Salisbury Street in the Central City- Named after the English bishopric of Salisbury. One of the original streets of Christchurch named in 1850 by Captain Joseph Thomas (b. 1803?) and Edward Jollie (1825- 1894). The names were taken from bishoprics listed in Burke’s Peerage. First mentioned in The Lyttelton Times in 1858 when land for sale there is advertised. A small amount of information from the library website and nothing that I can add about the name of the street. There was thousands of entries on Papers Past. The earliest entry that I could find was a Jury List dated 1860 and two men with the same names of John Atkinson. In 1862 Henry Crooks had a freehold section here and in 1863 the council received a letter from him saying that residents were unwilling to subscribe to the one third cost of metaling. Later that year the council put out a list of who paid and how much they had paid. Henry Cook’s name was not on that list. Same year the landowners on Salisbury St requested that the council do the formation of the other streets in the area but the council reply was that they didn’t have the funds. In 1861 there were letters to the editor about the nearby creek being dangerous. In 1863 the council said that they have taken steps to make the bridge safe. In the early 1900s there was at least two maternity homes. Nurse King at 90 Salisbury St and Nurse Irving’s Canadian Villa at 139 Salisbury St. There was a huge number of birth and death notices for the street. This is a long street that runs from Park Tce to Barbadoes St. There are 351 residential properties here and oldest one was built in 1905. Huge number of properties built in 2000 and 2020 and most are high density blocks of apartments. Some are so ugly and for some reason these are the ones that win awards. Many businesses on this street and the most well known would have to be Briscoes. Salvation Army have a huge building on the corner of Salisbury St and Colombo St. There is Maryville Courts which is a retirement home. A couple of the housing blocks look like they could be social housing. A building that I did like was The Salisbury Hotel but I couldn’t work out if it was a brand new building or an old building done up. They give their address as Madras St but it is on the corner of Madras St and Salisbury St. To stay here costs rather more than I am prepared to pay.

Peterborough Street in the Central City – Named after the bishopric of Peterborough in England. One of the original streets of Christchurch named in 1850 by Captain Joseph Thomas (b. 1803?) and Edward Jollie (1825-1894) in March 1850. The names were taken from bishoprics listed in Burke’s Peerage. First mentioned in The Lyttelton Times in 1852 when 1/4 acre sections are advertised for sale there. small amount of information from the library website and there is nothing that I can add about the name of the street. Huge amount of entries on Papers Past especially birth and death notices. One of the first settlers on this street was John Raven a clergyman and he was on the roll as early as 1853. In 1863 there were calls for tenders for forming and metalling the street but in 1868 in a letter to the editor a resident asked why the delays in forming the street. He said that in winter they are up to their ankles in mud. In 1869 the cost for shingling the street was £27 so the work was eventually done. In 1863 someone suggested cutting the flax that was at the peat swamp near St Lukes Church so that the ground could dry over summer. I am not sure that this was successful as there were letters to the editor in 1870 about the state of the swamp as it was being used as a cesspool. No wonder early Christchurch had so many outbreaks of typhoid. In 1866 the committee of the Female Home were able to purchase the building that they had been previously leasing. The Female Home was in the news again in 1867 when a man was charged with attempted arson. Luckily only a shed at the property was damaged. Still in the year 1866 and Charles Hilton was given permission to build a boathouse on the river opposite his house. In 1864 there was discussion about converting Free’s Creek to a covered drain. I will have to see if I can find an old map that will tell me where this creek was situated. In the 1860s there was much discussion about sinking an artesian well and in 1870 Artesian well sinkers Burton and Hollingsworth got the contract for this work. The 1860s and 1870s the street seemed to have several disorderly houses. One man in 1862 was charged with renting houses to women of loose character. In 1870 Fanny Hardy and Annie Driscoll were charged with keeping a disorderly brothel. These houses always seemed to be disorderly and was it likely that there were orderly brothels. In 1866 there was a coroner’s report about a married man from Rangiora who was the father of five children. This man went to a house of ill fame where he told the inmates that he had taken laudanum. He was taken to hospital where he expired. Verdict was suicide. There was the Phoenix Brewery on this street and it was established by Richard Taylor but was then run by A Moore and Co. I mostly only looked at Papers Past pre 1900 for this street because of the thousands of entries but a couple of the businesses on the street in the early 1900s were Browns Laundry and Hayward Bros. The street runs from Park Tce to Barbadoes St, Most the dwellings are from 1990 onwards with many built post earthquakes. They are high density building crammed onto the sections and most are really ugly. There were a few houses from 1950 and there are two houses from 1905. The house from 1915 is fenced off so I would expect that it will be demolished. The older houses are at the Barbadoes St end. Many businesses on this street and too many to name. Forte Health covers a big area. The Casino covers one block here but only has loading bays and a car park entrance on this street. The building that housed the library after the earthquakes is now a campus for NZMA a vocational college whatever that means. A building that stands out for me is the Clark Boyce building because of it’s shape. I didn’t get a photo this time but have taken photos of it previously. On the corner of Peterborough St and Montreal St is the Peterborough Centre previously the Teachers College. This heritage building was damaged in the earthquakes and still closed off and hasn’t been repaired. On the corner of Peterborough St and Park Tce is Georges Hotel. Trying to cross Victoria St and Montreal St is a nightmare as there are no lights or pedestrian crossings.

