Madras Street in the Central City, Christchurch

Madras Street in the Central City – Named after the colonial Anglican bishopric of Madras in India. One of the original streets of Christchurch named in 1850 by Captain Joseph Thomas (b. 1803?) and Edward Jollie (1825-1894). The names were taken from bishoprics listed in Burke’s Peerage. First mentioned in The Lyttelton Times in 1851. Madras Street, from North Belt (later Bealey Avenue) to Edgeware Road, became a public road in 1882 on subdivision by the Church Property Trustees of the Anglican Church, which owned much of the property in the area.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website and I found the 1851 ad in Papers Past.

I actually walked this street in May 2021 and I thought that I had already written it up. I was checking photos that I had transferred from my old laptop and then checked my Facebook and blog and realised that I had missed this street. I have a feeling that at the end of the walk that I popped into my son’s house and got him to drive me home as it was a very long walk or I walked home via Barbadoes St.

So many entries on Papers Past and most were ads. Seems to have been a street that has always had lots of businesses on it as not as many death notices as I would have expected. Most of the personal information about people was for the Sydenham end of the street. This part of the street became Gasson St in 1948. I did look at old maps but know can’t remember when Madras St was extended beyond Bealey Ave. In 1876 there were 80 sections in the area which included Madras St were made available by W Wilson. Note the land where the sections were was probably for sale as W Wilson was having a few issues like fraud and bankruptcy plus assault charges.

Some of the businesses were coal merchants, timber merchants, greengrocers and hotels. In 1902 a wooden building which housed a gymnasium was destroyed by fire along with Girton College plus houses either side were damaged. The fire brigade were blamed for being too slow. The gymnasium was in a building that was originally built by Worthington as a social hall for the Temple of Truth. Girton College was also erected by students of truth as a kindergarten. Over the decades St John’s Church and hall is frequently mentioned. The Salvation Army had a hall here as early as 1885. The Technical Institute was frequently mentioned and it is still there and I think it is now known as Te Ara Polytechnic. In the 1970s the YMCA building is mentioned and I remember this building but obviously demolished after the earthquakes.

When I walked the street I started at Moorhouse Ave end where the Polytechnic is and there are too many businesses for me to remember the names. There is a car park this end as well. There is a lot of empty land and near Latimer Square there is the CTV Memorial Garden. A few things that stood out were the clock tower and the fire fighters memorial near the bridge. As you walk closer to Bealey Ave and past Bealey Ave there are a huge number of apartments. Many of these were still being built when I actually walked the street. Most of these apartments were built between 1990 and 2022. Still some older houses dating back to 1910 and 1920s but most are looking very sad. I remember an interesting looking building on the corner of Madras St and Aberdeen St but when I checked google maps it seems to have gone. Just before you get to St Albans Park there is a huge empty section of land and it has been there for ages.