Lichfield Street in the Central City, Christchurch

Lichfield Street – Named after the Bishopric of Lichfield in England. One of the original Christchurch streets named in 1850 by Captain Joseph Thomas (b. 1803?) and Edward Jollie (1825- 1894). 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. [Until 1910, numbering of the street went from east to west, from 1910, west to east. A small amount of information from the library website and nothing that I can add about the name of the street. Another street that had thousands of entries on Papers Past so concentrated before 1860. Some of the people who lived here were William Wilson, David Clark Anderson watchmaker, Alexander Johnston blacksmith, William Steer carpenter, George Robert Hart printer, William Scarlett joiner, Mrs Brown dressmaker, Henry Flavel tailor, Frederick Brown labourer and Charles Edward Cooper gentleman. Sections were for sale in 1852 and 1853. In 1859 a Day and Boarding Academy was set up by James White who was an experienced teacher from England. It was near the nursery owned by William Wilson. In 1860 R Smith set up the New American Portrait Galley doing Collodion portraits. The new Oddfellows Hall was opened in June 1859 and it was on the 1862 map of Christchurch and was near Colombo St. There seemed to be more residential properties here rather than businesses compared to nearby streets. I also looked at entries for the 1940s and by this time there were mostly businesses on the street. Some of the business names were Glassons Warehouse, Wellington Woollen Company, J Rattray and sons Ltd, McFarlane and Co, Bing Harris Co, Mason Struthers and Co and Lordship Hotel. I was amused that Midland Motors was refused permission to build a bus exchange here in 1945. The Central Fire Station was on this street plus the City Council Testing Station. There was a billiard parlour, Presbyterian bookroom and something called the Welcome Club. I can remember Rattray and Bing Harris businesses. Lots of entries for J Lamb and son funeral business and Hutchison White Ltd. The street is closed between Madras St and Barbadoes St and I had to detour around. The street runs between Oxford Tce and Fitzgerald Ave. There is a temporary fire station at the Fitzgerald St end and then VTNZ and Resene Paints, A car yard called Toys on Wheels and Domino Pizza then a big gap before you come to the bus exchange, Hoyts building, entrance to Ballantynes, Police Station, Law Courts, Lichfield Car Park and entrance to Riverside Market. There was a modern building near the Fitzgerald end of the street which I quite liked and it isn’t often that I like modern buildings. I worked in the Square from 2003 to 2009 and I remember the Salvation Army shop and office on this street and it would have been close to where the police station is now sited. I vaguely recall an outdoor shop near the Salvation Army shop. The Lichfield car park has been rebuilt on the same site as the original car park. I think that I have only used the new car park once as I prefer to walk into town. It was rare that I used the old car park but did use it occasionally when I was undergoing chemo as I found it too tiring to walk to work chemo week. I can’t remember what other buildings were on this street before the earthquakes yet I walked this area fairly frequently.