Conway Street in the suburb of Somerfield, Christchurch

Conway St in Somerfeld – Named after Conway Lucas Rose (1817-1910).Rose and his family arrived on the Midlothian in 1851. He purchased Rural Section 76, 700 acres on the “Lower Lincoln Road, Heathcote Bridge” in partnership with Frederick Spencer, 4th Earl Spencer (1798-1857). He served as a magistrate for the Province of Canterbury in 1853. He later returned to England and died in Chard, Somerset. Sewell’s journal says: Although he had more capital than most settlers, he was unenterprising, did not farm and built a large house in Manchester Street, Christchurch. Spencer’s interest in the land was passed on to his nephew, the Hon. George William Spencer Lyttelton (1847- 1913). First mentioned in The Press in 1880. First appears in street directories in 1906.

A large amount of information the library website. There is a mistake in the library information as the Conway St mentioned in 1880 isn’t this street. There was another Conway St which was in Sydenham. Not much information on Papers Past about Conway Lucas Rose.

Because this is an older street there is a huge amount of information on Papers Past but nothing before 1907. A large number of death notices. Between 1907 and 1918 most entries are about farming type of activities. Pigs, heifers, sheep, horses and hens are some of the animals mentioned. In 1918 a two acre paddock was for sale and in 1919 there were building sections available on a two acre property being divided up. In 1935 residents complained about dust and noise from council trucks taking rubbish and spoil to the pit on Lyttelton St. They wanted the trucks to use Frankleigh St as that is sealed or seal Conway St. In 1954 there were state sections available by ballot. As usual with these ballots returned servicemen have preference. One sad entry was in 1947 where a resident from this street was injured in the Ballantynes Fire.

There are 166 houses on this street and they cover every decade from 1910 to 2022. There is a surprising number of houses from 1910s and 1920s. Most are lovely wooden villas in good condition. One house from 1910 is a flat roofed house and not the normal style for that era and I was expecting it to have been built in the 1940s. The houses from 2022 do not fit in with the rest of the street.