Petrie Street in the suburb of Richmond, Christchurch

Petrie Street in Richmond – formerly Leith Street. Named after George Petrie (1853-1912). Leith Street was dedicated in 1909 and is first mentioned in The Press in 1912 when land in North Richmond is advertised for sale by the church property trustees. First appears in street directories in 1912. Re-named Petrie Street in 1918. There is a Leith Street in Sydenham. Petrie was a landowner and well-known builder of North Avon Road. He also served on the Richmond school committee for some years.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website. Not much information on Papers Past for Leith Street apart from a few ads and ballot information. The ballots were when men were called up to go to war during World War I. That Thomas Cecil Cave popped up again as he lived on this street and I don’t believe that he is related. It is a fairly common surname overseas.

The street’s name was changed because there was also a Leith Street in Sydenham. There were at least three men with the name George Petrie. One was the headmaster at Opawa School. Another one sadly drowned in the Rakaia River and he was just a teenager from Southbridge. The George Petrie who gave his name to this street also drowned. He had been working in Amberley supervising a job out there. He had been missing a week before his body was found in a waterhole. He lived at 41 North Avon Rd with his wife Isabella and son George Junior.

In 1930 the sewers were laid and in 1935 the street was tar sealed. The surname of McFadden was mentioned as they lived on this street. The Petrie Reserve is mentioned in 1930 as relief workers were doing work here. It was mentioned again in 1933 as relief workers were allowed to grow vegetables here. In 1941 the new Bowling Green is opened and in 1958 the Women’s Bowling is opened. In 1948 the Petrie Reserve is given the official name of Petrie Park. The playground is still at the park but the bowling green didn’t survive the earthquakes.

In 1953 a TAB was opened and there were letters of complaints to the editor. There were a a couple of businesses in the street and one was a garage and the other was a panel repair and paint shop. The panel repair business was destroyed in a fire in 1985.

The houses that backed onto the school property frequently got balls accidently kicked into their backyards. Most people accepted this and just threw them back into the school grounds but one man flatly refused to do this and the headmaster had to intervene.

Lots of death notices over the years plus a few birth notices. In the earlier years there were social notes including engagement notices. Several car accidents over the years especially near the Shirley Rd intersection. The Columba Presbyterian Church was frequently mentioned but I didn’t recall seeing a church. It was on the corner by Randall Street and I looked at street view and it was demolished after the earthquakes.

I walked this street over a week ago and I parked up beside Petrie Park as my aim was to see the house that was filmed in Moving Houses. The best view of the house is from Petrie Park and there is a notice about the demolished bowling green. When I was showing my photos to my son I got caught out by one of his jokes. I said that the best view is from Petrie Park and he said dish to me. It took me a moment and I am not usually so slow.

I then walked a few streets before getting to North Avon Rd. Petrie Street at this end has an entrance for Delta Community Support Trust car park and I was forced onto the road because of the cars blocking the footpath. No I wasn’t happy. There are lots of lovely older houses on this street with many of them dating from 1910s and 1920s. There are a few more modern houses but they weren’t too ugly. By Dudley Creek there is a walkway that takes you to Stapletons Road. There is a lovely house nearby. When I checked street view there wasn’t a walkway here but two or three houses here. Because the creek ran over those houses it is probably why they didn’t survive the earthquakes. I walk past the park and by car and continue to walk to Shirley Road. Still some lovely older houses and the bright yellow one was built in 1930 as a wee cottage. It was a pleasant tree lined street.