Chapmans Road in the suburbs of Woolston and Hillsborough, Christchurch

Chapmans Road in Woolston and Hillsborough – Named after William Chapman (1853-1924). Chapman, a farmer of Opawa, built an accommodation house there. He lived at 55 Opawa Road. He married Sarah Elizabeth, the only daughter of Joseph Garland (1812-1862), a farmer of Heathcote Farm. First appears in street directories in 1901.

A small amount of information from the library website. There were several men with the name William Chapman and two of them had wives called Sarah and two died in 1924. William Chapman also had a son called William but as the son had the middle name of Garland it was easy to figure him out. The family trees on the Ancestry website weren’t helpful but I was able to work it out with death and marriage records. William died in 1924 aged 71 and sadly his wife Sarah died in 1880 in childbirth. This child died in 1882 and she is buried with her mother.

Information from Papers Past has the council planning on a footpath in 1902 and they were still talking about creating this footpath in 1920. In 1902 land owned by J E Garland was for sale and it was described as being suitable for subdivision. J E Garland also had land for sale in 1914. In 1917 the council couldn’t find any record that the council was responsible for maintaining the street. There were a few death notices and there only seemed to be about 6 families who lived here. From 1940s onwards the street was getting more and more industries on it. Brightlings Transport had their business on this street. There was probably only one family still living here in the 1960s. In 1959 some of the land was zoned industrial with the option of more land being rezoned industrial. This was dependent on what happened when the new road tunnel was eventually opened.

This street is now fully industrial and there was a footpath on only part of the street. I wouldn’t attempt to walk this street on a weekday because of the trucks that use the street. The street is partially blocked at the Cumnor Tce end of the street and there is also an entrance to a walkway / cycleway.