Harper Avenue in the Central City – Formerly Park Road and North Park Road. Named because it runs alongside Hagley Park. Re-named Harper Avenue. Named after George Harper (1843- 1937) Joseph Cornish Helmore (1832-1920) constructed a road through his land which was named Park Road, then North Park Road. These names do not appear in street directories because they had no residents. J. C. Helmore advertises in the Star in 1883 for his spectacles lost in North Park Road. Re-named Harper Avenue. Harper was chairman of the Christchurch Domains Board. On 8 May 1931, at the annual general meeting of the Christchurch Domains Board, Henry Kitson moved “that North Park Road between Carlton Bridge and Fendalton Bridge be re-named Harper Avenue as a compliment to the retiring chairman and his early family associations with Canterbury”. The proposal was confirmed at a city council meeting on 18 May 1931.A reasonable amount of information from the library website. One thing that the library website doesn’t mention is that George Harper was Sir George Harper when he died as he had received honours in the New Year Honours List just a few months before his death. I had always assumed that Harper Ave was named after Bishop Harper so I was surprised to learn that this wasn’t the case. George Harper was Bishop Harper’s son so it was within the family. There was discussion after George Harper’s death of renaming the street Sir George Harper Ave but that obviously didn’t happen. At the same time there was discussion about beautifying the area. Huge number of entries on Papers Past for both Park Rd and North Park Rd as most cities and towns in New Zealand had streets with the same names. Most of the entries pre 1900 concerned forming the road. In 1919 Hurst Seagar wanted the street to be a memorial Ave. The council announced in 1927 that the proposed upgrade to the street wouldn’t be going ahead and the reason given was the the Riccarton Council refused to pay their share. This might explain the letter to the editor in 1928 about the street being a vile road. I think that the best information that I found were the letters to the editor. One man in 1932 complained about evergreen trees being planted as they were dull and green. In 1935 and 1936 there were complaints about horses in the park and on the footpaths. The complaints said that the horses were prohibited from being in the park and that many riders were galloping at some speed and at times narrowly missing pedestrians. I only have cyclists on the footpaths to bitch about and can you imagine what I would be like if I had horses to contend with. I am still amused about the bullock that escaped from the sale yards and terrorised golfers and cyclists on this road and in the park. The vision of the cyclists being forced to climb a tree is priceless. This street runs from Bealey Ave to Fendalton Rd and there are no houses on this road. There are no footpaths either but that doesn’t matter as you have a lovely path to walk in North Hagley Park.

