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.

Harling Ave in Hillmorton – Named after Carl Harling (1841?- 1926). Harling was a master at Christ’s College 1888- 1904. One of the streets in the area formed on land owned by Christ’s College. First appears in street directories in 1972.A small amount of information from the library website. It would have been leasehold land but now possibly freehold as owners in this area were fairly recently given the chance to buy the freehold. Found information about Carl in a Christ College newsletter as well as on a history page of Victoria University. Carl was from Hanover in Germany and educated in Bremen. He arrived in Nelson on the ship Magna Bona in 1868. He was a teacher of modern languages at Nelson College for over 12 years. He started teaching at Christ College in 1889. He also taught gymnastics at both Christ College and Nelson College and is credited with introducing the teaching of gymnastics to New Zealand. He married Eleanor Caroline Catherine Heine known as Ellen in Nelson on 13th January 1870. Carl was very involved with the German Church in Christchurch until he left Christchurch in 1904 to go back to the Nelson area. Carl and Ellen are buried in the Upper Moutere Lutheran Cemetery. Ellen was born 15/09/1852 and died 1914. Carl was born 07/06/1841 and died 02/05/1926. The records for this cemetery are in German. They are buried in a plot for the Heine family as there are several of the Heine family buried here. Carl’s full name was possibly Johann Christian Heinrich Carl Harling. I couldn’t find any children for Karl and Ellen. The houses here were mostly from the 1970s and typical for that era. A couple of the houses had interesting gardens. One had a scarecrow in the garden but I mucked up my photo of it. This same garden had vegetables where most people have shrubs and flowers. My favourite garden on this street had a giant duck / goose peering over the fence. The duck / goose had to be between 8 to 10 feet tall and I couldn’t believe my eyes. Then I just laughed as it made my evening. My friends tell me that it is Mother Goose in this garden.

Heaton Street in Strowan. Named after Robert Heaton Rhodes (1861- 1956). His grandmother’s maiden name was Theodosia Maria Heaton. Rhodes opened up his land for development in 1914. At the time he stipulated that houses built there cost at least £3000 and be “of a certain style”. Tenders are invited for “the erection of a house in Heaton Street” in an advertisement by architect B. J. Ager in The Press in 1915. No. 146 was the first house built in the street. First appears in street directories in 1916. After the land was acquired for Elmwood Park, Heaton Street was extended through to Strowan Road. A reasonable of information from the library website and I think that Robert Heaton Rhodes is well known enough that I don’t need to research him. I believe that he was known as Heaton because he had the same name as his father. Most of the articles that I found on Papers Past were either about Elmwood school or Elmwood Park. In 1936 there was talk about new building for the school. There was also talk about reconditioning the existing buildings. In the same year there was debate about which site to use for the primary school and which to use for the intermediate school. In the same year there was a letter to the editor from someone against the school as the squealing and yelling from the children was intolerable. In 1945 there was mention of land for the new school. As Elmwood school is on Leinster Rd and Heaton Intermediate is on Heaton Rd it is fairly obvious where the primary school ended up and where the intermediate ended up. There was a house called Elmwood on this street that belonged to Heaton Rhodes. The original house was destroyed by a fire but Heaton had another house rebuilt. The Governor General stayed there in 1928. There were many garden fetes and garden parties held here and they were frequently fundraisers especially for St Georges Hospital. It looked like a lovely house but it was demolished in the 1950s to make way for Heaton Intermediate. In 1924 there was talk about a new park at Elmwood between Heaton Rd and Normans Rd on the western side of Heaton Rhodes house. I also found mention of the park in 1919. I believe Heaton Rhodes donated land for the park. In 1939 a developer was refused permission to build a block of flats on the corner of Heaton Rd and Circuit St. Reason was that the area was zoned as a special residential area. There was the usual birth and death notices for the street. Elmwood Park and Heaton Intermediate take up a fair amount of space on one side of the street. On the other side is an entrance for St Georges Hospital. The hospital is on the corners of Heaton Rd, Papanui Rd and Leinster Rd. The houses on this street cover most decades from 1910 to 2018 but most are from 1920s. The older houses are gorgeous and are big wooden villas. They are very similar in style and this was a condition when buying a section that you had to have a certain style of house. Some of the older houses have been demolished since the earthquakes and modern houses have replaced them. Most of the modern houses on this street are dreadful and not in keeping with the rest of the street. Calling them toilet block style is actually being kind. I obviously didn’t like the new houses here.

