Shand Crescent in the suburb of Riccarton, Christchurch

Shand Crescent in Riccarton- Named after John Shand (1805- 1874). Shand arrived in Canterbury in 1851 on the Isabella Hercus. His block of land, 100 acres, Rural Section 95, ran from Riccarton Road to Blenheim Road and from Division Street to Wharenui Road. He named his home Avon Lodge. This was demolished when the street was formed. One of the street names chosen in 1940 for the State housing subdivision between Riccarton Road and Blenheim Road. The names were selected “as far as possible for their appropriateness”A reasonable amount of information from the library website. The article on Papers Past also said that the name was chosen because it was the name of the previous owner of the land. The library website also don’t mention John’s son Thomas Shand who lived in the property until his death in 1918. As I couldn’t find any record of Thomas getting married and he is buried with his father in the Upper Riccarton cemetery it would be interesting to know who owned the land between 1918 and 1940.This is another street that I walked in July 2020 and I have managed to walk it at least two times. I also vaguely recall that there used to be a geocache here years ago but the cache is long gone. Only 11 properties here and most date from 1940 and they are obvious State Housing buildings. A couple from 1990s and one from 2020. When I walked it there was housing being built and at least one empty section. The footpath was a mess because of the building site. There is a pleasant wee reserve here. I found an article in Stuff about Community Art and there was a mural that had been painted on the actual road at the intersection of Shand Crescent and Tara St but that has gone. It is a pity as the photo of it looked really cool.