Park Tce in the Central City- formerly Mill Road. Named because of its proximity to Hagley Park. Appears as Mill Road on an 1862 map. The section of Park Terrace from Armagh Street to Salisbury Street was named officially in 1872. First appears in street directories in 1880A small amount of information from the library website. I couldn’t find anything about Mill Rd on Papers Past There were a couple of references that could have referred to this street but I wasn’t sure. In 1866 there was 47 acres of land available that had it’s frontage on Mill Rd leading from Lincoln Rd to Heathcote Mill. I couldn’t find out where Heathcote Mill was situated. There was also freehold land available on Windmill Rd with frontage on Mill Rd and close to town belt. Windmill Rd is the old name for Antigua St. Residents in 1872 requested the road be named Park Lane and I got the impression that this stretch of road didn’t have a name. Councillor Jones suggested Park Terrace which was obviously accepted. A Thomas Douglas didn’t like this suggestion and wanted Hagley Park as the name for the road. That would have been very confusing so I can see why that suggestion wasn’t accepted. I did find an entry for 1871 where residents requested a footpath and this was before the street was officially named. There were thousands of entries for streets with this name. In 1904 the residents were against telegraph poles that had been erected as they spoiled the view and they were still complaining a decade later. Willows were planted in 1933. In 1930 the Helen Connon Hall was nearly complete and it would be a hostel for female students at the University. Henry Wigram must have lived on Park Tce as his funeral left from his residence here and Lady Wigram’s name appeared frequently in the social pages. In 1909 the residents objected to the proposal that the street name be changed to Rolleston Ave and to be a continuation of Rolleston Ave. I have walked this street many times and thought that I had already written up about it but when checking found out that I hadn’t done this. The property website said that there are 148 properties here. I don’t know where they are hiding these properties as there certainly aren’t that many. A few built in 1980s and 2000. There is at least two big empty sections. One big empty section belongs to Bishopspark Retirement Village. It is possible that the villas have separate titles which would explain the number of properties. The property website has one house from 1915 and this used to be a gorgeous house. Sadly it is the house that was badly damaged by the arsonist. He was in court this week and he said that he couldn’t give a reason for the arson. Just that he felt like doing it and that he sat by the river watching it burn. The buildings are only on one side of the street and the river and Hagley Park is on the other side. A few months ago I read an article about Bishopspark and thought that if I was unable to manage living in my own home that this place would suit me. When walking past it I am not so sure but I do like the location. I didn’t take any photos of the house from 1915 as I have taken several photos of it recently both before and after the fire.

Edited to add – I have had a good look at the 1862 map and I wish that I had looked at before writing up the street. Mill Road was on the map and it is exactly the same road as Park Terrace. On the corner near where the current Girls High School is situated was Avon Mill. Rolleston Ave was part of Cambridge Terrace on this map. This map mostly just covers the area bounded by the four avenues. If you are interested google Christchurch map 1862 and it is on the library website.

Lincoln Rd went as as the hospital which is now Hagley Ave. Antigua St is on this map whereas I thought it was called Windmill Rd and there is a wee drawing of a windmill on the map. I need to check my write up about Antigua St as it was possibly two streets that became one street.

