Wordsworth Street in suburb of Sydenham, Christchurch

Wordsworth Street in Sydenham – formerly Fourth Street and Foster’s Road. Gladstone Street was incorporated into Wordsworth Street. Formerly Fourth Street. The streets south of, and parallel to, Moorhouse Avenue were named in numerical order. Foster’s Road is another early informal name. Re-named Wordsworth Street. Named after William Wordsworth (1770-1850). Gladstone Street was named after William Ewart Gladstone (1809- 1898 On an 1879 map Fourth Street appears running from Harper Street (later Orbell Street) to Gasworks Road (later Waltham Road). Fourth Street and Foster’s Road never appear in street directories. Fourth Street is first mentioned in the Star in 1874 in a report of a meeting of the Heathcote Road Board. Wordsworth Street first appears in the Star in 1882 when a house on the corner of Wordsworth Street and Gasworks Road is advertised to let. First appears in street directories in 1887, running off Hawdon Street. Wordsworth was one of the English Romantic poets. One of the “poets and writers” streets of Sydenham, Addington and Waltham named by a committee of the Sydenham Borough Council on 19 January 1880. The section of Fourth Street running from Colombo Street to Durham Street was renamed Gladstone Street officially on 2nd August 1880, when the street naming committee of the Sydenham Borough Council recommended that “Second, Third and Fourth streets be respectively named Sandyford, Battersea and Gladstone streets, these being the names under which they are dedicated to the public, and which were chosen by the first residents in those streets”. William Ewart Gladstone was a British Prime Minister and also brother-in-law to Lord Lyttelton. Incorporated into Wordsworth Street on 27 September 1915.A huge amount of information from the library website and not a lot that I can add to it. In 1882 there were sections for sale. In 1883 a Mr Ditford applied for a license for a house on the corner of Wordsworth St and Waltham Rd and he had already been rejected in 1882. The reason that I took note of this is that I used to know people with that surname from my sons kindergarten days.In 1888 there were complaints to the council about a house of ill fame. Council said not their problem go to the police. In 1894 there were complaints about the footpaths flooding in heavy rain. In 18977 sewage was mentioned plus there was a request for street lamps. In 1894 a Mr Wise had swing boats that were enjoyed by children at a fair. This same Mr Wise had problems with a neighbour as the neighbour threw poisoned wheat onto Mr Wise’s property. Mr Wise kept pigeons and the neighbour was unhappy about this. I thought that the Wise’s Directory might have been named after this man but it is named after a Henry Wise from Dunedin.There were a huge number of birth and death notices but this street is no longer residential. It runs from Orbell St to Waltham Rd and it is full of businesses and a few shops. Mixture of old and new buildings. On the corner of Wordsworth St and Buchan St there is Buchan St Playground but sadly in the last year all the play equipment has bee removed. Even the memorial school bell has gone but I believe the plaque is still there. I used to frequently sit in this park to eat my lunch when I worked in the area.