Leinster Road in the suburb of Strowan, Christchurch

Leinster Rd formerly Pepperell’s Lane. in Strowan – Formerly Pepperell’s Lane. Named after Thomas Mills Pepperell (1819- 1887). Re-named Leinster Road. Named by a Mrs Strangman, probably Marian Strangman (1824?- 1892), widow of John Strangman (1809-1881). Originally an accommodation road ie. a route for stock. Pepperell’s Lane was an early, informal name that does not appear in street directories. When Pepperell, a draper, died, the address given in his funeral notice in the Star is Leinster Road. In 1883 Marian Strangman is listed as living in Leinster Road. She was distantly related to the Duke of Leinster’s family. She thought it beneath her dignity to live in a “lane” so took it on herself to put a new sign up with the name “Leinster Road” on it. Leinster Road first appears in the Star in 1881 in an advertisement. First appears in street directories in 1890. The name was not formally recognised by the Christchurch City Council until 1952.A reasonable amount of information from the library website. I couldn’t find any information about the street being known as Pepperell’s Lane. Thomas Mills Pepperell was living on Leinster Rd when he died and he was a draper. In 1881 Thomas Pepperell was living on Papanui Rd and it is possible that the road went through his property but I haven’t searched land records. He was in business with a company called William Stringer and Co but left the partnership in 1862. He possibly lived in Timaru before returning to Christchurch. There was also a family with the surname Papprill who lived on Heaton St.Papers Past had a large number of entries about Elmwood school and it got confusing at times as the references often referred to both Leinster Rd and Heaton St. There was talk in 1907 of repairing the caretakers house plus enlarging the school. New building was opened in 1909 with mention of entrance on Leinster Rd. The school possibly was originally called Leinster Rd school and in 1896 I found references to t0 name being St Albans Side School.In 1886 land was purchased in Leinster Rd for a school and it was opened in January 1887.Found for sale ads for sections and houses in 1881 and also sections for sale in 1900. In 1893 residents requested concrete channels but not sure if the work was done as the residents were complaining about the state of the road in 1896. From 1887 through to 1898 there were many complains about drainage on the street and the area near the school was the worse. In 1915 there were complaints about a horse wandering and many complaints in 1921 bout cows wandering. We have to remember that this area was rural land those days. I couldn’t find any information about the naming of the street and it is quite likely that the library’s reason for the naming of the street is true but there were sections being sold in 1881 and John Strangman died in 1881 and I need to recheck my information as I believe that he was living on Colombo St when he died. In 1871 he purchased a house, warehouse and land in Colombo St where he established a bottling business. He also purchased land in Madras St in 1874 so it is possible he had other land. By 1883 there was a Mrs John Strangman living on Leinster Rd and in 1886 William Hackshaw purchased the property. Marian Strangman died in Auckland in 1892. In 1881 and 1885 I found Douglas Heward Strangman living on Leinster Rd and he was described as out of business. His middle name was possibly Howard and I haven’t found his birth details but he was probably John and Marian’s son.I seriously sidetracked with this family and trying to find out information about them wasn’t easy. John Strangman married Mary Ann Fitzgerald in 1846 in Kilkenny area. Some family trees have her as Marianne. It is possible that she is related to Lord Leinster but I couldn’t find a link. With what I found out about this family I am not sure that I would like to be related. If she was related I suspect it was so distant that they wouldn’t have even acknowledged her but I could be wrong. After one of the Lord Leinster’s died so many people tried claiming the estate that they made them all do DNA testing. Lord Leinster had several properties in Ireland including Waterford Castle where I have stayed.The street itself runs from Papanui Rd to Rossall St and at Papanui Rd end is St George’s Hospital and a Coffee Culture. I had a quick coffee at Coffee Culture before my appointment at the hospital. Many of the older houses have medical related businesses in them. One house near the hospital is dated from 1890 but I couldn’t work out which house unless it was on a back section. Several from 1910 and 1915 but most date from 1970s and 1990s. There was one lovely house that looked old but the QV website has it dating from 1970. Obviously Elmwood school is on this street and I would have sneaked in to take photos of the school’s street art but it was lunch time and the playground was busy. Lots of building work going on at the back of the hospital.