Broomfield Terrace in Burwood – Formerly Bone’s Road. Named after the Bone family. Re-named Broomfield Terrace. The name has no significance. Bones Road first appears in street directories in 1909. Esther Mary Bone, Clara Charlotte Bone and Minnie Mary Bone are the only residents. Re-named Broomfield Terrace by the Waimairi County Council on 27 March 1935 at the request of 44 local residents. It was stated in their petition that only two persons had ever lived in the street and “while “Bones” was a good surname, it was not a happy choice for the name of a road”. [A 1929 request to change the name to Willow Ridge had been refused.]

A reasonable amount of information from the library website. The earliest mention of Bone Road that I could find in Papers Past was a brief mention in 1896. Most entries are in the 1930s when there was the petition to change the name. The petition was forwarded by J Liggins and it said that he couldn’t give a reason for why the name Broomfield was requested by the residents. Apparently out of the 44 people who signed the petition only two actually lived on the street. I couldn’t find anyone with the surname Broomfield living in the area but it was a common surname in North Canterbury where there is now a district called Broomfield. It is also a place name in the US. Several city in the UK have suburbs with this name. I searched various ancestry records for the Bone family but couldn’t find out much about them and the surname is more common than you realise. George and Charlotte Bone had a farm here and they possibly came to New Zealand in late 1874 or early 1875 on the ship called Rakaia. George and Charlotte were married in June 1860 and possibly had three children when they came out to NZ. The others were born in Christchurch. Charlotte died in 1906 but I can’t find a grave for her. I couldn’t find out when George died and there were at least two other men with that name in Christchurch. By 1919 the three daughters were living at the property by themselves and by the 1930s onwards they were living in Stanmore Rd. I can’t find cemetery records for any of them which is really strange.

This street runs from Kingsford St and this end is in the red zone. Then there is Burwood Park on one side and then a few houses until you get to Lake Terrace Rd. No houses on the other side and it is all Horseshoe Lake Reserve. There were a few houses on this side before the earthquakes but they were looking fairly rundown with flooding issues.

Alice St in the red zone in Burwood – Named after HRH Princess Alice (1843-1878). One of three streets named after Queen Victoria’s family. Princess Alice was a daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. First mentioned in The Press in 1923. First appears in street directories in 1924.

A small amount of information from the library website. Most entries on Papers Past were in the 1950s and street improvements and drainage were mentioned. There was a big hail storm in February 1956 and the market gardens in this area were badly damaged. At 11 Alice St at the property of W E Weld 7000 asters and 3000 zinnias were damaged. Until the 1950s there seemed to be only to properties on the street. There was an interesting report from a councillor in 1959 about new housing areas being a future trouble spot because of the ground conditions. The Windsor block being the worst. The land being unsuitable for subdivisions because of the ground soaking of sullage and not suitable for septic tanks. I had to google sullage and it is another word for grey water. There were many complaints about sewerage and sullage flooding gardens. The street runs from Queensbury St to Kingsford St and all houses have now been demolished.

Monarch Lane in red zone in Burwood – Developed at 115 Kingsford Street. Named in 1999. The residents on an existing right of way at 115 Kingsford Street have been experiencing problems with visitors locating their properties and mail delivery, and have requested that the Council approve a name for their right of way.

A small amount of information from the library and a council report. As this private lane ran off Kingsford St the most likely reason for the name is aviation related. The other possible reason is royalty related because of the original suburb name of Windsor. When walking along Kingsford St I almost missed this lane as there is very little evidence that there used to be houses here.

Tompkins Lane in Burwood – Named after John Tompkins (1788?-1878). Tompkins, a tinplate worker, arrived on the Clontarf in 1858. He bought Rural Section 3099, 20 acres on the Horse-shoe Lagoon. In the 1873-1874 electoral roll his name is spelt Thompkins. Developed by Thornton Estates (2002) Ltd and formed at 148 Broomfield Terrace. Named in 2003.

A small amount of information from the library website. There are three houses dating from 1965 here plus one dating from 1950 and the rest are from 2000 onwards. My best guess is that the older houses are the original ones and were left standing when the street was developed. I searched Papers Past and ancestry website for the Tompkins/ Thompkins family. Both spellings were used for the family and I was amused to see that they had two entries in the electoral roll in 1865 under the two different spellings. The shipping records use the Thompkins name but the gravestones have the Tompkins spelling. John came out in 1859 on the Contarf with his wife Elizabeth and they were both in their 70s. They were married in Bristol in 1815 and they both died in Christchurch in1878 aged 90 and 92. Their son James was already in Christchurch and he came out in 1856 on the ship Joseph Fletcher along with his wife Emma and three children. Both John and James owned the land at Horseshoe Lake but both lived in the city on Lichfield St and Colombo St. The son James died in 1872 in his 50s. It took a bit of searching and many of the family trees on the ancestry website were so wrong. Most muddled up John and his son James. Had the wrong information about the marriages and also managed to have them living in England after they had come out to New Zealand. This information is so simple to check. A lot of information for a tiny street.

Strathmore Gardens in Burwood – Named after the earldom of Strathmore and Kinghorne. Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (1900-2002) was the daughter of Claude George Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne (1855- 1944). A development behind Burwood Home and the Kingslea Resource Centre. Formed post-1997.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website and nothing that I can add about the name of the street. It runs off Broomfield Tce and the entrance to the street has several stone lions. There are 15 houses here and they were all built in 2000. The houses are huge with a few different styles and the gardens are immaculate. Probably a pleasant street to live in but not my style. My usual complaint of the footpath being on only one side of the street.

