Hargest Crescent in the suburb of Sydenham, Christchurch

Hargest Crescent in Sydenham- Formerly Taylor Street, later Crescent. Probably named after Jeremy Taylor (1613- 1677). Re-named Hargest Crescent. Named after Brigadier James Hargest (1891- 1944). Taylor was the author of Holy Living and Holy Dying. 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. Taylor Street is first mentioned in the Star in 1882 and first appears in street directories in 1887. Becomes Taylor Crescent in 1935. Re-named Hargest Crescent on 1 September 1948 when 120 streets were re-named. Hargest was a farmer, military leader and politician. A reasonable amount of information from library website. Not sure if street is named after Jeremy Taylor as he is an extremely obscure author. There were three Taylor Street in Christchurch as there was one in Riccarton and one in Addington as well. I did find an entry in 1897 using Taylor’s Street and this normally means it is named after a local landowner. Apart from death notices there wasn’t a lot of information on Papers Past. In 1895 there was a house fire in a house owned by Henry Wakefield. In 1909 there was a coal and firewood business on the street. A polio case in the street in 1925. In 1920 the Education Board were looking to acquire a parcel of land so that they can build an infant school. They would be writing to the land owners. There is still a kindergarten on the street near the Waltham Rd end. In 1935 because of the confusion with Taylor Street in Addington the name was changed to Taylor Crescent and in 1948 changed to Hargest Crescent. In 1950s the Education Board had a storage area here. I walked this street on Monday and I used to know this area fairly well in the 1960s. There are 55 properties here and the oldest house is from 1890 and it is a cute wee cottage. At least one or two houses from most decades but lots built in 1970s and 2020s. Many different styles of houses and most are in a reasonable condition but some are looking a bit rundown.