Chester Street East in the Central City, Christchurch

Chester St East in the Central City – Cranmer Terrace Named after the English Anglican bishopric of Chester. One of the original Christchurch streets named in 1850 by Edward Jollie (1825- 1894), and Captain Joseph Thomas (b. 1803?). The names were taken from bishoprics listed in Burke’s Peerage. First mentioned in The Lyttelton Times, in 1852 when 1/4 acre sections are advertised for sale there. Appears in 1883 street directories as Chester Street off East Town Belt to Colombo Street and Chester Street West off Cambridge Terrace to Park Terrace. Chester Street West was renamed Cranmer Terrace for a short time in the 1950s because of the large gap in Chester Street. It reverted to its earlier name when the residents found there was confusion with Cranmer Square. Chester St East – Cranmer Terrace Named after the English Anglican bishopric of Chester. One of the original Christchurch streets named in 1850 by Edward Jollie (1825- 1894), and Captain Joseph Thomas (b. 1803?). The names were taken from bishoprics listed in Burke’s Peerage. First mentioned in The Lyttelton Times, in 1852 when 1/4 acre sections are advertised for sale there. Appears in 1883 street directories as Chester Street off East Town Belt to Colombo Street and Chester Street West off Cambridge Terrace to Park Terrace. Chester Street West was renamed Cranmer Terrace for a short time in the 1950s because of the large gap in Chester Street. It reverted to its earlier name when the residents found there was confusion with Cranmer Square. A reasonable amount of information from the library website. Quite a few entries on Papers Past. In 1862 Samuel Johnson was mentioned as living on this street. I was amused to see that in 1864 there was a house of ill fame on this street owned by Stephen Bowen. There seemed to have been quite a few of these houses of ill fame within the central city. In 1971 and 1873 there were several letters to the editor about the state of the road and footpath. In 1874 the work was finally done. In 1881 there were complaints about women of bad character and abandoned habits living on the street. In 1886 there was flooding on the street which was not helped by the road being higher that the land. In the 1880s Elisha Godfrey who had a small general store on the street was mentioned a few times. Many entries involved The Severed Hand Case. The usual complaints about drains and most complaints were in the 1870s.I walked Chester St West ages ago and yesterday walked Chester St West. This street runs from Fitzgerald Ave to Madras St and is a lovely street. Many lovely older houses here including an heritage house. The heritage house is being worked on at the moment and it has plaques on the brick wall. I love finding plaques. Most of the older houses are in good condition but a couple looking fun down. The properties cover most decades with lots from 1970s, 1990s and 2020. Some of the modern houses just don’t fit in with the character of the street. There is a wee park on this street and I still haven’t find the cache here and my lack of height is the problem. I chatted to a couple of the residents on this street. One man had a lovely old car and I also chatted with the owner of the backpackers. The backpackers looks lovely. I liked the street but suspect that the houses would be beyond my budget.