A Greater Hornby anniversary book is asking residents to turn family memory into public history, with writer Mari Swindley gathering stories ahead of the area's 150th anniversary in September 2028.

Swindley was commissioned by the Greater Hornby Residents Association in April. Local reporting says the work builds on almost 20 years of research by the late Ken Ocock, a former head librarian in Hornby and keen amateur historian, whose material was later passed into Swindley's care.

The project is a community-builder story because it treats local history as something held by residents, not only by formal archives. Swindley has been meeting people and recording memories since April, including families with four generations in Hornby and others who arrived 40, 50 or 70 years ago.

The planned book will look at how Hornby got its name, why The Hub Hornby sits where it does, what was on the site before, why families moved west from central Christchurch, and who shaped major industries in Hornby and Islington.

It will also explore Hei Hei, including its history and pronunciation. Those details may sound narrow, but they are exactly the kind of questions that make a suburb legible to the people who live there.

Swindley said her focus is to flesh out the facts and highlight the people behind churches, businesses, industry, infrastructure, schools and shops. She has also said newer residents matter, because a true picture of Greater Hornby needs more than one generation's voice.

More interviews are planned at Matatiki Centre library over the coming months. The strongest version of the book will depend on whether residents bring forward photographs, memories and ordinary details before they disappear from family conversations.