Oxford Terrace in the Central City, Christchurch

Oxford Tce in Central City- Brightlings Lane was incorporated into Oxford Terrace. Named after Christ Church, Oxford University. Brightlings Lane was named after John Brightling (1842-1928) One of the original Christchurch streets named in 1850 by surveyors Captain Joseph Thomas (b. 1803?) and Edward Jollie (1825-1894) in March 1850. John Robert Godley (1814- 1861) studied at Christ Church. First mentioned in The Lyttelton Times in 1852 when 1/4 acre sections are advertised for sale there. Brightling established a carrying firm. In the 1890s he built, and then bought, the City and Suburban Tramway Company to New Brighton via North New Brighton. Brightlings Lane first appears in street directories in 1894 but was in existence as early as 1881. The address of a Jonathan Bruce is given in the electoral roll of that year as Brightlings Right-of-way. Brightlings Lane intersected with Oxford Terrace and lay between Willow and Hurley Streets. Disappears from street directories in 1953 when it is “included in Oxford Terrace”. A reasonable amount of information from library website. Huge amount of information on Papers Past. In 1853 and 1854 Joseph Allan a shoemaker was living here. In 1862 trees were planted along Oxford Terrace from Inwood Mill to Montreal Street bridge and it cost £13 10s 6d which worked out at 6d per tree. The street was metalled in 1868 but there was still complaints about the state of the road in the 1870s plus complaints about the footpaths. The Baptist Church had thousands of mentions on Papers Past and was occasionally called the Baptist Tabernacle. Other buildings mentioned were Oddfellows Hall which was on Gloucester St corner. The Foresters Hall and the Primitive Methodist Church. There were at least two stables and one was Carew’s Stables and the other Shailer’s Stables. Several hotels mentioned including British Hotel, Mills Hotel, Royal Hotel, Warwick Hotel, British Crown, White Hart and of course Oxford Hotel which many of us knew as Oxford on Avon. Bookcrossers who attended the World Convention in 2009 in Christchurch will remember Oxford on Avon as our venue for the farewell meal on the Sunday night. The City Council Yard was on Oxford Terrace from early 1870s. I was amused to read about how many men were fined for letting cows and horses wander on the street. There was the usual mention of brothel and houses of ill fame. One woman Annie Driscoll was charged with stabbing Mary Ann Lackett and Annie was described as an old offender. I am sure that I came across her name when researching other central city. Mary Ann Lackett survived the stabbing. There was flooding in 1865 and 1868. In 1880s and 1900s there was a nursing home called Cora Villa at 326 Oxford Terrace and many birth notices mentioned it. The hotels were often used for coroners courts and the saddest was in 1869 when a new born baby’s body was found in the Avon River. In the 1910s there was a hockey team called Oxford Tce and there was a Oxford Terrace literary society. The street runs from Fitzgerald Ave to Riccarton Ave and you have walk through Victoria Square. There are many fairly modern apartments between Kilmore St and Barbadoes St. Between Barbadoes St and Fitgerald Ave it is now the Red Zone. The Margaret Mahy Playground is between Manchester St and Madras St and the playground is where the Centennial Pool used to be. Once you get through Victoria Square you walk past the new Convention Centre being built and then it is all the bars and restaurants including Riverside Market. As you walk towards the hospital there is a mixture of new buildings and damaged buildings. The buildings are obviously on one side of the street as the terrace follows the river. Between Montreal St and Durham St beside the river is the Earthquake Memorial and there are steps down to the memorial. From the Hospital to Margaret Mahy there is now a walkway called the City Promenade. I have been known to feed the eels in the area opposite the bars and restaurant.