Willryan Ave in New Brighton – Named after William Nicholas Ryan (1885-1950). This was the first road developed through a block of land once owned by Ryan. The name was suggested by his wife, Mary Catherine Ryan (1892-1978). First appears in street directories in 1960. Information supplied in 2008 by Ryan’s son, Jack Ryan, in a letter to Margaret Harper. A small amount of information from the library website and the name of this street now makes sense to me. Most of the houses on this street were built in the 1950s and they are typical of this area. The gardens are well established and it looks like a pleasant street but nothing jumped out as being particularly unusual or different. I thought that I remembered a house that was different to the rest of the houses but nothing on google maps. Wasn’t able to get a photo of it. There was a big empty section where a school used to be but will write about that when I write up Sandy Ave. There are a few rebuilts here but they have been mostly rebuilt in the original style of the houses. A couple of houses for sale under as is where is condition. At the red zone end there is Bower Park which has a wee playground. It looked very soggy on Saturday so I hate to think how it looks today after two days of solid rain. William Ryan died in March 1950 aged 65 and his wife died in 1978 aged 86. They are buried at Bromley Cemetery.

Sandy Ave in New Brighton- Named after a very high sand ridge that had to be removed before development could proceed. Named by Mary Catherine Ryan (1892-1978), wife of William Nicholas Ryan (1885-1950), a contractor. First appears in street directories in 1964.Information supplied in 2008 by the Ryans’ son, Jack Ryan, in a letter to Margaret Harper. A small amount of information from the library website. There are only three houses left on this street and they are near Bower Ave end of the street. Part of one side of the street has been red zoned. On the other side is a huge big empty section that looks like it is being developed. There used to be a school called Freeville School on the area that is being developed. Found a couple of news articles about the school dated 2013. The school was to be closed and merged with two other schools. There were protests from the parents but the land was sold in 2018. I found a letter from the grandson of William Ryan dated April 2021. He was writing requesting more information about the sale of the land and he posted the letter online as he never received a reply from the government dept. Information in the letter is about the fact that the land was owned by his grandfather William Ryan and that acquired by the government under the Public Works Act of 1928 for the use of a school. The family were given notification in the late 1940s but was actually sold to the Crown in 1956. The grandson went on to claim that there was an agreement that if the Crown no longer required the land that the Ryan family had the right to buy the land back. His complaint is that this land was sold to Ngai Tahu in August 2018 without the Ryan family being informed or offered the option to buy back the land. I believe that the land will be subdivided into 34 sections and this was mentioned in an article about various school properties being sold off. The same article mentioned that the land that school was situated on as being mostly red zone land so I am not sure how houses could be built on the land. The school gates are still there.

Hawke St in New Brighton – Formerly Hawkes Street. Named after James George Hawkes (b. 1832). Re-named Hawke Street. Named after Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke of Towton (1705-1781). Hawkes, an auctioneer, married Sarah Jane Herbert in 1852. She died in 1853 and he married Lucy James Sparshott in 1854. They emigrated to Canterbury on the Victory in 1859. He gave the land on which St Faith’s Anglican Church and vicarage now stand on 9 January 1880. He was declared bankrupt in 1886. His date and place of death are unknown. Hawkes Street is first mentioned in the Star in 1889. Formed in 1890. Re-named Hawke Street at a special meeting of the New Brighton Council on 12 August 1907. Baron Hawke was an admiral and later First Lord of the Admiralty in the Royal Navy. Harry Hawker (1868- 1947), a councillor 1905-1909, had suggested that New Brighton street names be changed to the names of British sea captains who had fought in the 18th and 19th century – a gesture linking Christchurch with the home country, was patriotic and emphasised the fact that New Brighton was a seaside suburb. A huge amount of information on the library website. I found the same information about the name change but I did find many articles on Papers Past after 1907 still using Hawkes St. Papers Past had ads for the sale of sections in 1889, 1891, 1893 and 1907. In 1890 there were several letters to the editor about the proposed site for New Brighton school. Some were against the site but most were happy with the chosen site. In 1900 there were complaints about sand in front of a property and this property was at the beach end of the street. I searched Papers Past, ancestry websites and cemetery databases and couldn’t find any information about James George Hawkes death. His wife Lucy died in 1918 aged 84 and is buried at Barbadoes St cemetery along with at least three of her infant children. She was living with one of her sons before her death. James was a churchwarden at St Michaels Church in 1866 and he also stood for election for Provincial Council. He must have been successful as there were a few entries mentioning James as a member of the Council. James was in business as a ironmonger with Frederick Strouts in early 1870s but by 1872 they were auctioneers mostly selling properties. James name appeared frequently in bankrupt notices especially in 1883 through to 1886. In 1886 he was requesting to be discharged from bankruptcy. James was also bankrupt in 1872 and further research gave me the information that the reason for his request to be discharged from his bankruptcy in 1886 was because he had secured a job as a chief auditor. As a retired banker I am not sure that someone who had been bankrupt twice is suitable for a job as an auditor. In 1896 there was an article about New Brighton and it was mentioned that the late J G Hawkes purchased 56 acres and was readily able to dispose of it. I couldn’t find out when he purchased the land and the same article mentioned his generous donation of 2 acres for the church but library website give date of 1880.I couldn’t find any record of James Hawkes ever having lived in New Brighton and all records have him living in Cashel St. The various family trees on the ancestry website were of no help and most of them had James dying in 1884 but no source for this date. Can’t be correct as he was still alive in 1886 and probably still alive in 1891. He was probably born in Reading and married his second wife Lucy in Deptford. This street has 54 properties and several were built between 1890 and 1920 but most have been altered so much that you can’t tell the age. The rest are mostly built in 1970s and 1990s. The church is still standing but fenced off. There is a fire station on this street and the site where New Brighton school used to be is now an empty section. Between Shaw Ave and Marine Parade there is a huge car park for the Countdown supermarket and the Mall.

