Shearer Ave in Papanui – Named after John “Jack” Shearer (1886-1977). Jack Shearer and his three sons built houses all over Papanui. He moved to Auckland in 1965. First appears in street directories in 1960.
A small amount of information from the library website. I spent far too long on research on Papers Past, Ancestry website and cemetery databases. The best information came from entries for John and Lily’s Diamond Wedding celebration in 1971. John was born in Ashburton and moved to Christchurch in 1922. Went into building business with his two brothers. Retired in 1946. One entry said that their current address was 4 Shearer Ave but the other entry said that they lived in Auckland with their daughter. All family trees on Ancestry website gave John’s death as being in July 1977 in Christchurch but they didn’t provide any proof and I couldn’t find any records for his death. Lily died in NSW in 1985 and going by the gravestone John isn’t buried with her. Their son Kenneth John Shearer was responsible for the building of the houses on this street going by the ads for the sale of sections in 1956. He also lived at 4 Shearer Ave. Most houses were built in 1950s and 1960s but there is four apartment style built this year and going by a sign on a fence another study well built house will be knocked down and replaced with four modern places. It is a property developer whose houses I wouldn’t touch with a barge pole. I had to google the word sullage as in 1961 this was an issue. It is another word for waste water. The saddest story from this street was a young 17 year old who lived on this street died on Caroline Face, Mt Cook and they had trouble retrieving the body because of weather conditions. None of the houses stood out for me and were typical of the 1950s and 1960s era. At the end of the street is a park with a playground and I was geocaching in the area. Do be careful if using the park as there are some dodgy characters who use the area.
Lytteltonwitch's Walking the streets of Christchurch Project 