Owens Tce in Upper Riccarton – Formerly Curletts Terrace. Named because it runs off Curletts Road. Re-named Owens Terrace. Named after John Owens (1833?-1930)Curletts Terrace first appears in street directories in 1936. Re-named Owens Terrace on 8 June 1948. Owens settled in Upper Riccarton about 1872. His wife recalled in his obituary that at that time there were only two houses between their own and Cathedral Square. They lived in Curletts Road. Owens worked for the Paparua Council until 1928. Date of re-naming supplied in 2007 by Bob Pritchard, subdivisions officer, Christchurch City Council.
A reasonable of information from the library website. John Owens was 97 years old in 1930 when he died and he had only retired 2 years earlier going by his obituary on Papers Past. He was originally from Tipperary, Ireland. It might have been renamed Owens Tce in 1948 but for some reason after that date both Owens Tce and Owens St were used and in 1969 the street was changed from Owens St to Owens Tce. A bit confusing. In 1950 there were crown sections available with preference for servicemen. A few death notices including John Owens’s son William who died in 1949. I also found a death notice for an uncle of the ex-husband.
Most houses were built between 1950s and 1990s but there was one house from 1915 and two from 1920. I quite liked the street.
Lytteltonwitch's Walking the streets of Christchurch Project 