Leinster Rd formerly Pepperell’s Lane. in Strowan – Formerly Pepperell’s Lane. Named after Thomas Mills Pepperell (1819- 1887). Re-named Leinster Road. Named by a Mrs Strangman, probably Marian Strangman (1824?- 1892), widow of John Strangman (1809-1881). Originally an accommodation road ie. a route for stock. Pepperell’s Lane was an early, informal name that does not appear in street directories. When Pepperell, a draper, died, the address given in his funeral notice in the Star is Leinster Road. In 1883 Marian Strangman is listed as living in Leinster Road. She was distantly related to the Duke of Leinster’s family. She thought it beneath her dignity to live in a “lane” so took it on herself to put a new sign up with the name “Leinster Road” on it. Leinster Road first appears in the Star in 1881 in an advertisement. First appears in street directories in 1890. The name was not formally recognised by the Christchurch City Council until 1952.A reasonable amount of information from the library website. I couldn’t find any information about the street being known as Pepperell’s Lane. Thomas Mills Pepperell was living on Leinster Rd when he died and he was a draper. In 1881 Thomas Pepperell was living on Papanui Rd and it is possible that the road went through his property but I haven’t searched land records. He was in business with a company called William Stringer and Co but left the partnership in 1862. He possibly lived in Timaru before returning to Christchurch. There was also a family with the surname Papprill who lived on Heaton St.Papers Past had a large number of entries about Elmwood school and it got confusing at times as the references often referred to both Leinster Rd and Heaton St. There was talk in 1907 of repairing the caretakers house plus enlarging the school. New building was opened in 1909 with mention of entrance on Leinster Rd. The school possibly was originally called Leinster Rd school and in 1896 I found references to t0 name being St Albans Side School.In 1886 land was purchased in Leinster Rd for a school and it was opened in January 1887.Found for sale ads for sections and houses in 1881 and also sections for sale in 1900. In 1893 residents requested concrete channels but not sure if the work was done as the residents were complaining about the state of the road in 1896. From 1887 through to 1898 there were many complains about drainage on the street and the area near the school was the worse. In 1915 there were complaints about a horse wandering and many complaints in 1921 bout cows wandering. We have to remember that this area was rural land those days. I couldn’t find any information about the naming of the street and it is quite likely that the library’s reason for the naming of the street is true but there were sections being sold in 1881 and John Strangman died in 1881 and I need to recheck my information as I believe that he was living on Colombo St when he died. In 1871 he purchased a house, warehouse and land in Colombo St where he established a bottling business. He also purchased land in Madras St in 1874 so it is possible he had other land. By 1883 there was a Mrs John Strangman living on Leinster Rd and in 1886 William Hackshaw purchased the property. Marian Strangman died in Auckland in 1892. In 1881 and 1885 I found Douglas Heward Strangman living on Leinster Rd and he was described as out of business. His middle name was possibly Howard and I haven’t found his birth details but he was probably John and Marian’s son.I seriously sidetracked with this family and trying to find out information about them wasn’t easy. John Strangman married Mary Ann Fitzgerald in 1846 in Kilkenny area. Some family trees have her as Marianne. It is possible that she is related to Lord Leinster but I couldn’t find a link. With what I found out about this family I am not sure that I would like to be related. If she was related I suspect it was so distant that they wouldn’t have even acknowledged her but I could be wrong. After one of the Lord Leinster’s died so many people tried claiming the estate that they made them all do DNA testing. Lord Leinster had several properties in Ireland including Waterford Castle where I have stayed.The street itself runs from Papanui Rd to Rossall St and at Papanui Rd end is St George’s Hospital and a Coffee Culture. I had a quick coffee at Coffee Culture before my appointment at the hospital. Many of the older houses have medical related businesses in them. One house near the hospital is dated from 1890 but I couldn’t work out which house unless it was on a back section. Several from 1910 and 1915 but most date from 1970s and 1990s. There was one lovely house that looked old but the QV website has it dating from 1970. Obviously Elmwood school is on this street and I would have sneaked in to take photos of the school’s street art but it was lunch time and the playground was busy. Lots of building work going on at the back of the hospital.

Aranoni Track in Clifton Bay / Clifton Hill. Nothing on the library website and it is a track rather than a street but the library has included other tracks on it’s website. It starts at Nayland St and finishes at Brownlee Park. There are 13 houses and two date from 1910 and two from 1920s and the others from 1980s and 1990s. It is impossible to see most of the houses here and I suspect that the garages at the bottom of the track on Nayland St belong to the houses. I don’t know the meaning of Aranoni and as there is a street with the name Aranoni in Wellington I am guessing that it is a Maori word. A quick google didn’t come up with anything. In the case of Aranoni Track it will be named after a property called Aranoni that was owned by the New Zealand artist Cranleigh Harper Barton who lived here from about 1930 until his death in 1975. He would rent it out whenever he was overseas which was fairly frequent. He did a long stint in England in the 1920s. He frequently had exhibitions of his work at his studio Aranoni which was described as being next to Mr Waller’s house. In 1934 there was a letter to the editor about the water supply on Aranoni Track asking if it was the source of illnesses in the Sumner area. It is a steep wee walk especially on a warm day but there are some great views of Sumner.

Mulgans Track in Clifton Bay / Clifton Hill. Nothing on the library website but it is a track rather than a street but the library does have other such tracks on it’s website. This track runs from Kinsey Tce to the Main Road and in early days was mentioned as being in Redcliffs. There are two properties here from 1940s and one from 1960s. Papers Past had a section for sale in 1943 and there was a house for sale in 1945. In 1918 someone obviously wanted a name change but the council reply was that they didn’t have the power to change the name. In 1915 there was mention of the track being a private right of way and that the council gave consent for this in 1911. In 1945 there seemed to be a lot of complaints and one was about drainage. The other complaints were about the state of the track and how difficult it was to walk. They wanted the council to upgrade the track. The council reply was that they have explained to the residents of the track many times that it is a private right of way that goes through Mr Mulgan’s subdivision and it is up to the residents to maintain the track and pay for this. I couldn’t find anyone of the surname living in the area but there was a family with that surname living in Christchurch from about 1905 to 1915. Edward Mulgan was a school inspector and he moved to the Wellington area. His son Alan eventually moved to Auckland. Another son went to the UK to live and died at Oxford. This was a family that moved frequently and had a Cashmere address when living in Christchurch but they possibly bought land to subdivide. In 1920 there was a request for the person who was stealing the grocery parcels from the cart to return the parcels. Because of the steep track I thought it was possible that there was a cart on rails for taking goods up the track.