Tennyson Street in the suburb of Sydenham, Christchurch

Tennyson Street in Sydenham – Early informal names were Pipers Lane and Pipers Road. Named after George Piper (1843-1909), who was also known as Whistling Piper. Re-named Tennyson Street. Named after Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809- 1892).George Piper and his brother had a brick kiln east of Colombo Street. Their father Thomas also worked there. The business was made bankrupt in January 1883. Pipers Lane first appears in the Star in 1877 in a report of a meeting of the Heathcote Road Board. George Piper was living in Tennyson Street at the time of his death in 1909. Re-named Tennyson Street. Tennyson was a poet. One of the “poets and writers” streets of Sydenham, Addington and Waltham named by a committee of the Sydenham Borough Council on 19 January 1880. Tennyson Street first appears in street directories in 1894.A reasonable amount of information from the library website. Papers Past had lots of birth and death notices. In the 1870s there were lots of entries about drainage and the drainage board. In 1878 there was talk about the drain being fenced and there was still talk about this matter in 1879. The street is described as having two houses and an old brick kiln on the street. In 1881 the council objected to increasing the size of the drain. In 1894 under the Public Works Act the council intended construction of Tennyson St but the Road Board wanted the council to reconsider as in their opinion the road was just a minor byroad. In 1897 the Christchurch City Rifles held their annual camp on the Police Paddock at the end of Piper’s Lane. Both Piper’s Lane and Tennyson St names were being used. In 1899 there was an application for a reserve of 7 acres fronting Tennyson St was approved. This land was where the Police Paddock was and it was eventually used for housing. Between 1912 and 1916 there were several mentions of Congregational Church raising money. In 1914 many complaints about the drains. In 1918 the council called for tenders for laying stormwater sewers. In 1927 the water mains were laid. In 1916 the occupier of 61 Tennyson St had an ad in the paper about laying mantraps on their premises. This house still exists and was part of the Camelot Settlement Workers Dwellings. I covered the Piper family when I wrote up the Piper Lane that runs off Birdwood Ave. Thoroughly researched this family but they aren’t connected to my mysterious grandmother. This street runs from Colombo St to Eastern Terrace and I walked it on the first day of level 2. There are still some lovely houses along this street and many date from 1920s. There are also many from 1970s and 1980s. There is a small shopping centre at the Colombo St end and the street ends at the bridge over the Heathcote River. I drive this street fairly frequently and it made a change to walk it. This street has a cycleway so I was annoyed to see someone riding on the footpath. I think everyone knows how I feel about this.