Menzies Street in Sumner – Formerly Euston Street. Named after Euston Road in the London borough of Camden. Re-named Menzies Street. Named after John Francis Menzies (1881-1954) Euston Street is listed on the original 1874 plan of the Town of Wakefield. Land in Euston Street in the Township of Wakefield, Sumner Bay is advertised for sale in the Star in 1880. Re-named Menzies Street on 1 September 1948 when 120 streets were re-named. Menzies was the last town clerk of the Sumner Borough Council 1928-1945.A reasonable amount of information from the library website. Found one mention of Menzies Street on Papers Past in 1949 from a report about erosion at Sumner and high tides. There were a lot of entries for Euston Street on Papers Past as there was also a Euston Street in Riccarton so that would explain the name change in 1948.Many sections were offered for sale in 1877 and then again in 1880. .It was probably a much shorter street in 1877 as in 1885 a Mr Appleby offered land through his property to extend the street to Colenso St. The Sumner Town Board declined his offer from Mr Appleby made another offer and as the road does now go to Colenso St the offer must have been accepted. In 1890 the road was extended from Nayland St to the beach and contributions was requested from householders. The houses on this street dated from 1890 to 2019 with many built in 1910. The older houses here are gorgeous wooden villas and there is one modern toilet block style which clashes with the other houses here. It looks so out of place. The most unusual house is an Art Deco house from 1950. It has been renovated recently and a second story added to it so that it is no longer a flat roofed house. It was looking rather rundown before the renovations. There is also a school called The Star of the Sea which is at the Colenso St end of Menzies St. I loved the houses here on this street.

Sumnervale Drive in Sumner and there is nothing about this street on the library website. The street would have been developed from a farm called Sumnervale Estate. The ownership of this farm I am not sure about without checking land registrar. Gordon Ogilvie in his book Place Names of Banks Peninsula and the Port Hills has the farm owned by George Humphreys and managed by Walter de Thier. The only mention I could find on Papers Past about Sumnervale Estate was in the 1930s after George Humpheys death. George Humphreys obituary only mentions his house in Fendalton and his Richmond Hill estate. Walter de Thier died in 1973 and his only son died before him and he is described as a sheep farmer in electoral rolls with address Sumnervale. Most the houses were built in 1970s and 1980s which would fit in with his death. There is one house dating from 1890 but it was down a long driveway so I couldn’t see it. This is a street that is split into two. Part of the street runs from Evans Pass Road to a track that leads to Sumnervale Reserve. There is also an entrance to Captain Thomas Track here. You follow the path from the street down to the reserve where there is a pony club. Follow a wee stream to the playground and it eventually leads you to the rest of the street. The pony club explains signs saying no riding horses on the footpath. For a short distance there are houses on only one side of the street because of the hill. This part of the street runs from Sumnervale Reserve to Wakefield Ave near where Evans Pass Rd starts. Some really nice houses here and the higher part of the street would have good views.

Cascade Place in Sumner – First appears in street directories in 1979. A tiny amount of information from the library website. It was probably developed the same time as Sumnervale Drive and the name was in theme with vale but this is guesswork on my part. I walked from Sumnervale Reserve to this place. Most houses here were built in 1970s and 1980s with a couple from 2017 and 2017.Looked like a pleasant wee street with a mixture of house styles and it had a few A- frame style of houses which were fashionable in the 1970s.

Evans Pass Rd – Formerly part of the Lyttelton-Sumner Road. Named after Lieutenant Evans of HMS Acheron. Development of the road began in September 1849 under the direction of Captain Joseph Thomas (b. 1803?), chief surveyor for the Canterbury Association. He had thought to take the road over the hills at the back of Lyttelton but Evans, involved in mapping the coastline, suggested taking the road along the side of the hill towards the harbour entrance for about 2 miles so that it crossed the summit at only 640 feet, the lowest point on that side of the harbour. Much blasting and side cutting was necessary. First appears in street directories in 1957. Walter de Thier (1884-1973), a farmer, is the sole resident. A huge amount of information from the library website. There was so much information about the building of the road that I didn’t look information about Lieutenant Evans. There were lots of birth and death notices for Sumner Road but because it included the Lyttelton side I am not sure if there were any for the Sumner side. Even with only searching four newspapers there were thousands of entries so I narrowed my search to before 1880. So many letters to the editor in the 1850s about the building of this road. There was a report in May 1855 about the constant stops and starts of building the road. The report said that Captain Thomas started work in Sept 1849 and work was suspended in April 1850. Restarted December 1850 and stopped again sometime in 1851. Obviously it was eventually finished as it was opened in August 1857 on the 24th inst. Note the formal opening ceremony was before the road was finished and the reason was the consequence of his honor leaving the province. W Bray was against this road as he wanted the Bridle Path to be the main route fro Lyttelton to Christchurch. Many locals agreed with him. In 1852 there was a letter from the inhabitants of Lyttelton to Sir George Grey about the money that was being spend on the road. They would have preferred the money to be spend on the facilities in Lyttelton and that the road was unnecessary when there was shipping available between Lyttelton and Sumner. Several letters about the cost of the road.In November 1856 there were a couple of letters to the editor from people wanting a tunnel at Evans Pass going from Sumner to Lyttelton. They felt that it could be done cheaply by using prison labour. By 1858 the letters to the editor were more positive about the road with the fact that the Sumner Road has been of use after all and preferred over the boats and open seas option. These days Sumner Road is only on the Lyttelton side and I only walked the Sumner side which is Evans Pass. I also did not walk the entire road as this is not something that you can do safely so I only walked the footpath that leads to Sumnervale Drive. Only 26 properties here and the earliest is dated 1920. Then there is one or two houses from every decade from 1950s onwards. A mixture of styles and a couple are really lovely. As I am Lyttelton born and bred we obviously travelled this road a lot when I was a child and before the road tunnel was built but only have a vague memory of it.

