Hassals Lane in Waltham – Named after Thomas Maberly Hassal (1834- 1879). Hassal lived at The Oaks in Opawa. First appears in street directories in 1892.A small amount of information from the library website and this street is now considered to be in Waltham rather than Opawa. Very little information on Papers Past. A couple of ads for someone selling a car and someone looking for a servant. It sounds like the house The Oaks was demolished in early 1960s and probably was between York St and Ensors Rd. In June 1961 there was a letter to the editor from N E Avery pointing out the mistakes in the report about the demolition. I couldn’t find this report but it must have claimed that Joseph Martin Heywood owned the house. N E Avery’s mother was born in the house and was the third child of Thomas Hassal. After Thomas Hassal died the trustee of the estate was Joseph Heywood on behalf of the Hassal family. This was very common especially if the person who inherited property was a woman. Thomas died in October 1879 of rheumatic fever and he was only 45 years of age. His widow would have been young with a young family which is why a trustee would have been appointed. The letter also said that Thomas Hassal purchased the house from a French family. The previous owner was a member of the Le Fleming family who were from England and one of those came over with William the Conqueror families. The house was let in 1880 and then again in 1900 on a long term lease. Frank Egan leased the house from 1901 but I am not sure who owned the house by this stage as Allan McLean seemed to eventually have a connection to the house. I walked this street on either Friday or Saturday. Just checked photos and I walked it on Friday. That is the trouble when you walk a lot of streets in the same area over a two day period. The street runs from Wilsons Rd to just past York St. Going by google maps there is a walkway that takes you all the way to Ensors Rd but this has been blocked off. Not many houses on this street with a couple from each decade of 1960, 1970 and 1980. A couple of ugly ones from 2015. The place that I liked wasn’t because of the house but because of the garden. The artwork in the garden was fantastic and I had a lovely chat with the owner. At the end of the street where I came to a dead end because of the walkway being closed off there was a sign saying Seven Oaks School. Slightly confusing as this school is out in Halswell. Apparently the school leased the property until the school in Halswell was built. There is another school on the property called Te Kura Kaupapa Maori O Waitaha but I couldn’t tell if it is open or still being renovated. On the same grounds there is supposed to be a Free Theatre but I thought this group were in the Art Centre. The Free Theatre called themselves Waldheim at Seven Oaks and their website said that Waldheim is the Germanic version of Waltham and means home in the woods. When I googled Waltham it only gave me some place in the US and gave the same meaning that the Free Theatre had on their website. The UK Waltham is in Lincolnshire and is much older than the one in the US. Waltham in the UK said that Waltham is an Anglo Saxon word and Walt means woodland and ham means village. They also gave an alternative origin of the word and is possibly from the old English word of Wealdhant. It was an interesting street even if the houses didn’t do much for me.

Korimako Lane, Karoro Lane and Hoiho Lane and these lanes are too new to be on the library website. They are probably private lanes as well but the signs didn’t say this. There are 90 houses here built by Otautahi Community Housing Trust and Brougham Village used to be here. The housing complex was only opened at the beginning of this year. The residents have access to ebikes and electric cars. Korimako is our bellbird. Hoiho is the yellow eyed penguin and Karoro is the black backed gull. The complex is built in a block bounded by Brougham St, Burlington St, Hastings St and Waltham Rd. The units actually look OK but I didn’t actually walk these lanes for safety reasons. There was a murder here in April plus recent assaults so I erred on the side of caution.

Goldsmith Place in Waltham -Oliver Goldsmith Street and Goldsmith Street. Named after Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774). Goldsmith was the author of The Vicar Of Wakefield. One of the “poets and writers” streets of Sydenham, Addington and Waltham named by a committee of the Sydenham Borough Council on 19 January 1880. First appears in street directories as Oliver Goldsmith Street in 1887. Becomes Goldsmith Street in 1892 and Goldsmith Place in 1983 when the Brougham Street Expressway was put through. A small amount of information from the library website. What a boring street as there was practically nothing on Papers Past apart from death notices. No complaints or drainage issues. The street used to be longer but got cut in half by the motorway. I walked this street on Friday and went through the tiny walkway from Brougham St. The oldest house is dated from 1880 but it is just a square box. I never thought that I would ever say this but the most interesting houses were the ones built this century.

