Orbell Street – formerly Harper Street. Harper was the first Bishop of Christchurch and the second Primate of New Zealand. Re-named Orbell Street on 1 September 1948 when 120 streets were re-named. Orbell was the vicar at various times of several Anglican parishes in Christchurch. [This was a residential zone (railwaymen’s cottages etc.) until the 1970s when it became a light to heavy industrial area.]
A reasonable amount of information from the library website.
It is years since I walked this street. Used to walk part of it frequently when I worked at Sydenham ANZ. It is a street of businesses with a big empty section where Lane Walker Rudkins factory used to be. The factory shop for merino clothing is still on this street. There is a new to me factory shop for Globalculture and I might have to pay it a visit as I quite liked some of the T-shirts that I saw in the window.
This week I ended up chatting to an older woman who had lived on this street when growing up. She used to go to dances at a hall on Selwyn St and there was a short cut to get home that included walking through the cemetery. She liked cemeteries but one evening had a boyfriend with her and he was scared of the cemetery at night, The one and only time he walked through the cemetery he ended up being a gibbering idiot afterwards. The relationship didn’t last.
Could find nothing on Papers Past relating to the naming of this street.
Lytteltonwitch's Walking the streets of Christchurch Project 