Author Archives: lytteltonwitch

Dovedale Ave in Ilam – Named after Dovedale, a village in Derbyshire. Sarah Hodgkinson, née Mellor, (1825?-1895) was born in Dovedale. She and her husband Charles Hodgkinson (1826-1888) were employed at Ilam Hall, having been among the servants who sailed to Canterbury with the Hon. John Watts-Russell in 1858. Hodgkinson is described as a “gardener …

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Athol Terrace in Upper Riccaton – Formerly Godley Street. Named after John Robert Godley (1814-1861). Re-named Athol Terrace. Godley was a lawyer, writer, administrator, coloniser and public servant. Godley Street first appears in street directories in 1930. Re-named Athol Terrace on 1 September 1948 when 120 streets were re-named. A small amount of inform the …

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Exeter Street in Merivale – formerly part of Winchester Street. Named after Exeter in the Southwest of England. Winchester Street was formerly Princes Street and had been re-named earlier that year on 7 March 1904. Winchester Street from Andover Street to Carlton Road (later Carlton Mill Road) was re-named Exeter Street on 12 December 1904. …

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Cheltenham Street in Merivale – formerly Regent Street. Named after Cheltenham College in Gloucestershire, England. Regent Street first appears in street directories in 1890. Re-named Cheltenham Street in 1909. One of a number of streets in the area named after English public schools. A small amount of information from the library website. Papers Past didn’t …

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Desmond Street in Merivale – Desmond is a first name popular with the Helmore family. Frederic Desmond Helmore (1882?- 1934) served as a Lieutenant in the Royal Army Service Corps, Mechanical Transport Section in World War I. John Desmond Helmore (1913-1988) was the father of Desmond W. Helmore (1940-) who wrote Drawings of New Zealand …

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Helmores Lane in Merivale – formerly Helmores Road. Named after Joseph Cornish Helmore (1832- 1920). Helmore, a solicitor, arrived in Canterbury in 1862 and built his house Millbrook (now at 59 Rhodes Street) on a 50 acre block. He also constructed a road through his land which later became Harper Avenue. He built the bridge …

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Penwood Street in Russley and it wasn’t on the library website which surprised me as most houses were built in the 1960s. A small amount of information on Papers Past. It was a development by Paramount Homes and they were selling sections in 1961 and 1967. Russley School is behind this street and on the …

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Gray Way Road in Russley and the street is too new for library website. Another street in the Karamu subdivision that is a Ngai Tahu development. The street is named after a racehorse called Gray Way. Houses all built between 2019 and 2022 and again I was reminded of the Pete Seeger song Little Boxes.

Manakura Street in Russley and the street is too new for library website. Another street where real estate agents describe as being in Avonhead. Manakura means leader. The street is part of the Karamu subdivision that is a Ngai Tahu development. The houses are all built between 2019 and 2022. There are still houses being …

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Horoeka Street in Russley and the street is too new for library website. I was amused that real estate agents put the street in Avonhead. The street is in the Karamu subdivision which was a Ngai Tahu development. Horoeka is a type of lancewood. All the houses were built between 2019 and 2022 and I …

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