Flowers Track -Named after Arthur Edward Flower (1874- 1952) Goes from Scarborough Road to Nicholson Park Flower was a pupil of Christ’s College and later a master at for 40 years. He was a resident of Scarborough in the 1930s. A reasonable amount of information from the library website. This is a confused wee street as it really just a walking track but there are houses and letterboxes here. The library website didn’t give a suburb for it but it is in Scarborough. Another website doesn’t recognise Scarborough and has all the streets in Sumner. I can find no evidence of Arthur Flower living here without checking land registry. The ancestry website has him living very close to Christ College and in the 1930s his address was Christ’s College. In the 1940s his address was Bealey Ave and in the 1950s and 1960s his widow was living on Park Tce. Flower was a pupil at Christ College from 1886 to 1892 and by 1912 he was an assistant master at the college. I suspect that Arthur Flower had a holiday home in Scarborough and this track lead to it. To travel from Scarborough to the central city in the 1920s and 1930s would have been a huge journey. There are 7 properties here dating from 1910 to 1930 and this track seems to be the only way of getting to the houses. Unless there is a secret road that isn’t on the maps I can’t see how you can drive to them. I don’t recommend cycling here as there is a sign saying no cyclists as cycling is damaging the drains for these houses. Always knew cycling was evil. The houses would have great views. I was possibly geocaching in the area.

McRae St in Woolston – Named after Duncan McRae (1875?-1937). McRae, a labourer, was a Woolston borough councillor during the 1910s. Formed because of the Woolston Cut flood relief development. Named in 1985 by residents from an approved list. First appears in street directories in 1991.A small amount of information from the library website. Duncan’s obituary said that he was on the Lyttelton Licensing Committee, member of Australian Naval Reserve, member of Lancaster Park Cricket Club and Nomads Football Club. As well as family there were members of the Lyttelton Waterside Workers Union at his funeral. He lived at 28 Junction Rd which became Lane Street. His widow and son were still living there in the 1950s. McRae St runs off Lane Street. It was a bit confusing trying to find out about Duncan and there were two men with the same name in Christchurch. It also wasn’t helped that Duncan’s first wife Flora had the same name as his mother. There are no houses on this street and it possibly has never had houses on it. Businesses here but they look a bit rundown. It looks like there are houses but they are actually part of Lane St.

Lane St in Woolston – Junction Street. Junction Street first appears in street directories in 1890. Re-named Lane Street on 1 September 1948 when 120 streets were re-named. A small amount of information from the library website. There was possibly two Junction Streets but not sure about this. There were sections for sale in 1897. Complaints about drains in 1885 and 1898. In 1900 a bakehouse was destroyed by fire. Jacksons Creek was mentioned and this creek must have travelled through several suburbs. In 1939 a new factory to be built for Christchurch Glass Company. A rubber company was also mentioned and there is still a building on this street with the words Dunlop on it. I couldn’t find out why the name change and couldn’t find anyone with that surname living on the street but it was a very common surname. If I was going to pick a person for the street being named after I would pick Frederick Lane who was a drainage inspector and he died in 1950s. There is a second possible reason for the name as I found Richard Thomas Lane who had a market garden on Princes St / Rutherford St. Street is still a mixture of factories and houses and runs from Rutherford St to Barton St. Most houses date from 1970s with a couple from 1940s and one from 1950.

