Albemarle Street in the suburb of Sydenham, Christchurch

Albemarle Street in Sydenham – Probably named after Albemarle Street in London, off Bond Street. The origin of the name is French, from the Aumale region of Normandy. First mentioned in the Star in 1884 in a report of a meeting of the Sydenham Borough Council. First appears in street directories in 1887. A small amount of information from the library website. I found the same mention in the Star from 1884 and it was about channelling the street. I suspect that the reason for the name of the street is because of Albemarle St in London as this street in Sydenham is near Huxley St. Thomas Huxley in 1864 formed a club called X Club on Albemarle St in London. Lord Byron and Oscar Wilde also have a connection to the street in London. Not a lot of information on Papers Past. A few birth and death notices. A couple of enlistment notices for World War One. There were sections for sale in 1886. A couple of house fires in the 1920s. A man was charging with letting cows wander in 1887 and 1889. There was a very sad suicide in 1929 of a returned soldier. He hadn’t recovered from his war injuries and was unable to work. There was a Mr Weston who in June 1909 was declared bankrupt. He was a tailor and then in July 1909 his wife set up in business as a dressmaker. The marriage didn’t last long as in November 1909 he was charged with bigamy. This is a tiny street that runs off Brougham St but you can’t drive into the street from Brougham St and there is a little walkway. I don’t know when this changed but suspect it was when Brougham St was extended as the address where Mrs Weston lived is no longer there. Mostly older houses here with two dating from 1890 and apart from one house dated 2000 the rest are between 1905 and 1920. It actually looks like it has the potential to be a lovely street but sadly many of the houses look very rundown. One looked a bit lopsided but was being lived in. There are only 13 houses here. It was such a lovely morning and I was feeling so energetic that I went out for a walk at 7am this morning. There is just one thing that I do recommend to the inhabitants of this street and that it is probably a good idea to keep your curtains closed if you are planning on wandering around your house naked. I think he got a shock when he realised someone was walking past going by the gasp I heard.