Searells Avenue in the suburb of Strowan, Christchurch

Searells Ave – Named after Thomas Searell (1811-1891). Searell, a miller, bought the Carlton Mill in 1865 and eight acres of land north of Normans Road in 1871 which he later subdivided and sold. In 1884 he and his family were living at Kilmore Street East. First appears in street directories in 1890.A small amount of information from the library website and it is slightly incorrect. They have muddled up a father and son and I don’t know which one subdivided the land but was possibly the son. I searched both Papers Past and the Ancestry website and it wasn’t helped by both of them going bankrupt. In 1867 Thomas Searell senior was bankrupt in 1867 and in the same year Avon Mill and dwelling was up for sale and lease still had 7 years to run. He was in Carlton Mill in 1870 and 1873 but in Cust by 1880 and still a miller. He was living in Hacketts Rd that was off Blighs Rd when he died in 1891. His son Thomas went bankrupt in 1881 and he was an architect. In 1881 a Thomas Searell sold 34 building sections off Normans Rd and because the son was bankrupt in 1881 my best guess that he was the one selling off the land. Thomas Searell the father was in Cust by this time. It was the son Thomas Searell who was living on Kilmore St in 1884 as there was a birth notice for Thomas and his wife Emily. Later that year they were living in Auckland where sadly their baby died. They eventually moved to Tasmania where Emily died. Thomas Searell the architect died in Christchurch in 1938. Have I confused you enough yet.On Papers Past I couldn’t find any entries under the name Searells Ave but lots of entries under Searells Road up to 1961 so I don’t know when the street name was changed to Searells Ave. In 1893 there was a petition from residents wanting the road to be formed. Lots of birth and death notices plus best garden entries. The year 1919 saw lots of complaints about a pig breeding farm on the street. There were complaints about potholes in 1929. This street runs off Normans Rd and there are houses from every decade but most built in 1920s or 1970s. The style of houses varied from loved wooden villas to ugly toilet style houses. There was a gorgeous 1920s cottage with a fantastic garden but just a few houses away was another 1920s house which was in an unbelievable state of dilapidation. Weird thing was that the letterbox looked brand new. Another house obviously didn’t want visitors to get lost as their house number was huge.