Murfitt Place in Sockburn- Named after the Murfitt family. The Murfitts are a prominent horseracing family. John Murfitt (1918?-1939), a jockey, died from injuries when a horse rolled on him at Riccarton. Formed on a subdivision of part of the Riccarton Racecourse. First appears in street directories in 1993.
A small amount of information from the library website. Papers Past had several entries about the accident. The inquest said that three horses collided and the horse Kaipear which John Murfitt was riding fell and rolled on it’s rider. The funeral details said that there was a large turn out and the pall bearers were G Murfitt, F Murfitt, Jack Murfitt, G Barr, A Stock and K Brown. Ancestry website has him born in October 1917 in Rangiora and he died in May 1939. His grave has the words husband of Victoria but I couldn’t find a marriage for him. There were also the words A brilliant and fearless horseman.
This street runs off Showgate Avenue and all the houses were built in 1990s. A tidy and pleasant street of mostly brick houses and the architect seemed to have an obsession with the triangle shape. I was walking back to my car from an unsuccessful attempt to find a geocache.
Lytteltonwitch's Walking the streets of Christchurch Project 