Alfred Street in the Central City – formerly Pyke Street and Kensington Place. Formerly Pyke Street. Named after William Pyke (1852?-1918). Re-named Kensington Place. Later re-named Alfred Street. Named after HRH Prince Alfred Ernest Albert, Duke of Edinburgh & Saxe-Coburg Gotha (1844-1900). Pyke, an upholsterer and cabinetmaker, is a resident of the street in 1885. The formation of Pyke Street is mentioned in the Star in a report of a meeting of the Christchurch City Council held on 7 November 1881. Kensington Place is first mentioned in The Press in 1887. Renamed Alfred Street by 1898.A reasonable amount of information from the library website. Found a couple of mentions in Papers Past about the forming of the street. It is mentioned as being a new street in 1882. Another mention in 1882 talks about the channelling being completed and that the channelling and shingling was done at the expense of the owners in 1881. In 1882 William Pyke was charged with not properly draining his premises. In 1884 there was a city surveyors report about a deed being received requesting council consent to dedicate Pyke St to the Queen. Pyke St was still being used in 1885 and 1886 when a house with land was for sale. In 1887 there was a public auction on the street with instructions from the bailiff. It was headed Packer v Pyke and under a distress warrant. As Kensington Place there were mostly death notices plus a section for sale in 1887. The earliest mention that I could find for the Kensington name was in 1886 and the latest in 1896. Pyke St and Kensington Place overlapped for a couple of years as the name of the street. Alfred St was a very common name as every town in New Zealand seemed to have one and even narrowing my search to four newspapers there were thousands of entries in Papers Past. I am not sure if Alfred St in city was the same street as Alfred St in Linwood. There were stables here in 1916 and 1945 was the last year that I could find a mention of the street but did restrict my search to the central city. It does look like the street as residents died became more industrial. William Pyke moved his furniture business around with premises at times being in Kilmore St and Victoria St. In 1904 his business in Victoria St was damaged by fire. When he died in April 1918 aged 66 he was living and working in New Brighton possibly in partnership with his son Edward. His name appeared a few times in the court news and mostly connected with money disputes. My favourite mention is from 1877 when he had a cow impounded. It sounds like this cow frequently trespassed onto his property. The owner of the cow a Mrs Brown was upset about this but the courts sided with William Pyke. In the same year Mrs Brown’s husband was in court for using threatening language towards William Pyke. It was over the cow business. Mr Brown received a fine. I actually walked this street about a month ago but I am a little bit behind with researching and writing up streets. I will keep going away to do geocaching in other towns. The street runs off Fitzgerald Ave and google maps have it going to Ferry Rd but you would have to climb tall fences to manage to walk to Ferry Rd. There is an entrance to St Pauls Trinity Pacific Presbyterian Church on this street and the church takes up a big section on the corner of Fitzgerald Ave and Alfred St. The rest of the street just seems to be the back of businesses that are on either St Asaph St or Ferry Rd.

Fitzgerald Ave – formerly East Town Belt and East Belt. North Avon Road from Fitzgerald Avenue northward. Formerly East Town Belt and East Belt. Named by the Canterbury Association surveyors who laid out the boundaries of the original city within roadways called “belts” or “town belts”. Re-named Fitzgerald Avenue. Named after James Edward Fitzgerald (1818-1896) East Town Belt first appears in street directories in 1878. Re-named Fitzgerald Avenue on 11 January 1904 after the merging of several boroughs into the City of Christchurch in 1903. Fitzgerald was a journalist, provincial superintendent, politician and public servant. North Avon Road from Fitzgerald Avenue northward was re-named Fitzgerald Avenue on 24 May 1926.A reasonable amount of information from the library website and the naming of the street is fairly obvious as the history of James Fitzgerald is well known.

