Grange Street in the suburb of Hillsborough, Christchurch

Grange Street in Hillsborough – Named after The Grange, the home of Dr James William Earle (1805-1878). Earle emigrated on the Randolph in 1850. He bought Rural Section 44, 50 acres, “Christchurch District, near Hills Road” (later Port Hills Road). He practised medicine in Lyttelton, later moving to Opawa where he built The Grange. Edward Steane Harley (1840?-1901), an accountant and a well-known cricketer, owned The Grange later. First appears in street directories in 1901. The northern section of Kennedy Crescent was incorporated into Grange Street in 1963; the southern section remained as Kennedy Crescent. [Jarden Place was originally suggested as a name for the northern section.]

A reasonable amount of information from the library website. I covered Dr Earle fully in my write up of Earl St. Edward Harley was accountant for many businesses in Christchurch and was involved with St Marks Church in Opawa.

When Dr Earle first owned The Grange it was known as Grange Farm as Dr Earle mostly farmed rather than practice as a doctor. There were so many different houses in Canterbury known as The Grange that I gave researching. I googled the meaning of grange and it means a country house with farm buildings. A reasonable amount of information on Papers Past including lots of death notices. In 1900 there was a new house in Grange St opposite Baunton’s Stables. Lots of ads between 1900 and 1905 for the sale of sections. Cooksley’s brickyard on Grange St is mentioned occasionally. Apart from ads and death notices there isn’t much on Papers Past until 1957 when the sewage works were upsetting the locals. In 1963 the Old Brewery at 10 Grange St went up in flames. It sounded more like a private home brewery rather than a big company. In 1988 Dingwall Food is mentioned and this business would have been at the far end of the street on the other side of Opawa Rd.

I actually walked this street a few weeks ago. Most houses seem to have been built between 1940 and 1970 but there are a few older houses. There are also a few modern houses. A real mixture of houses and I liked most of them. The older houses were in reasonable condition and I liked the Art Deco houses. I had friends who used to live on this street but I couldn’t figure out where their house used to be. I eventually figured that it had been altered so much that I didn’t recognise it. When you cross Opawa Rd the first thing you notice apart from a business is the Jurassic Mini Golf. It is a bit hard to miss giant dinosaurs.