Howe St in New Brighton – Formerly Lucy Street. Named after Lucy James Hawkes, née Sparshott, (1833?-1918). Re-named Howe Street. Named after Lord Richard Howe (1726-1799)Lucy Hawkes was the wife of James George Hawkes, an auctioneer who split up much of the land in central New Brighton in the late 1870s. Lucy Street is first mentioned in The Press in 1884 when land is advertised for sale there. It does not appear in street directories. Re-named Howe Street at a special meeting of the New Brighton Council on 12 August 1907. Howe was a British admiral. Harry Hawker (1868- 1947), a councillor 1905- 1909, had suggested that New Brighton street names be changed to the names of British sea captains who had fought in the 18th and 19th century – a gesture linking Christchurch with the home country, was patriotic and emphasised the fact that New Brighton was a seaside suburb. A reasonable amount of information from the library website. Checked Papers Past and ancestry websites. Lucy was born 10th September in 1834 and bapt November 1834 and her parents were James and Maigarette Sparshott. Lucy married James George Hawkes on 2nd November 1854 at St Paul’s in Deptford. I had trouble finding their names on the passenger list for the ship Victory but eventually found their names. They travelled in the Chief Cabin along with their two children so they must have had money. Sadly one of the children died during the voyage. Also travelling in the Chief Cabin was Frederick Strouts who James went into business with in Christchurch. Frederick also married Lucy’s sister Charlotte when she came out to New Zealand a couple of years later. There were sections for sale from 1884 onwards. The footpath was repaired in 1897 and in 1900 there was a sand issue on the street. In 1901 there was a letter to the editor complaining about the money being spent on making a street from Sea View to Hawkes streets just for a few wealthy residents in James and Lucy Streets. In 1898 in New Brighton Notes there was a writer objecting to various street names and they especially disliked Lucy Street. The name was undignified and atrocious in his eyes. I am assuming that it was a man as the other streets he objected to had female names as well. Once the street was renamed Howe Street it was mostly death notices that I found. This street had 48 properties and several were from 1890 to 1910 and they mostly looked in good condition and hadn’t been altered in a way that spoiled the houses. The rest were from 1970s and 1990s. Some of the houses looked slightly rundown. On the corner of Howe St and Hawke St was a Z petrol station which was fenced off with a notice saying weather damage.

