Willryan Avenue in the suburb of New Brighton, Christchurch

Willryan Ave in New Brighton – Named after William Nicholas Ryan (1885-1950). This was the first road developed through a block of land once owned by Ryan. The name was suggested by his wife, Mary Catherine Ryan (1892-1978). First appears in street directories in 1960. Information supplied in 2008 by Ryan’s son, Jack Ryan, in a letter to Margaret Harper. A small amount of information from the library website and the name of this street now makes sense to me. Most of the houses on this street were built in the 1950s and they are typical of this area. The gardens are well established and it looks like a pleasant street but nothing jumped out as being particularly unusual or different. I thought that I remembered a house that was different to the rest of the houses but nothing on google maps. Wasn’t able to get a photo of it. There was a big empty section where a school used to be but will write about that when I write up Sandy Ave. There are a few rebuilts here but they have been mostly rebuilt in the original style of the houses. A couple of houses for sale under as is where is condition. At the red zone end there is Bower Park which has a wee playground. It looked very soggy on Saturday so I hate to think how it looks today after two days of solid rain. William Ryan died in March 1950 aged 65 and his wife died in 1978 aged 86. They are buried at Bromley Cemetery.