I actually walked this street at the beginning of March but have had at least two trips south to geocache so ran out of time to research. Papers Past had a huge amount of information about this street and I have possibly missed interesting information. Even with only searching 4 newspapers there were thousands of entries. When named East Belt there were lots of mention of the East Belt hockey team. In 1885 and 1886 there were several mentions of storm water drains flooding. Note in 1908 and 1910 there were still storm water drains and flooding being an issue. Construction of a sewer was also being discussion in connection with the flooding issue. The East Belt Schoolroom / school had many groups hold meetings in the building. The East Belt Mutual Improvement Society, Young Men’s Group and Canterbury Band of Hope Union were just a few of them. There was the East Belt Church and the East Belt Wesleyan Church Schoolroom. I suspect the church and the schoolroom were actually the same complex. By 1897 the Oddfellows Hall and Salvation Army Barracks were being mentioned. The earliest mention that I could find of East Belt was an entry on the electoral roll in 1862. The council agreed to form and metal the road. In 1884 Colliers Hotel was mentioned. I was amused about the complaint about goats running loose as they were jeopardising the plantations. In 1892 there was a letter to the editor complaining about the East Belt larrikins and that it wasn’t safe for elderly persons to go out at night. In 1897 there were still letters complaining about the larrikins. The earliest mention of Fitzgerald Ave was for the Kauri Timber Company yet this was an Auckland company. From 1910 onwards both the Wesleyan and Methodist Churches are mentioned frequently. The tramway had many mentions especially around 1915. Between 1910 and 1914 there was mention of trees on the Avenue dying and gas leakage was being blamed. These were all letters to the editor and the writers were against the gas pipes that had been laid. There must have been several maternity homes on Fitzgerald Ave as there was Nurse Ferguson at No 138, Nurse Gomm was at No 184 and she called her home Allandale and Nurse Stewart was at No 171 and her home was called Woodvale. I couldn’t find a mention of an address for Nurse King’s home apart from it being on Fitzgerald Ave. There were birth notices for all of these maternity homes. In 1935 there were many complaints about a single men’s home. This was a building to house the relief workers during the depression. This is a long street and it runs from Moorhouse Ave to Bealey Ave. It still has trees running down the middle of it. The Moorhouse end has lots of businesses and too many for me to name them. As you walk towards Bealey Ave you start getting houses. The houses here date from most decades with huge numbers of high density flats built in 1970s and 1990s. The QV website has the date of 1905 as the oldest house. The date that they have for Englefield being built is 1915. Englefield was built for William Brittan in 1855/ 1856 and I have noticed before that the QV website has mistakes. Englefield must be the saddest building on the street and it is an historic building. When you get to the river there is green spaces where buildings were demolished and it is unlikely to be rebuilt on. There are some lovely older houses on this street and it is only by walking that you can really see them as they are overshadowed by the 1970s and 1990s buildings.

Bealey Ave – formerly North Belt and North Town Belt. Named by the Canterbury Association surveyors who laid out the boundaries of the original city within roadways called ‘belts’ or town belts’. Re-named Bealey Avenue. Named after Samuel Bealey (1821-1909). North Belt is first mentioned in the Star in 1869 in a report of a meeting of the Christchurch City Council. Re-named Bealey Avenue on 11 January 1904 after the merging of several boroughs into the City of Christchurch in 1903. Bealey was Canterbury’s third superintendent 1863- 1866. The Town Belts were given the name of a superintendent who had connections to the locality. Bealey owned land in this area. [Street numbering started in 1881, at first from east to west with even numbers on the north side. In 1912 this was reversed with numbering from west to east and the even numbers on the south side. A reasonable amount of information from the library website and I didn’t research Samuel Bealey as there is enough information online about him. The earliest mention that I found on Papers Past was the Jury List for 1860. There were thousands of entries on Papers Past even with only researching 4 newspapers. There were complaints in 1914 about escaping gas killing the sycamores trees in the avenue. Street lamps were installed in 1923. In 1916 Lewisham Hospital was built for the Reverend Mother and the little company of Mary. This was a charity hospital and many fundraisers were held to raise money for the hospital. There seemed to be several hospitals with this name and they linked to the main one in Sydney. There was possibly one in Lewisham in the UK and I might follow that up as I have ancestors from Lewisham. Knox Chapel received several mentions. In the 1930s and 1940s the secretary for the Makogai Leper Fund lived at 172 Bealey Ave, P J Twomey was constantly raising money for this fund and at Christmas there would be an appeal for gifts to send to the children who lived on Makogai Island. The Lyndhurst Private Maternity Hospital was on Bealey Ave but the entrance is now on Montreal St. In 1929 there is a mention of an earthquake that damaged a few houses. A private house called Hambledon was purchased in March 1935 for the use of the new Governor General Lord Galway during unofficial visits to Canterbury. That article spelt it as Hambleden but every other entry had it spelt as Hambledon. This house was built for George Gould and his son Joseph Gould was born here in 1852. The house was then owned by the Pyne family before passing to the McDonald family. Garden parties are frequently mentioned. Can any other locals see the connection between the first two owners. The house eventually because a luxury hotel / B & B and it looked like a lovely house but sadly was badly damaged in the earthquakes and was demolished. There are several photos online plus at least one article about the house and the demolition. This is a long street to walk which I did at the beginning of March. It has a mixture of buildings including motels, hotels and residential housing. A number of medical businesses like dentists, doctors, sports med and the big one is Southern Cross Hospital. The houses range in date from 1880 to 2019. Some of the older houses are in good condition but several are looking rundown. The houses cover every decade with high density housing from 2000 onwards. A favourite building that I like because it is gorgeous is from 1861 and originally built for Charles Wyatt a solicitor in Christchurch. In 1918 during the influenza outbreak it became a temporary hospital for children thanks to the generous offer from the widowed owner of the house. In 1922 it became a boarding house for pupils of St Margaret’s School. It eventually became a private home but I couldn’t find a date for this. In 1981 it became a luxury B & B and it is still run as luxury accommodation but with different owners. It is now known as Eliza’s Manor Boutique Hotel and the prices are rather beyond my budget. Still a gorgeous looking building with an interesting history. Knox Church was badly damaged in the earthquakes and has been rebuilt around the surviving timber structure of the church. Not everyone liked the new design. As you walk and are nearly at Hagley Park there is a restaurant that I have to mention because of the delicious desserts. I am sure that Strawberry Fare has delicious main meals but I personally love the desserts. I have probably missed out interesting buildings or features of this street but when it is such a long street it is easy to miss things or forget.