Domett St in Waltham – Formerly Goethe Street. Named after Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749- 1832). Re-named Domett Street. Named after Alfred Domett (1811- 1887). Goethe was a German playwright. Goethe Street is first mentioned in The Press in1886. First appears in street directories in 1911. Re-named Domett Street in 1917 at the request of residents. There was public dislike for German names during and after World War I. Domett was a journalist, politician, public servant, Premier and writer. A small amount of information from the library website. A few birth, death and marriage notices on Papers Past. Many reports about the petition for renaming the street in 1916 and 1917. Residents objected to the Teutonic name of their streets especially as neighbouring streets rejoice in names from great figures of British literature. Councillor McCombs argued against the name change and he pointed out that Goethe was Prussian and he lived when Prussia was an ally of Great Britain. He was outvoted. Council agreed to rename the street and renamed it in honour of Alfred Domett an English born New Zealand poet who was Premier of colony for a little over a year and he was a friend of Robert Browning. In 1900 there was another mention of Brightling’s gravel pit and the dumping of rubbish. It looks like Brightling’s property covered a big section between Bunyan St, Buffon St and Domett St. I walked this street on Friday and it is a short street that runs from Wilsons Rd and Bunyan St. Waltham Park is on one side of the street and 15 houses on the other side of the street. The oldest house is from 1910 and several from 1990. Waltham Park on the 1929 map has the name Opawa Park.

Cecil Place in Waltham – Horsley Street and Cecil Street. Probably named after Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne Cecil, 3rd Marquis of Salisbury (1831- 1903). Horsley Street was re-named Cecil Street on 31 October 1898 at the suggestion of Harman and Stevens. Probably re-named to continue the theme of “poets and writers” streets of Sydenham, Addington and Waltham named by a committee of the Sydenham Borough Council on 19 January 1880. Maps in 1983 street directories show Cecil Street split into two, the section between Brougham Street and Shakespeare Road becoming Defoe Place and the section between Hastings Street and Brougham Street becoming Cecil Place. A small amount of information from the library website. The only mention of Horsley St was when the street was renamed in 1898. I did find a Mr J Horsley who was superintendent of Sydenham Methodist Sunday School until he resigned in 1914. There is also a place in England called Horsley. There was also an English artist John Horsley who died in 1903 and credited with the painting of the first Christmas Cards. In 904 there was a letter to the editor complaining about the state of the street and that they were better off with the Borough Council rather the the Greater Christchurch Council. Apparently one side of the street was partly asphalted and the other side had weeds two foot high. In 1928 Fowler and Son applied to the council for permission to erect a brick building for storage of petrol on the block of land bounded by Shakespeare Rd, Waltham Rd and Cecil St. The application was refused for safety reasons. Cecil Street was a lot longer until motorway was built and it is now Cecil Place. I walked this street on Friday and there are only 11 houses here and the ones from 1905 and 1915 are lovely. There is an entrance to Tommy Taylor Courts here which is city council housing and built in 2001. The traffic noise from Brougham St would put me off living here.

