Stevens Street in the suburb of Waltham, Christchurch

Stevens Street in Waltham- Named after Edward Cephas John Stevens (1837-1915). Stevens was a land-agent, businessman, sportsman and politician. He and Richard Harman represented Benjamin Lancaster (d.1887) of Bournemouth, England, who in 1850 had bought Rural Section 62, 50 acres in Ferry Road. (The early purchasers, who were still in England, and, in some cases stayed in England, bought their land in 1850. The site of the individual properties wasn’t chosen until the big allotment of land in March 1851.) In 1880 Lancaster sold just over 10 acres of this land for a sports stadium. According to the minutes of the Sydenham Borough Council the formation and metalling of this street was completed by 1880. First appears in street directories in 1887.A reasonable of information from the library website.

Papers Past had lots of entries about traffic because of Lancaster Park. In 1928 there was a letter to the editor about traffic issues and it was headed Dangers lurk at Lancaster Park. In 1881 a couple of entries from the drainage board. In January of 1881 Mr Adcock put in a claim for compensation for an accident to his cab but this was declined. In 1883 typhoid fever was rife in Christchurch including in Stevens St. Several complaints about cycling on footpath in the street. Obviously a person that I would relate to. Lots of birth, death and marriage notices. The most interesting article was The Mysterious Affair on Stevens Street. Two small boys aged 3 and 5 were offered sweets. The boys ended up in hospital as the sweets were poisoned. The man who gave them the sweets was never caught. Thankfully the boys survived. The various entries had this street in at least three suburbs including Linwood, Sydenham and Lancaster Park. The library website puts it into Waltham but it is really on the outer edge of Waltham. Not as much information on Papers Past about Edward Stevens as I expected. Probate for his will was granted in July 1915 and it was described as a long and complicated will. Personal effects to his wife including horses and carriage. She also had the right to live in the house until her death. The house in question was Englefield which Edward Stevens purchased from William Guise Brittan in 1872. She was also entitled to an annual income of £2000 which was looked after by trustees. There were several relatives who benefited from the will especially a nephew. The estate was worth £290,000.00 and there was a very pointed closing remark from the legal team that no charities benefited from the will. Edward Stevens was born 18th October 1837 at Salford in Oxfordshire and he was educated at Marlborough College and the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester. This college in Cirencester still exists as I have driven past it frequently. He came to New Zealand at the age of 21 and became a successful land agent in the company Harman and Stevens. In 1869 Edward married Maria the widow of Henry Whitcombe who drowned in Teremakau River on one of his many trips to the West Coast. Edward Stevens is buried by himself at St Peters Church in Upper Riccarton while his wife Maria is buried with her son from her first marriage. It doesn’t look like Edward and Maria had any children.I actually walked this street in April last year during lockdown. This street only has businesses on it now and one of the biggest businesses is Paul Kelly Motor Company Service Centre. I was amused when looking at Google maps that one of the staff at this business looked like my neighbour. Obviously Lancaster Park used to be here but sadly it was badly damaged in the earthquakes including the land. There were a couple of houses but nothing on the valuation website for them and it didn’t look like they were occupied.