Thorpe Street in Sumner – formerly Sam Street and Harper Street. Named after Archdeacon Richard Joshua Thorpe (1838- 1920) Sam Street is first mentioned in The Press in 1896. First appears in street directories in 1925. Re-named Harper Street in 1933. Re-named Thorpe Street on 1 September 1948 when 120 streets were re-named. Thorpe was the vicar of Sumner 1902-1912.
A small amount of information from the library website. Not much information on Papers Past. The entry in 1896 said that a house was being erected on the corner of Sam Street and Colenso Street and it was being built for a Lyttelton gentleman who was coming to Sumner to live. In 1922 the footpaths and road were formed and in 1930 the road was metalled. In 1924 there was an application for gas and electricity to be installed. In 1931 it was proposed that the street be renamed Harper Street and it was renamed in 1933.
Most entries for Harper Street were for streets of the same name in Sydenham and Timaru. There were a few ads and death notices.
Not many entries under Thorpe Street and apart from a few ads it was mostly death notices.
There are only seven houses on this street and two of them were built in 1910 and another in 1920. The others were 1950 to 1970.
I didn’t manage a photo of the older houses and I actually walked this street in September last year. I hadn’t even transferred the only photo that I had taken from my phone to my laptop. I vaguely recall that I had been checking on a geocache that I have hidden in the Sumner area as someone couldn’t find it.
Lytteltonwitch's Walking the streets of Christchurch Project 