Bunyan St in Waltham – Named after John Bunyan (1628- 1688) Bunyan was an author who wrote Pilgrim’s Progress. One of the “poets and writers” streets of Sydenham, Addington and Waltham named by a committee of the Sydenham Borough Council on 19 January 1880. Bunyan Street is first mentioned in the Star in 1886 in a report of a meeting of the Sydenham Borough Council. First appears in street directories in 1913.A small amount of information from the library website. I haven’t read Pilgrim’s Progress since I was a teenager. Papers Past had the usual lots of birth and death notices. In September 1886 the street was declared a public street. Several entries for 1886 and it was all about a complaint from Robert Thomas. It started in June of that year after Robert Thomas had flood issues on his property. In November 1886 Robert Thomas claimed that the flood damage was caused by the uncleaned state of the drain and requesting £10 compensation. In December 1886 the Drainage Board refused to recognise liability for the damage caused by the stoppage of Jacksons Creek. At the end of 1886 the Drainage Board and the Sydenham Borough Council were blaming each other for the flooding issues. In 1911 sections were sold from the estate of the late Robert Thomas. In 1924 Bunyan St was included in a housing scheme for the city council. The saddest articles were in 1932 about Charles Bernard Robbins who along with another man died on a tramping club trip. Another man was injured and all three were school teachers. Charles Robbins was a teacher at Waltham School and it sounds like it was a huge funeral. They were all members of the Christchurch Tramping Club. Not exactly sure where this happened as one article said Mt Rosamund and another article said it was Mt Rolleston. I walked this street last Friday. Waltham Park is partly bordered by this street. A few older houses from 1910 onwards but most are from 2016. There is an entrance to the housing complex St Martins Green here and lots of building work happening here. I suspect if I went back in a couple of years that there wouldn’t be any older houses left on this street. Some of the older houses are in a reasonable condition. The street runs from Waltham Rd to Buffon St.

Buffon St in Waltham – Named after Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788)Buffon was a French naturalist, mathematician, biologist, cosmologist and author. One of the “poets and writers” streets of Sydenham, Addington and Waltham named by a committee of the Sydenham Borough Council on 19 January 1880. First appears in street directories in 1887.A small amount of information from the library website. Papers Past as usual for these older streets have many death notices and one stood out for but only because of the surname. In 1940 Mrs Penhalluriack died and I have no idea how to pronounce it and it looks like a Cornish name to me. In 1882 a house was destroyed by a fire but in 1893 2 houses were destroyed by fire plus another one damaged in the same fire. In 1886 the residents were asking for channelling on the street. The Devon Bakery was mentioned in 1897 and it was also mentioned in 1923. The bakery was owned by S D Besley and I found an obituary for him in August 1925. Sam Dixon Besley was born in Bampton, Devon and he died in Lewisham Hospital a few days after an operation. S D Besley came out to NZ in 1891 and he started the bakery business in 1895 with his sons. He left a widow and six sons. I found an entry for 1955 where an old 5 room cottage and disused brick bakehouse was sold at auction. In a letter to the editor in 1926 there was a complaint about schoolboys and girls being a nuisance at night with being noisy and using bad language. This was happening at Edwards corner opposite Besley’s Bakery on the corner of Buffon St and Bunion St. Bunion St amused me as it should be Bunyan St. The writer added that the behaviour was more suitable to a port town. This Lyttelton born person objects to this writer’s attitude. John Brightling a contractor for the removal of the city’s rubbish was in 1900 charged with allowing offensive matter to be deposited on his land. His property must have been bounded by both Buffon St and Bunyan St as I found the same information for both streets. In 1929 a car accessory business increased the size of it’s factory due to the demands for the product. I walked this street on Friday and there are a few older houses but there is a huge number of dwellings built in 2016. On the corner between Bunyan St and Vienna St there was a big complex of housing. This complex is called St Martins Green and is built on an industrial site was was destroyed in the earthquakes. There is a house from 1890 on this street but it was hidden behind a high fence.

Edited to say that the industrial site was PDL and I remember when it was Urlwin Ltd. When I checked google maps I realised which business was there but hadn’t realised that it went so far back to the other streets. Harry Charles Urlwin left London at the age of 16 and came to New Zealand. I couldn’t find much information online about the business when Harry Urlwin owned it. Stewart Robertson who owned PDL purchased the business and Stewart Robertson started out at Urlwin Ltd until he branched out on his own. My uncle who lived on Humboldt St worked at this business.

