Shaw Avenue in the suburb of New Brighton, Christchurch

Shaw Ave in New Brighton – formerly James Street, Nelson Street and Norton Street. From Seaview Road to the Rawhiti Domain was formerly James Street. Named after James George Hawkes (b. 1832). This was renamed Nelson Street. Named after Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, (1758-1805). From Leaver Terrace to Bowhill Road was formerly Norton Street. Named after the auctioneering firm of Tonks Norton. Nelson Street and Norton Street were re-named Shaw Avenue. Named after John Andrew Hunter Shaw (1884- 1975). James Street was formed in 1890. Hawkes was an auctioneer and ironmonger. He went bankrupt in 1886. Re-named Nelson Street at a special meeting of the New Brighton Council on 12 August 1907. Harry Hawker (1868-1947), a New Brighton Borough councillor 1905-1909, had suggested that New Brighton street names be changed to the names of 18th and 19th century British sea captains. Nelson was a British admiral and naval commander. Norton Street is first mentioned in The Press in 1911 and first appears in street directories in 1924. The firm of Tonks Norton subdivided land in New Brighton in the 1880s and 1890s. The road “running through the Municipal Golf Links at New Brighton, from Norton Street to Nelson Street, was named Shaw’s Avenue” in 1932 by the New Brighton Borough Council, in honour of John Shaw, a butcher, and the mayor of New Brighton 1929-1931. The mayor at the time, E. A. M. Leaver, said Shaw “had taken a great interest in the golf links with which the road was closely connected”. His brother was the well-known professional golfer, Andrew J. “Andy” Shaw. Shaw Avenue first appears in street directories in 1934, running from Nelson Street through Rawhiti Domain. Nelson Street and Norton Street became part of Shaw Avenue in 1948.

That is a huge amount of information from the library website. There was a lot of information on Papers Past as many towns as well as other suburbs had the same street names. James St in 1904 had a shallow well sunk. Nelson St seemed to be mostly birth and death notices. In 1924 the foundation stone for a new church was laid. In 1930s and most entries seem to include Rawhiti Domain.

I walked this street in October this year and I was geocaching. I started at the Rawhiti Domain and there is also a Community Garden here. Many of the houses between the Domain and Hawke St are older houses dating from 1905 to the 1920s. Some looked like they would have been baches previously. There were a lot of baches in the New Brighton area as it was a popular seaside resort area before car travel was so easily available. The rest of the houses were mostly built in the 1970s and 1980s. Between Hawke St and Seaview Rd it is mostly shops. There is also a toilet block here with some street art. I did use the toilets here but felt rather uncomfortable because of the rather rough looking men sitting nearby.