Rutherford St – formerly Princes Street, Probably named after Sir Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937). Princes Street first appears in street directories in 1887. Re-named Rutherford Street on 1 September 1948 when 120 streets were re-named. Rutherford was a scientist. [It was extended in 1985 as the only vehicular bridge across the Woolston Cut.]A small amount of information from the library website and I forgot to check if anyone with the surname Rutherford lived on the street. Got seriously sidetracked with Nurse Turner.Princes St was a popular name for streets in New Zealand and thousands of entries on Papers Past so I limited by search to Princes St Woolston. In 1886 it was referred to as Cemetery Rd but that was possibly just an informal name. In 1924 the cemetery was referred to as Old Time Cemetery as was described as nearly full with a well built mortuary chapel. Sexton was paid £50 a year and plots cost £23. Locals were objecting to extending the cemetery. A few years later there was a complaint about the state of the graves and the chairman of the trust replied that it was up to the families to maintain the graves and the trust had no money to be able to do maintenance. Cemetery now called Rutherford St Cemetery but previously was known as Woolston CemeteryIn 1914 a company called Gerstena Food Manufacturing Company was established on the street. In 1919 there was mention of the Woolston Tannery on the corner of Princes St and the Heathcote River. In 1920 a fire destroyed the wool scouring and tannery plant owned by Walter Hill. Fire believed to have started in the wool drying area. In 1943 there was mention of a small fire at the wool scouring works.In 1930 there were tenders received for the building of a bridge over the Heathcote River and going by the description of the finished bridge I suspect that it is the one on the corner of Garlands Rd and Rutherford St. The bridge at Ferry Rd end probably wasn’t built until the 1980s.Many babies were born at Nurse Turner’s nursing home at 28 Princes St. Her name was Jessie Turner and she was married to John Richard Turner. They had a house destroyed by fire in 1894 and they lived on this street a long time as they were still there were she died in 1931 and he died in 1945. Sadly they lost three sons in the first World War.This street runs from Garlands Rd where the bridge crosses the Heathcote River and ends at Ferry Rd just after the other bridge over the Heathcote River. The houses here cover most decades starting from 1890. Many empty sections. There are about 5 houses from 1890 and a couple are in terrible repair. At the Garland St end of the street there are businesses plus the cemetery and I know that there were complaints about smells in recent times but the factory responsible for the bad smells was at the back of the cemetery and was destroyed fire a couple of years ago. The houses are a real mix of well looked after to rundown dumps.

Woolston Courts and this private lane isn’t mentioned on the library website. There are only 6 brick houses here and they were all built in the 1970s where 12 Rutherford St would have been

Vincent Place in Opawa – formerly Church Road (later Vincent Street), Station Road (later Lucas Street) and Railway Terrace. Named after Richard Vincent (d. 1888). Vincent was a farmer of Opawa. In 1887 he advertised part of Rural Section 20 for sale in the Star. This was in between “Ferry Road and Heathcote”, land originally purchased by B.W. Mountfort. Church Road, Railway Terrace and Station Road first appear in street directories in 1892, all in the vicinity of the Lyttelton railway (later Opawa Railway Station). Church Road was re-named Vincent Street and Station Road was re-named Lucas Street on 24 May 1926. Vincent Street, Railway Terrace and Lucas Street were combined to form Vincent Place in 1929. A reasonable amount of information from the library website. There was a Mr Lucas mentioned in Papers Past so my best guess is that Lucas Street was named after him. In 1905 there were sections for sale in what was called the Opawa Estate. The reason given for the name change in 1929 was because of another Railway Terrace in Riccarton. A councillor described the street as a parallelogram. Many of the smaller councils were being merged with Christchurch Council around this time. In 1931 a man wanted permission to build a shop on the corner of Vincent Place and Opawa Rd but it was refused. I am assuming that he eventually got permission as there has been a shop on that corner for as long as I can remember.In 1936 there were new bungalows available for sale but there is only one house left on this street from the 1930s. Only 12 properties now and most from 1970s. One or two from 1910 and one from 1890. The one from 1890 would have been gorgeous but now looking rundown and junk piled up on parts of the section.This street is in two halves and the low numbers are on the same half that has St Mark’s Church on the corner of Vincent Place and Opawa Rd. The house from 1890 is in the section as well. There is then a walkway beside Brougham St that leads to the houses with the higher numbers. There is a house from 1910 here but I couldn’t see if it was in good condition or not because of a high fence. The shop is on the corner of this half of the street. The street numbers here start at 67 whereas the other half of the street has street numbers 1 to 5.The section where the walkway beside Brougham St is where the original Railway Tce used to be and the street numbers would have gone from 6 to 65. The houses were obviously demolished where Brougham Street was extended. I remember when growing up and spent time visiting friends in the area that there was a walkway that took you across the railway track from the Opawa Railway Station to Vincent Place. The railway station is long gone and the children who went to St Marks School got off at this station. I couldn’t find much information about Richard Vincent on the ancestry website. He was described as a grazier from Opawa and that is all I could find. I couldn’t even find a family tree for his family and at this stage I would have been happy to find even one one that had mistakes. Papers Past gave a little bit more information. His wife Ellen died November 1882 aged 35. Richard himself died in 1888 but I don’t have an exact date but guardianship for the infant children was given to Thomas Whelan. One son George died in 1899 aged only 26. A daughter Alice married in 1905 and another married in 1900. The electoral rolls n the 1890s have them living had different addresses so it looks like they were split up after the parents died. I spent a lot time looking for where they are buried but couldn’t find any information. I searched several websites with no luck. Richard was a landowner so I would have expected that he would have had money for a gravestone for his wife. He had his property for sale in 1887.