St James Avenue in Papanui – St James Park Road and James Avenue.Named after James Triggs (1816-1898). Triggs was a dairy farmer, and later a fruit-grower, of Papanui. He died at his residence in Harewood Road. James Avenue was formed on land once owned by St. Paul’s Anglican Church, Papanui where Triggs was the verger in the 1870s. St James Park Road first appears in street directories in 1892 running off Park Road (later Windermere Road); James Avenue in 1907 running off Papanui Road. The two were amalgamated and re-named St James Avenue in 1924. A Papanui war memorial street. [21 pairs of oak trees in the street were planted as a memorial to those who served in World War II. This street lost all of its young men during the war.]
A reasonable amount of information from the library website and I suspect that there is a mistake in this information. James Avenue actually ran off Harewood Rd where James Triggs had his property. I personally think that James Avenue was formed on the land that James Triggs owned as he died in October 1898 and his wife died December 1898. St James Park Road ran off Park Road ( Windermere Road). St James Park seemed to have been created at the same time as the street St James Park Road.
In 1924 Papanui Burgess Association reported that St James Avenue was actually called James Avenue in Government Rolls. They suggested that St James Avenue to be used for the street. I got the feeling when reading Papers Past that many people didn’t realise that it was actually two separate streets as the streets merged on a bend. Between 1930s and 1950s there were many mentions about the Papanui Garden Competition. In 1935 land was acquired for croquet greens and joins up with St James Park.
The oldest house on the street dates from 1905 and it looks lovely. Couldn’t get a photo as there is a big hedge in from of it. Several houses from 1910 and 1915. There are houses from every decade with the most being 1930s and 1970s. A few modern houses which I personally thought looked out of place next to the lovely old villas. If I lived here I would prefer Windermere Road end rather than Harewood Rd end because Harewood Road end would be noisy. Two entrances to St James Park and one entrance had a lovely gate. The croquet club is still there and next to this is a walkway to the park. There is a plaque hanging from a lamp post at the Windermere Road end for this street being a memorial street and the reason for it being a memorial street is very sad if you read the information from the library website. I was geocaching in the area today.
Lytteltonwitch's Walking the streets of Christchurch Project 