Glovers Road in the suburb of Halswell, Christchurch

Glovers Rd in Halswell – Named after Hawley William Glover (1836?- 1910). Glover was a farmer of Halswell. Glover’s Road is first mentioned in The Press in 1877.

A tiny amount of information from the library website. Papers Past didn’t have as many entries as I expected. First mention was in 1877 about reforming the road. In 1931 a William Rogers Jackson who owned a farm of 52 acres was declared bankrupt. In 1954 there was a death notice for Walter Streeter. Note Thomas Kennedy was married to Sophia Streeter. Mr R Caesar had a farm on the corner of the street near Halswell Rd. In 1957 there were sections for sale plus a big section was for sale in 1975. In 1982 the farmlet belonging to E J Adams was for sale. In 1974 there was an application for a subdivision by Charles MacKay Usher.

Hawley Glover came to New Zealand in 1860 in the ship Clontarf and in 1861 he married Fanny Craythorn. They possibly had three children but in 1865 Hawley Glover put out ads to say that he isn’t responsible for debts contracted in his name by his wife. The story with his wife got very interesting as she was convicted of bigamy in 1868 as she married Robert Gibbs while still married to Hawley Glover. In between marrying Hawley Glover and Robert Gibbs she had a child to Henry Gordon. Henry Gordon died in 1866 and she claimed to be Henry Gordon’s widow. She had a daughter in 1868 and the entry on Papers Past said that it was the first birth in Wellington Goal.

At this stage there are only 34 houses here but there are many sections for sale. The houses cover all decades between 1950 and 2023. It was interesting walking this road to see all the changes. I have frequently driven along this road when going to Kennedys Bush for walking or geocaching. The houses used to be only on one side of the road while the other side had at least two farms plus a cattery called St Claws. I have watched them cutting down the trees and for a while recently it was difficult to drove down the road as they were building a roundabout because of the new subdivision. I hate trees being cut down.