Bowen St in Upper Riccarton- Named after Charles Christopher Bowen (1830-1917). Bowen was an administrator, politician, poet, magistrate and educationalist. His home was Middleton Grange, in Riccarton. One of the five residential streets containing mainly workers’ cottages making up the area known as Peerswick. First mentioned in The Press in 1882 in a report of a meeting of the Riccarton Road Board when a number of residents of the Peerswick Tavern asked the Board to form Bowen Street so the adjoining properties would have better drainage. First appears in street directories in 1903.
A reasonable amount of information from the library website and that I can add about the name. I found the same article on Papers Past about forming the street. The rest of the entries were about Bowen St in Sydenham. In 1903 Peerswick Villa was mentioned. Lots of death notices. In 1964 pensioner flats to be built and 56 units planned. Most houses here were built between 1060 and 1990s with most built in 1970s. Still 3 older cottages from 1910 and 1920 but I couldn’t get a photo of them. None of the houses stood out for me but there were some nice gardens. A friend told me that it is very convenient because of the Mall and the buses.
Lytteltonwitch's Walking the streets of Christchurch Project 