Keppel St in New Brighton – Formerly Sparshott Street. Named after Lucy James Hawkes, née Sparshott,(1833?-1918). Re-named Keppel Street. Named after Augustus, Viscount Keppel (1725-1786). Lucy Hawkes was the wife of James George Hawkes, an auctioneer, who split up much of the land in central New Brighton in the late 1870s. Sparshott Street was formed in 1890 and is first mentioned in The Press in 1891. It does not appear in street directories. Re-named Keppel Street at a special meeting of the New Brighton Council on 12 August 1907. Keppel was an admiral in the British navy. Harry Hawker (1868- 1947), a councillor 1905-1909, had suggested that New Brighton street names be changed to the names of British sea captains who had fought in the 18th and 19th century – a gesture linking Christchurch with the home country, was patriotic and emphasised the fact that New Brighton was a seaside suburb. A lot of information from the library website. The earliest mention of Sparshott St was in 1891 and the council stated that they would do the work on Sparshott St and the nearby streets once property owners have fenced their properties and subdued the drifting sands. In 1893 the street was formed and sections were for sale in the 1890s. The street name was changed in August 1907 and after that date there were many family notices especially death notices. In 1912 there was a letter to the editor about the council reporting that there was problems with the young men who were living at the camps on the street. The letter writer said that he had lived on the street for nearly two years next to the camps and that the young men were well behaved and there had been no bad behaviour from them. In 1914 there were ads for weekend cottages available for rent. The saddest articles are about a little girl who went missing in 1927 and she was never found. In 1928 some boys playing at North Beach find a skeleton and it is likely to be the missing little girl. There are 62 properties on the street and many were built in 1970 and 1990. There were a few houses dated between 1890 to 1930 and a couple looked like they used to be baches. I can’t really describe the houses as they all looked very different to each other but most were wooden houses.

Tangmere Place in Burwood – Named after Tangmere, a village, civil parish and electoral ward in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. First appears in street directories in 1987.A small amount of information from the library website. Most of the houses here were built in the 1980s and there was also a wee reserve that had playground equipment. The street runs off Lake Terrace Rd and it slopes down from this road. If Horseshoe Lake ever flooded I imagine that the water would run down Tangmere Place and flood the street. Tang means tongue or fork and mere means pool. As with many modern streets there was a footpath on only one side of the street. The houses looked fairly nice and there was one that had an entrance that I would loved to have taken a photo of. It had various signs that basically meant visitors weren’t welcome.

Clarevale Street in Burwood – Named after William Arthur “Bill” Clare (1932?-2007). Clare was Waimairi County Council’s reserves superintendent. First appears in street directories in 1977. Information supplied in 2006 by Bob Pritchard, subdivisions officer, Christchurch City Council. A small amount of information from the library website. Not a lot that I can add about the name of the street. Most the houses were built in the 1970s and 1990s. There is a back entrance to Waitakiri Primary School on this street and parking would be a nightmare at 3pm. None of the houses stood out but they were nice and tidy with some lovely gardens. There was also a large reserve here with a playground. I was able to walk to the Travis Swamp Walkway entrance from this reserve. Found a couple of geocaches near here.

Hanworth Avenue in Hornby. Nothing on the library website about this street and googling it didn’t give me much information. It is in the industrial area of Hornby and runs off the Main South Rd. The main industry here was Ravensdown. There was one familiar business and that was Maryland Motors and I remember when this business was on Lincoln Rd in Addington. I didn’t find anyone with the surname Hanworth ever having lived in Christchurch or even in Canterbury. My theory about the name of the street is that it is named after Hanworth Aerodrome in England. My reason for this theory is that this street is fairly close to Wigram. The street on google maps seems longer than what I could walk. There was a big locked gate blocking me from walking any further. I had no luck finding a nearby geocache.

Clocktower Lane at 388 Montreal St. This obviously isn’t an official street but it is these types of unofficial right of ways that frequently become recognised streets. It is named after the nearby historic clock tower and the apartments were built in the 1990s.

Knox Lane – Named after nearby Knox Church which in turn is named after the leader of the Protestant reformation in Scotland, John Knox (1514?- 1572) Runs from Bealey Avenue past Knox Presbyterian Church. First appears in street directories in 1981.A reasonable of information from the library website except they had it as Knox Street and it is Knox Lane. It runs from Montreal St to Bealey Ave and is one way. Just goes to the car park for Knox Church as it is at the back of the church plus the offices of Duncan Cotterill. Today there were naval cadets parading up and down in a car park. I was surprised that I hadn’t walked it when I walked Bealey Ave but when I got there I remembered an issue with a stupid car driver who drove out of the lane at speed and she didn’t stop to check for pedestrians on the footpath. As she nearly hit me I possibly muttered about her needing to learn the road rules. OK I would have been louder than a mutter as we all know how I feel about cars that don’t know the rules about driving out of driveways and nearly hitting pedestrians. Knox Church was damaged in the earthquakes and has been rebuilt using the original timber framing.