Mafeking Street in New Brighton – Named after Mafeking, a South African town. The siege of Mafeking was the most important British action in the Second Boer War, 11 October 1899-31 May 1902. In 1907 the Tramway Board was prepared “to dedicate whatever land was necessary to form Mafeking Street”. First appears in street directories in 1911.
A small amount of information from the library website. Not much information on Papers Past. Most entries between 1903 and 1910 were about the road being formed. In 1903 it sounds like there were only three owners and two of them agreed to pay the costs of forming the kerbs and channelling but the other one refused to pay costs. It was still a private street at this stage. One of the property owners agreed to pay his share of forming the street but not for the kerbs and channelling as the street was likely to need rewidening at some stage. The tramway board also owned land here and they refused to give land for widening the street. In 1914 the New Brighton Bowling Club proposed that they purchase a section at the end of the street. Most entries after this date mention the bowling club. There were a few death notices. In March 1925 there was an ad asking for kind parents to adopt a baby girl. In 1934 the residents protested about a proposal to change the name of the street and obviously the street’s name didn’t get changed. Until 2024 there were three car parks at the corner of this street and Beresford Street. Now there are several units that were built in 2025 under a progressive ownership scheme called Kainga Maha.
I walked this street a couple of weeks ago as I was early for a geocaching event being held nearby. There are about 4 houses built between 1915 and 1922 but it wasn’t possible to get photos of them. The bowling club is still there. I wouldn’t like to live here as the parking was terrible. Cars were parked over fire hydrants and on the footpath.
Lytteltonwitch's Walking the streets of Christchurch Project 