Holliss Avenue in the suburb of Cashmere, Christchurch

Holliss Ave in Cashmere – Named after John “Jack” Chell Holliss (1900- 1968) Hollis was an architect in partnership with P. Leonard in the firm of Holliss & Leonard. He was a member of the Heathcote Borough Council, serving as chairman 1961-1964. He designed large Christchurch buildings: the port buildings at both Christchurch and Lyttelton, the steamer express building terminal at Lyttelton and the Amuri Motors parking building. First appears in street directories in 1964.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website. The unusual middle name of Chell is his grandmother’s maiden name. His obituary said that he was a well known architect and born in Lyttelton. There was a Holliss family that lived not far from where I grew up in Lyttelton so I had a good look on the ancestry website. Jack Holliss and Barry Holliss shared a great grandfather.

Most entries on Papers Past were about the community centre and Holliss Reserve. In 1962 there were 2 acres allotted for a reserve and a football ground. There was a letter to the editor in 1968 from a resident who was complaining about the proposed lido pool. He said that only the Huntsbury Hill people who want the pool so it should be built in their area and not in Cashmere. He doesn’t want his property devalued by the pool as he lives in a good value area and there is enough problems with the skating rink.

In 1971 there are plans for a reserve in what is now a cow paddock. In 1972 the playcentre building was approved. Several more entries and the councilors were still arguing about it in 1979.

Most houses were built between 1960s and 1990s. A variety of house styles and one really stood out. It looked like a recent build and didn’t look like a house. The street wasn’t as steep as I was expecting but I did come across from Holliss Track. I was slightly puzzled at the top of the street as there is a sign saying Palmer Road but there isn’t another road. There is part of the street that doesn’t seem to have any houses but there are lots of brambles and it will be a good crop of blackberries unless they get sprayed in the meantime. One of the houses near the top was offering free fruit.