Ambleside Drive in the suburb of Burnside, Christchurch

Ambleside Drive in Burnside – Formed on land owned by Professor Albert Hugh Flay (1905-1973) and developed by his son. First appears in street directories in 1964. Information supplied in

2009 by Peter Foster in an interview with Margaret Harper.

A small amount of information from the library website and I am not convinced that their information is correct. I have spent all evening on this street and I have searched ancestry website, Papers Past and several old maps of Christchurch.

I suspect that there was three separate developments on this street. The first subdivision was in 1962 and it was called Memorial Ave subdivision and was a Maurice Carter project. Maurice Carter seemed to specialise in Crown Land developments. In the 1960s and 1970s the street was winning best street awards and there is a plaque hanging from a lamp post at the Kendal Ave end of the street. In 1970 in the best street competition the street was described as a cul de sac.

In 1971 there was another subdivision called Witbrock Park subdivision and as I am writing this I realise it is highly likely that the Park part is actually a surname. All the houses at the Kendal Ave end of the street were built in the 1960s and were part of the Maurice Carter subdivision. The houses in the middle part of the street were built in 1970s and there is a map on Papers Past showing this subdivision and it clearly shows the area of Ambleside Drive from about Ashbourne St to just past Witbrock Crescent. Witbrock Crescent is included in this subdivision.

The rest of the houses were built in 1980s and are at the Grahams Rd end of the street and that possibly was Albert Flay’s land. This would also fit in with the addresses of Albert Flay and Mabel Witbrock going by the electoral rolls. The development in the 1980s would mean that the street goes from Kendal Ave to Grahams Rd and is no longer a cul de sac.

Are you confused yet? Mabel Witbrock is the person that I found most interesting as she was a sheep farmer. Sounds like she had several properties as both Amberley and Dunsandel were mentioned when she was selling sheep plus she had rental properties in the central city.

There were many different styles of houses but none really stood out for me. Another tree lined street and the trees are starting to show their autumn colours.

Edited to say that the name of the street is obviously from Ambleside in the UK which is a gorgeous part of the UK.