History

It started in 1902 as a combined bowls, tennis and croquet club to cater for the citizens of the St. Albans Borough. The site chosen for the club was on the corner of St. Albans Lane (St. Albans Street) and Kerrs Lane (now Donald Place). This 1.5 acre section was part of Hon. J. T. Peacock's Hawkesbury Estate. John Peacock became the first President of the club and he was a generous benefactor.

During the first decade the club flourished and by 1907 had 300 members. There were difficult times during the Great Depression but the club managed to survive in spite of the secession of the Tennis section in 1930. The Croquet section struggled on until 1946 when it disbanded. During the Post World War II period there was an increase in membership when women were admitted to the club in 1948.

The 1960s and 1970s were golden years for the club and the membership totalled 217. At this time St. Albans Bowling Club was regarded as one of the strongest in New Zealand when outstanding players such as W. R. Wilkinson, B. W. Sinclair and Kerry Clark were selected to play for New Zealand.

The 1990s were a time of change. The old pavilion erected in 1903 was demolished and a new pavilion was built in 1994. In 1996 the men's and women's sections amalgamated and in the Centenary Year, 2002, Alison Bigg became the first women president.

In 2005 the name change to St. Albans-Merivale was made to more clearly show our location in the heart of Merivale. Over the years the boundaries of many suburbs have become blurred as new housing areas have grown. The confusion with St. Albans Shirley Bowling Club and the Edgeware Club in St. Albans Park has led to many players arriving at the wrong venue to play their games. Hopefully this change will help stop some of the confusion.

For Further Information refer to:

O'MALLEY, PHIL.
"2002 HAWKESBURY GREEN. A HISTORY OF THE ST. ALBANS BOWLING CLUB."
FOR ITS CENTENNIAL CELEBRATIONS, 1902-2002.
Christchurch City Library, Reference Section.

Historian and bowler, Phil O'Malley, in action on the green.

St. Albans-Merivale Bowling Club Gains The Silver Award, June 20, 2009.

Vince Roper, from Bowls Canterbury, handing over the Silver Star Award to outgoing president Mick Tarling at the A.G.M. in June, 2009. Under Mick's stewardship the St. Albans-Merivale Bowling Club met extremely stringent criteria and became the first club to receive the award. The club got there by getting things done and making things happen. The club was very close to being awarded a Gold Star Award.

First ClubCheck Award Presented.
It was smiles all round at St Albans-Merivale (CHCH) recently when the club became the first in New Zealand to be awarded a certificate of achievement under Bowls NZ’s recently launched ClubCheck system.
Designed to assess how well a club is going under the various categories of Club Plan the ClubCheck system is an excellent way for a club to ‘get a stake in the ground’ and see what they are doing well and not so well. In achieving its Silver Award, St Albans-Merivale has been recognized for its willingness to seek out new and better ways of running the club and is a reflection of the effort put in by a number of key club members, says outgoing President Mick Tarling, who has himself been a key influence.
Bowls N.Z.’s development officer Vince Roper sees the award is a milestone, being the culmination of quite a lot of effort nationally over the last couple of years to develop suitably simple and practical systems for clubs to use.
“In Club Plan and ClubCheck we now have the products to help clubs develop. Combined with a range of other resources and templates we are in a good position to help the clubs which want to help themselves. Well done to St Albans-Merivale … the sport needs such leaders,” says Vince.