Fountainhead Lane – Named after the book The Fountainhead. Named by architect Ray Hawthorne. The book is the fictional story of architect Howard Roark and was written by Ayn Rand in 1943. First appears in street directories in 1993.That is interesting information from the library website. The naming of this street surprised me and I might need to search out the book. There was only about 5 to 6 houses here and no footpath. I only took a few steps into the street as I didn’t feel comfortable walking it. It looked like a glorified driveway but did manage a sneaky photo. The houses looked flash.

West-Watson Ave – Named after Campbell West Watson (1877- 1953) – West-Watson was the third Anglican bishop of Christchurch 1925/26- 1951 and also Archbishop of New Zealand 1940-1952. He was a Warden at Christ’s College in 1925. One of the streets in the area formed on land belonging to Christ’s College. First appears in street directories in 1970.A wee bit of information from the library website. The land no longer belongs to Christ College and this has been in the news recently. The land was sold to an Auckland developer without the knowledge of the house owners and not only did the cost of their leases increase but they no longer had the same option to freehold the land.The houses are mostly made of summerhill stone and of a similar style. Many had modern chimneys and I am assuming that the original ones were damaged in the earthquakes. There is a lovely big park here. Didn’t manage to get photos of the houses here.

Wolsey Place – Named after Cardinal Wolsey (1471-1530). Wolsey was an Archbishop of York. Named because of its proximity to Cardinal Drive. Named in 1966.A small amount of information from the library website and I am amused that this time the website has his DOB as 1471 whereas for Cardinal Drive they had his DOB as 1473. The information that I put for Cardinal Drive relates to this street as well. A small street that ends at a wee park. One interesting fact is that this street had a footpath on both sides of the street whereas in more modern streets of this type tend to lack footpaths.

Cardinal Drive – Named after Cardinal Thomas Wolsey (1473?- 1530). Named in 1966. That was brief bit of information from the library website. Not sure why a question mark for year of birth as Thomas Wolsey is a well-known historic person who was born in March 1473 in Ipswich. This area of Hillmorton was mostly named after Anglican church members. I don’t know if it is still the case but much of the land here was owned by the Anglican church and houses were cheaper because the land was leasehold. Houses mostly brick or summerhill stone and built in the 1960s. There was one house that I would loved to have taken a photo of but there were a couple of men in the next door driveway. I couldn’t figure out if it was an old cottage that had been added to or was built this way. I used to know this street well as I knew people who lived here but just can’t remember this house. I have a feeling that it is an older cottage that has been modernised. My one photo is of a vehicle in someone’s drive and it amused me.

Edinburgh Street – First mentioned in The Press in 1899 in a report of a meeting of the Spreydon Road Board. A letter was read from Harman and Stevens stating that the forming and metalling of Edinburgh Street had been completed and they were now requesting that the Board take it over. First appears in street directories in 1902.A reasonable amount of information from the library website and I found the same report from 1899.I don’t know why the name Edinburgh was chosen for the street and my best guess is that a local landowner was from Edinburgh. There were a huge number of entries for this street on Papers Past and there was another Edinburgh Street in Riccarton. The Riccarton street had a name change in 1941 because of the confusion of having two streets with the same name. Most entries were birth or death notices plus ads. There were several sections available in the 1940s. There were a couple of entries from 1915 that amused me. One from February 1915 was titled A Rocky Road and it was a complaint from a group of residents who said that there were huge rocks on the road and these rocks were causing accidents. In March 1915 the road was inspected and the inspectors couldn’t find the ‘boulders’. This is a long street and runs from Domain Tce to Barrington St. The houses date from 1900 to 2015 and cover every decade. A real mixture of house styles and many of the older wooden villas have survived. Most are in reasonable condition but there was one place that was fenced off. It looked like it was originally a State House. There is some sort of church building at the Barrington St end. I actually have ended up walking this street three times and kept forgetting to write it up.

Plunket Street in Spreydon – Formerly Schauman Street. May be named after Karl Osten Schauman (1874?-1935). Re-named Plunket Street. Named after Sir William Lee Plunket, 5th Baron Plunket (1864-1920). Schauman was born in Finland and emigrated to New Zealand. He was described as a gentleman of Sumner in 1906 and was involved with the Canterbury Investment Company. He was naturalised in 1905 but this was revoked in 1917. He later moved to California and died in England. Schauman Street is described as a “new street” in a report in The Press of a meeting of the Woolston Borough Council in 1905. Appears in 1907 street directories only.Re-named Plunket Street in 1908. Lord Plunket was the Governor of New Zealand 1904-1910.A huge amount of information the library website but I am not sure that it is correct.

