hornby was apparently named by frederick william delamain, who came to christchurch from england in 1852. the name reportedly refers to hornby-with-farleton in lancashire. the second possible explanation of the name is that it refers to geoffrey hornby, who was the admiral of the british flying squadron and who visited christchurch in 1870. the post office was originally called southbridge junction, which was renamed to hornby on 2 september 1878.