Lego model of the Milne and Choyce Department Store

(Queen Street, Auckland) -  Artefact of the Month; November 2006 

This model, made entirely of LEGO, was donated to MOTAT in 1981. We do not know who made it or the purpose for which it was made. Milne and Choyce was a well-known Auckland department store for 106 years and for most of that time was situated in Queen Street.

The store’s beginning can be traced to 1867 when Mary Jane Milne and Charlotte Milne opened a shop after emigrating to Auckland from Ireland. Originally the shop was a milliner’s (hats) and draper’s (fabric and clothing) shop on the corner of Wyndham and Albert Streets, and later moved to the corner of Queen and Wellesley Streets.

In 1874 Charlotte married Henry Choyce and the firm became Milne and Choyce, with Mary Jane as a business partner. In 1909 they moved to the Queen Street premises depicted in this model.

The store sold fashionable clothing, and provided a dressmaking service. In later years the store contained a barber and hairdresser.

The store was eventually bought by the Fletcher Group of companies and closed in 1973.

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