The first entries on Papers Past were in 1911 when there were several ads for the sale of a house and stables. In 1913 there were several sections for sale. I couldn’t find anything about the naming of this street. I could find no evidence of any street called Schauman St. Karl Schauman lived in Sumner with his second wife Lucy. He was naturalised on 30th May 1905 but couldn’t find any document to say it had been revoked but as he was no longer living in New Zealand by 1917 it is possible that it automatically revoked. It doesn’t sound like he was living in New Zealand for very long as he married his second wife in 1901 in England. This was the same year his first wife died. He appears in English census records for 1901. The new street mentioned in the library website was actually near Opawa Railway Station and all his land dealings seem to be in the Opawa area. In 1904 he was using Risingholme as an address in ads for the selling of land from estates originally belonging to Judge Williams and Mr Rhodes. I couldn’t find any other information linking Karl Schauman to Risingholme apart from these ads. I couldn’t find any evidence of Karl being in New Zealand after 1907. He married his third wife in England in 1933 and he died in England in 1935. Interesting history but I personally feel that he had no link to Plunket St.Karl’s history was far more interesting than Lord Plunket even if he has nothing to do with the street.This street runs from Neville St to Edinburgh St and the houses date from 1905 to 2016. A pleasant looking street with some nice houses.

Rustic Lane in Spreydon. This street isn’t on the library website. It is a private lane that runs off Lyttelton Street between 353 and 355 Lyttelton Street. I couldn’t find out how the lane got it’s name and the meaning of rustic is relating to countryside or rural. All the houses here are from the 1990s except for one from 1940.

Redruth Ave in Spreydon – Probably named after Redruth in Cornwall, England. Not much information from the library website.

I found a reasonable amount of information on Papers Past but not much on ancestry website. The land was owned by James William Smitham who lived on Selwyn St. Some of the land possibly originally belonged to his father-in-law Joseph Cox who died in 1909. James married Alice Cox in January 1895. James is described as being the only son of James Smitham of Redruth in Cornwall. This explains the name of the street. James was the proprietor of the Cashmere Picnic Grounds. He must have also had a store in Cashmere as he sold it in 1909 along with a large section of land. In 1910 in is mentioned that J W Smitham has submitted plans for the new street that runs from Selwyn St to Strickland St. There was an auction of sections along with a description that the estate is now roaded and channelled by Mr Blogg under the direction of the well know surveyor Mr F W Freeman. In December 1910 there was an auction of furniture and other goods as Mr Smitham was leaving for Queensland. On a cemetery website I found his grave and he is buried at Apple Tree Cemetery in Queensland and he died in November 1929 aged 65 years and his wife Alice died in 1941 aged 75.Most the houses on this street are wooden bungalows built in 1910, 1915 or 1920s. There are 4 or 5 from 1970s or 1990s that are on back sections. There are some seriously cool houses on this street and I love them. One or two have been ruined by being modernised. I did like this street. The street no longer runs to Strickland St as James K Baxter Place is between Redruth Ave and Strickland St.

Dundee Place in Spreydon – Named in 1955. Not a lot of information on the library website.

This street runs off Edinburgh St where 17 and 19 Edinburgh St would have been. Most streets in this area have a Scottish theme. Most houses are built in 1950 and at the end of the street there is a social housing complex. The street address for the complex is 16 Dundee Place but they are called Maurice Carter Courts and are owned by the City Council. Most of the units were built in the 1990s but 12 new units were built in 2012. There are apparently a total of 51 units here. They also have a communal hall which was badly damaged by a suspicious fire in December 2018. The units looked really nice and tidy. On the corner of Dundee Place and Edinburgh St there was a house with a fantastic garden. The trees and high fences made it difficult to see and I will confess to peering through the fence. The garden was gorgeous.

Urella Place in Spreydon. This street isn’t on the library website yet it dates back to the 1970s. Strangely for a street that was developed back then there is a footpath on only one side of the street. Older streets normally have footpaths on both sides of the street. Most houses date from 1970s with about three from 1980s and a couple from 2016. The street seems to be developed where 185 Lyttelton Street would have been. Houses are mostly made of brick with a few exceptions. Near the Lyttelton Street end there are flat roofed flats built in the 1970s and they stand out as they are different to the rest of the houses. It is unusual to get flat roofed houses from this era as most in this style in Christchurch date back to the 1930s and 1940s. I chatted with one of the owners of these flats and he said that he has problems with leaks. He also said that it is a pleasant street to live in and almost too convenient for Barrington Mall.I had an uncle live in this street at one stage but can’t remember the exact dates and I just couldn’t remember which house he lived in. I had in my head that it was one of the flat roofed flats. I couldn’t find out how this street got it’s name. No one with that surname in New Zealand. There was a racehorse with that name in the 1920s. There is a place name in Australia Uralla and a village in India called Urella. I am amused that one real estate attempted to put this street into the suburb of Cashmere.