Grigg Place in Hillmorton – Named after John Grigg (1828?- 1901). Grigg was a runholder at Longbeach and Fellow of Christ’s College. One of the streets in the area formed on land belonging to Christ’s College. First appears in street directories in 1970A small amount of information from the library website and not a lot that I can add. There is a statue to John Grigg in Ashburton and lots of information about him online. The houses here were on leasehold land as it was church land. In recent years much of it has become freehold as owners of houses were able to buy the land. I don’t know which streets are still leasehold and which are freehold. Only 9 houses here and they were built in the 1960s and 1970s. Mostly summerhill stone and typical houses for the era. Being a slightly older street the footpath was on both sides of the road.

Warren Crescent in Hillmorton – Named after the Rev. Alwyn Warren (1900- 1988). Warren was the Bishop of Christchurch 1951- 1966 and, because of this, a warden of Christ’s College. One of the streets in the area formed on land belonging to Christ’s College. First appears in street directories in 1964.A small amount of information from the library website and not a lot that I can add. The street runs from Halswell Rd and curves around back to Halswell Rd and it is a fairly long street for a crescent. Was leasehold land as it was owned by the church. I don’t know how much is still leasehold and how many owners have been able to buy the freehold. Most houses are from 1960s and 1970s but a few from 1980s and 1990s. None of them stood out for me and most were brick or summerhill stone and typical for the era. I had an uncle who live here for the last few years of his life but I couldn’t figure out which was his place. I thought I knew where it was but it looked different. There was one huge house that stood out as it was much larger than the other houses and I couldn’t remember it from when I lived in the area. I checked google maps and it wasn’t on street view. It was starting to get dark otherwise I would have taken a photo. I used to know people on this street when I was on kindergarten committee but that is a long time ago.

Charles Upham Ave in Hillmorton– formerly Upham Avenue. Named after Charles Hazlitt Upham (1908- 1994). Upham was a farmer, soldier and prisoner of war. He was also an old boy of Christ’s College. One of the streets in the area formed on land belonging to Christ’s College. Upham Avenue first appears in street directories in 1968. Re-named Charles Upham Avenue on 23 February 1970. This first appears in street directories in 1973.A reasonable amount of information from the library website and not a lot that I can add. Charles Upham name is well known in New Zealand and lots of information online about him. The land would have been leasehold land but in recent years owners have had the ability to buy the freehold of many properties. The houses here were mostly built in the 1960s and 1970s and none stood out for me. It was getting dark by the time I walked this street. My sons had a school friend who grew up on this street. There was one of those free food pantries on this street.