Colenso Street in the suburb of Sumner, Christchurch

Colenso Street in Sumner – Named after William Colenso (1816?-1899). Colenso was a missionary, explorer and the printer of the first book ever produced in New Zealand. Part of the Johnstoneville subdivision. A cottage is advertised for let in Colenso Street in the Star in 1884. First mentioned in the Star in 1885 in a report of a meeting of the Sumner Town Board. First appears in street directories in 1911

A small amount of information from the library website. There are several entries online for William Colenso including a Wikipedia page. The first entry for this street on Papers Past was the ad in 1884 for the cottage for let on this street. In 1885 there was a villa and a cottage for sale. In 1890 there were sections for sale plus the street to be formed. In 1892 Mr Wiggins school was mentioned. In 1901 drainage system and septic tanks mentioned and in 1910 sewage was mentioned. Also in 1910 the state of the bridge over the creek was a concern. The street was metalled in 1913. The stormwater drains were completed in 1918. There was a quarry at the end of the street owned by Mr Stemmer. In 1927 it was decided to build a district high school on the street and land was purchased. The school was completed by December 1928. Between 1951 and 1968 flooding in the street was frequently mentioned and at high tide waves would surge up as far as this street. In 1947 it was reported that a resident of this street was missing in the Ballantynes fire but she was found alive. In 1952 the bus route to start going down this street. Apart from a few birth notices and lots of death notices the rest of the entries were about the schools on this street. The Sumner School had it’s 75th anniversary in 1951 and the original school opened with 8 boys and 11 girls. The secondary school was built but taken over by the military in World War Two. There was a second school on this street called Star of the Sea School that opened in 1928.

The houses on this street date between 1910 and 2024. There are 22 houses on this street that date between 1910 and 1920 and at least 2 or 3 of my photos are of houses from 1910. I didn’t get any photos from the end of the street where the schools are and if I am remembering correctly there were lots of children in the grounds of the school and on the footpaths. I actually walked this street in September last year and I hadn’t realised that I am that far behind in researching and writing up my street project.