Bond Street in Waltham – formerly Little York Street. Little York Street first appears in street directories in 1908. Re-named Bond Street on 1 September 1948 when120 streets were renamed.

A small amount of information from the library website. Not a lot of information on Papers Past. In 1928 there was a meeting to discuss exempting the street from road widening. In 1938 it was tar sealed. In the 1940s onwards the Opawa Baptist Church Hall was mentioned as being on the corner of Wilsons Rd and Little York St. It was also called Baptist Mission Schoolroom. It was a bit confusing as in the 1920s and 1930s this building is described as being on the corner of Hastings St and Wilsons Rd. Looking at the map of 1929 solves the mystery as the map shows Hasting St crossing Wilsons Rd to meet Little York St. Little York St was a tiny street that ran off Hassals Lane. It now runs from Hassals Lane and curves around to Wilsons Rd. Nothing in Papers Past about this change to the street. In 1961 there were several ads for buying new houses that had been built on the street. Out of the 20 properties on this street about 7 or 8 of them were built in 1960s. There are 3 ugly houses built in 2018. There is the most gorgeous wee cottage from 1890 and it is near the Hassals Lane end. There is no longer a church hall here and where it would have been are new houses. I walked this street yesterday on that very windy day and I was amused to see that No 7 had 007 on the fence.

Westby Street in Waltham – Named after Westby Brook Perceval (1854- 1938). Perceval, a lawyer, was the Member of Parliament for Christchurch 1890-1891, and agent-general for New Zealand in the United Kingdom from 1891. First appears in street directories in 1912.A small amount of information from the library website. Very little information on Papers Past. The residents agreed to the street being widened in 1928 and gave land for this. In 1930 it was recognised as a public street. I suspect that there was originally only two or three houses here and they were on big sections. I walked this street yesterday and it is a lovely wee street. There are only 9 properties here and two date from 1910 and another from 1920. Then there is one from 1950, one from 1960, one from 1980 and then two from 1990. One modern house from 2016. If you want to read more about Westby Brook Perceval I covered him fully when I wrote up Percival Street.

Eastern Terrace in Sydenham and Beckenham – Runs along the bank of the Heathcote River. First mentioned in The Press in 1911 when land is advertised for sale there. First appears in street directories in 1916.A tiny amount of information from the library website. There was less information on Papers Past than I expected. In 1914 there was talk about forming a track on Eastern Terrace between Corson Ave and Norwood St in the suburb of Fisherton. Also in 1914 the road along the Heathcote Riverbank to be renamed. The part between Norwood St to be Western Terrace and the part between Norwood St and Wilsons Rd to be Eastern Terrace. I checked the 1929 map and Western Terrace was where Waimea Terrace is situated. Eastern Terrace on the same map runs from Birdwood Ave to Tennyson Street. The part of the road from Tennyson Street to Wilsons Road on the map said it was Fifield Terrace. A bit different to the council renaming information. The street now runs from Birdwood Ave to Waltham Rd / Wilsons Rd.In 1924 there was money allotted for building houses for the city council housing scheme. The year 1930 was busy for entries on Papers Past. There was concern about the outlets of the ponds which drain into the river from Beckenham Park being in a dangerous state and should be covered. The same year there was flooding on the street. In 1939 there were complaints about the rubbish pit concerning the smell. There seemed to be a lot of rubbish pits in the Sydenham area. I walked this street yesterday and it was a very windy day. I stayed cleared of any trees. The houses here range from the dates of 1905 to 2019. Many were built in 1950s and 1960s. One of the modern houses had an Art Deco look and the genuine Art Deco house looks a bit shabby. I love the street art on the toilets in Beckenham Park. It would be a pleasant street to live on if it wasn’t for the flooding risk. This street is on the higher side of the river and many of the houses should be safe from flooding but not the street itself. If I lived here I would get myself a kayak.