannes Rüddenklau; 30 August 1834 – 16 May 1896), who worked there for some years before returning to Germany. John Ruddenklau, who had also trained as a baker, emigrated to New Zealand in 1856, and arrived in Lyttelton on the Joseph Fletcher in October 1856. He took up farming; first in Rangiora and then in Cust.
In circa 1853, George Ruddenklau married Sarah Ann Workman in London. Their only child, Fanny Gertrude Ruddenklau, was born in 1854 in London. The family left London in 1857 to emigrate to Canterbury in New Zealand, following his brother. Historian George Macdonald has recorded that they arrived by the Bosworth, but the passenger list published by the Lyttelton Times on 23 December 1857 mentions his wife and daughter only.
Life in New Zealand
Ruddenklau opened a bakery at the northern end of High Street, i.e. where it meets Colombo and Hereford Streets, on 7 May 1859; the premises were leased from William Wilson. In early 1861, he enlarged his premises and started selling cordials and other goods. In June 1861, he applied for a wine and beer licence. Ruddenklau gradually took over the four shops at the end of High Street facing the triangle that has since 2008 been known as Stewart Plaza and which for many decades held the Stewart Fountain. In August 1861, he opened the City Wine Vaults with his newly gained alcohol licence, and the bakery shifted around the corner into Colombo Street nearer to Cashel Street. At the same time, Ruddenklau entered into a partnership with James S. Hawley that lasted until July 1863. When the annual renewal of his alcohol licence was discussed in April 1863, Ruddenklau was told that he had to complete the building that he had shown the resident magistrates, or otherwise he could not expect a renewal the following year.
Exactly a year later, Ruddenklau opened the two-storey City Hotel on the site. Its frontage covered the whole length between Colombo and High Streets. Only two months later, a fire broke out in a building on the opposite side of Colombo Street and due to the night being very still, the fire could be contained by cutting a fire break through the block. In total, 14 houses were lost. At one point, the heat was so great that the fire ignited a building across the road, situated next to the City Hotel, but the fire service could quickly extinguish the flames. Yet another fire occurred in pretty much the same location in June 1867 and this time, the heat caused damage to Ruddenklau's building.