Irene Street in red zone in Burwood – Named after Irene Goodman (1945?-).Irene Goodman was a daughter of Leonard Goodman (1912-1956) who owned a market garden in Queensbury Street. Named in 1956.

A small amount of information from the library website. I couldn’t find out any information about Irene Goodman but suspect that she is still alive. Leonard Goodman known as Len lived at 183 Queensbury St and he was born in 1912 but died young at the age of 44 in October 1956. His wife was Velia nee Reaby. This street was on the list of new streets in 1956. There were several ads in June 1956 for 9 building sections with 5 on Irene St and the rest on Goodman St. The sections were being sold on behalf of Leonard Goodman. I was amused by the working in the ads as the sections were described as being in the healthiest spot in Christchurch. Cultivated market garden land and the best soil in Canterbury. The level of the sections high and dry. This area was still being called Windsor in 1960. The houses have now all been demolished and the land suffered from liquefaction.

Jean Batten Place in the red zone in Burwood – Named after Jean Gardner Batten (1909-1982). Jean Batten was a famed New Zealand pioneer aviatrix. Named in 1978 to continue the aviation theme of street names in the area. First appears in street directories in 1981.Information on date of naming in a letter sent to the City Librarian from the Town Clerk dated 19 April 1978.

A small amount of information from the library website and I don’t think that I need to explain who Jean Batten was. This was another street that looked like it was badly affected by liquefaction and street view from 2012 is very interesting for these streets. Looks like there were about 20 houses here and they have obviously now been demolished. Most the houses looked like they were typical for the era of 1970s and 1980s.

Ching Gardens in the red zone in Burwood- Named after Alec Ching and his family. The nine-house subdivision off 98 Kingsford Street is part of a market-garden that had been owned by Mr Ching from 1945 when he moved to Christchurch from the North Island. Mr Ching married in 1958 and brought up two daughters in the original homestead. Named in 2003.

A small amount of information from the library website and it would have been nice if they had bothered to spell his name correctly. Alick Ching did live at 98 Kingsford St and he died in July 1999. His wife Annie died in 2004 and they are both buried at Bromley. I couldn’t find a family tree for him on the ancestry website. I am assuming that the property was subdivided after his death. The street was a private lane and didn’t have any footpaths. Obviously all houses have now been demolished.

Reaby Street in the Red Zone in Burwwod – Named after William Edgar “Bill” Reaby (1868-1950). Reaby was a market gardener and the father-in-law of Leonard Goodman (1912-1956), who also subdivided his market garden in Queensbury Street. The name of Reaby Road was suggested by Councillor Liggins at a meeting of the Waimairi County Council on 26 October 1932. Reaby Street was named formally on 8 February 1933. First appears in street directories in 1955.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website. I couldn’t find out much information about William Reaby and I checked Papers Past and the ancestry website. He was born in Thanet in Kent but some sources say he was born in Margate. He lived at 154 New Brighton Rd and his son Herbert who was also a market gardener lived at 193 New Brighton Rd. Most the entries on Papers Past are from the 1950s with a couple dated 1961. William died in 1950 and sections were available in the early 1950s so I am assuming that the property was subdivided after his death. There was a surveyor’s report from 1953 which states for the land to be subdivided and to be suitable for housing that it needed to be raised by nearly 4 foot. In 1961 a business called Joinery Services Ltd wanted to change the zoning from residential to industrial so that they could build a factory. It looked like there were about 21 houses here and it looked like a pleasant street with a couple of really interesting houses. Street view from 2012 shows a street with a lot of liquefaction. The google car obviously couldn’t drive the full length of the street because of the state of the street and street view suddenly changes from 2012 to 2007. Real estate ads made much of the reserve being at the end of the street but it was this end that had the most damage. It actually looked like it would have been a nice street to live on but it is now a waste land.

Ulm Place in the Red Zone of Burwood – Named after Charles Thomas Philippe Ulm (1897-1934). Ulm was an Australian aviator who helped pioneer flying in Australia. During the late 1920s he flew with fellow Australian, Sir Charles Kingsford Smith. Continues the aviation theme of street names in the area. Named on 21 February 1962. First appears in street directories in 1964. Information on date of naming in a letter sent to the City Librarian from the Town Clerk dated 26 February 1962.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website. Not sure why a suburb that is a long way from the airport or Wigram has aviation themed street names. This street ran off Goodman St and looks like it had about 12 houses on it. At the end of the street there was a walkway through to New Brighton Rd. In the street view from 2012 the houses that were still standing didn’t look too bad from the outside. The houses have now obviously all been demolished. Charles Ulm sounds like an interesting but possibly arrogant person. Huge number of entries about him in Papers Past. As well as flying with Kingsford-Smith he helped to set up Australian National Airway with him. After this airline failed he set up his own airline and is credited with delivering the first official airmail from New Zealand to Australia. He was born in 1898 in Melbourne and died in December 1934 aged 36 when his plane ditched into the sea. They were lost and running out of fuel. There was no life raft on board as he didn’t think that he needed it as his belief was that the plane would float.