Glenarm Terrace in the suburb of Dallington, Christchurch

Glenarm Tce in Dallington – formerly Landsdowne Terrace. Named after the Glenarm Kennels which, in turn, were named after Glenarm Castle, the ancestral home of the Earls of Antrim in Northern Ireland. Landsdowne Terrace is first mentioned in The Press in 1892 when land for sale there is advertised. First appears in street directories in 1903. Re-named Glenarm Terrace in June 1948 when 24 streets in the Waimairi County were re-named. Hiram Hunter (1874-1966), a labourer, teamster, trade unionist and local politician, bred dogs at the Glenarm Kennels. They were on his land on the eastern side of, and towards, the river end of Gayhurst Road.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website. Researching this street was frustrating as information on Papers Past was limited. As Landsdowne Tce there was a subdivision in 1892. There was at least one large property on the corner of Landsdowne Tce and Gayhurst Rd which had an orchard and grew vegetables including asparagus. It is possibly the same property called Groveley which was owned by William Andrews. William Andrews subdivided part of his property in 1912 and after his death in 1927 the property was sold and subdivided. William Andrews was one of the first engineers in New Zealand and he started the company Andrews and Beaven. Between 1920s and 1940s dairy cows and pigs are mentioned occasionally. In 1933 there were charges laid against three Chinese for smoking opium. I couldn’t find any mention of Glenarm Kennels. Edited as I have now found mention of Glenarm Kennels but only after the 1949 and the address for the kennels was 42 Gayhurst Rd which was Hiram Hunter address. There was a huge amount of information about Hiram Hunter on Papers Past. I did find two properties called Glenarm but one was in Sumner and the other was in Upper Riccarton. In the 1950s and 1960s on Glenarm Tce there was a property called Boxer Lodge and that person bred boxers. It wasn’t Hiram Hunter. In 1950 an old house was removed so that work on the riverbank could be done.

I actually walked this street nearly three weeks ago when I was geocaching in the area. There are no longer any houses here as it is in the red zone. There is a new bridge over the river at the end of the street. There is a sign in front of what used to be someone’s garden saying that 5 generations of the Nankivell and Ozanne families lived on the street. I checked electoral rolls and couldn’t find anyone with the surname Nankivell living on this street but they were on Breezes Rd and Gayhurst Rd. I did find a Florence Ozanne living here. It was probably a pleasant street before the earthquakes.