Rhodes Street in Merivale – Named after Arthur Edgar Gravenor Rhodes (1859- 1922). Rhodes was a lawyer, politician and property investor. He also built Te Koraha, now the nucleus of Rangi Ruru School. Rhodes Street is first mentioned in the Star in an advertisement in 1906. First appears in street directories in 1909. Rhodes is a resident.
A small amount of information from the library website. There was a huge amount of information on Papers Past and there was also Rhodes Streets in Timaru and Waimate. Arthur Rhodes was born in Timaru but settled in Christchurch. The other streets are named after the same family.
Between 1918 and 1920 many entries were about the road being the most dangerous thoroughfare in Christchurch because of the sharp bend. Many accidents including two trams colliding. By 1920 it was decided to widen the road and Mr Rhodes gave land from the front of his property for the widening.
In 1916 the Rhodes Street Home was opened and it was also known as the Presbyterian Home for Boys. The house that the orphanage moved into was called Te Kiteroa and was the residence of the late J C Wilkin. Mr Wilkin had been the manager of the Lyttelton Times. There is also a house in Waimate with the same name which sadly was badly damaged by fire this year. By 1924 the orphanage was a Girls Home.
In 1923 Te Koraha the home of the late Mr A E G Rhodes was for sale. The ad for the sale of the house made a big deal of being the only private house in the Dominion to have been occupied by King George and Queen Mary during their trip in 1901. They were the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York at that stage. It was MR A E G Rhodes’s son Tahu Rhodes selling the property. Rangi Ruru School moved into this property in 1923. Rangi Ruru School was started by the Gibson family in 1889 and run by Helen and Ethel Gibson who were born in Lyttelton to a Captain Gibson. The school outgrew the premises on Webb St which is why the move to Rhodes St. The Presbyterian Church purchased the school in 1946.
I am going to have to go back to this street to take a photo of the lime tree that it is on the street. It was apparently planted in honour of the Duke and Duchess when they visited New Zealand in 1901. Some people in letters to the editor said the the Duke and Duchess planted the tree and it should have a plaque. The editor replied to say that they didn’t plant the tree.
During the 1930s and 1940s there were many entries about the Rhodes Street Reserve and arguments about the council planning on selling the reserve. Rangi Ruru were going to buy the reserve but it stayed public for many years.
Arthur E G Rhodes died in December 1922 and his wife Rose died 10 years later in 1932. She was in London staying with her son when she fell 60 feet to her death from his Chelsea apartment. The inquest couldn’t decide if the death was an accident or suicide but it was hinted that it was probably suicide.
Most houses were built in 1990s and 2000s but one is from 1890 and I did like that house. The house that intrigued me the most was built in 1934 and the architect was Heathcote Helmore. The house was built for a widow and she wanted it to be flats. She lived in one flat and rented the others out to other widows. The house was damaged in the earthquakes but the new owners decided to restore it and it is now two flats. The house has always been called St Ives. The street obviously still has the school here and I believe that it is the boarding house part of the school on this street. The street runs from Helmore Lane and is split in half by Rossall St and it then comes to a dead end at Carlton Mill Rd end.
Lytteltonwitch's Walking the streets of Christchurch Project 