Background
Luney was born in Lyttelton. His father was a carpenter who had immigrated from Canada. Missing Scout camp because his father could not afford the ten shillings made him value money and realise that it only came from effort.
Luney was born in Lyttelton. His father was a carpenter who had immigrated from Canada. Missing Scout camp because his father could not afford the ten shillings made him value money and realise that it only came from effort.
The family struggled financially and Luney attended several primary schools, including one in Canada for one year. He attended Christchurch Boys" High School for two years and was then apprenticed as a joiner.
He is notable for the many important buildings that his company constructed in Christchurch, of which his favourite was. His professional career spanned 80 years. Two events in his early life shaped Luney.
He saved carefully and persistently all his life and he hated unnecessary wastage.
He employed her as office secretary and office manager and one of his intentions with that was to keep other men away from her. Luney founded his own firm, C South Luney Limited, in 1926 with £300 he saved up himself.
The company has never had an overdraft facility, which possibly prevented it from going bankrupt during the Great Depression in the 1930s. In the early years the company"s projects were mainly garages for the growing number of car owners in Christchurch.
In 1930 the firm completed its first major project, the Radiant Hall (now known as the Repertory Theatre, a Category II heritage building), which had been financed by Thomas Edmonds, the manufacturer of Edmonds Baking Powder.
The firm continued to grow and went on to build a number of prominent Christchurch buildings, many designed by Warren and Mahoney. Luney was still supervising construction work in his 90s. Miles Warren said of him that he was a "pressure-wave of energy" and he called him "one of the great characters of Christchurch".
His favourite project was the, which was built between 1969 and 1972.
Foreign the construction of the Westpac Centre in Addington, he used "every piece of scaffolding available in the South Island", according to his biographer John Coley. Luney died on 18 November 2006, aged 101.
During his lifetime Luney was chosen to be included in the Twelve Local Heroes sculpture on Worcester Boulevard in front of the Christchurch Arts Centre. "Charles Luney - Master Builder" The Film, completed and includes interviews with Christian Science Luney in 2003.
The Earthquakes delayed production but the film has been released.
The film selected for the United Kingdom"s Sheffield Doc/Fest Videotheque www.sheffdocfest.com Website: www.smfilms.com Christian Science Luney Images:.