Forbes Street in the suburb of Sydenham, Christchurch

Forbes Street – Probably named after Edward Forbes (1815- 1854). Forbes was a British naturalist. First mentioned in The Press in 1881 when Anderson’s paddock is subdivided into 44 sections ”situated in the best part of Sydenham” and sold by auction. First appears in street directories in 1906

A small amount of information from the library website. Found the same article about Anderson’s paddock being subdivided. Papers Past had lots of ads in 1881 and 1882 for sections for sale on this street. There was another lot of ads in 1896 and 1898. There was also mention of Anderson’s paddock being bounded by Cashel, Lichfield and Bardadoes Streets. It is highly likely that Anderson had more than one block of land as he was a successful businessman.
Nothing on Papers Past to say why it was called Forbes Street and Edward Forbes is certainly possible. There were also at least two businessmen with the surname Forbes who lived in the area. A mixture of houses here ranging from old cottages to a brand new house. The older cottages dated from 1905 and 1910. One house built in 2012 looks exactly like the older cottages so I am assuming it has been rebuilt to look exactly the same as the original. There were several two story flats built in 1975 that looked different and were curved rather than straight. The street also has the back of the Countdown on it. One end of the street ends at Bradford Park.