Steadman Rd in Broomfield – Named after Steadman Sarah Chisnall, née Wilson, (1823?- 1876)Steadman Chisnall was the wife of William Chisnall (1827-1876) who owned Russley Farm. Named in 1983 after residents objected to the proposed name of North Carmen Road for the section of Carmen Road between Yaldhurst Road and Masham Road. The name change was wanted because realignment meant there was little connection between northern and southern sections of the road.
A reasonable amount of information from library website and there are a couple of mistakes. The name of the farm when William Chisnall owned the farm was Hadleigh Farm after the town they came from in England. His wife’s name was Sarah Steadman Chisnall nee Wilson. I am not even sure that his farm was here as when it was for sale in 1867 it was described as being on Fendalton Rd. I searched Papers Past and Ancestry website plus heritage maps. The name that I found connected to Russley Farm was William Armstrong.
A map from 1962 only shows 2 or 3 houses on one side of the street and the Riccarton Racecourse on the other side. On this map the street was called Carmen Rd. There are now lots more houses mostly from 1970s and at least one is being used a a B&B. On the other side of the road there is Riccarton Park Golf Complex plus a retirement village is being built on what used to be Riccarton Racecourse land. It looks like it is going to be a huge retirement village. It is called Kevin Hickman Retirement Village.
The story of William Chisnall is interesting as he drowned in the Waimakariri River near Templar’s Island. He was only 49 years old and sadly his wife died a couple of months later. His son also William Chisnall ended up farming in Hinds. Many of the various family trees on the Ancestry website had lots of mistakes.
Lytteltonwitch's Walking the streets of Christchurch Project 