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.

Glynne Crescent in Spreydon – Named after Mary, Baroness Lyttelton, née Glynne, (1813-1857). Mary was the wife of Sir George William Lyttelton, 4th Lord Lyttelton, Baron of Frankley (1817-1876). He was a member of the Canterbury Association from 1848. Several streets in this area have names associated with the Lyttelton family because they were formed on Rural Section 76, 700 acres on the “Lower Lincoln Road, Heathcote Bridge” purchased by Frederick Spencer, 4th Earl Spencer (1798-1857) and Conway Lucas Rose (1817-1910). Spencer’s interest in the land was passed on to his nephew, the Hon. George William Spencer Lyttelton (1847- 1913), the 4th son of George William Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lyttelton (1817-1876). First appears in street directories in 1950.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website and nothing that I can add about the name of the street. I found a wee snippet from Papers Past dated 1889 and it was a copy of an article from an English paper dated 1839. The article was about the double wedding of Mary Glynne and her sister Miss Glynne. Mary married Lord Lyttelton and her sister married William Gladstone who later became Prime Minister. For the article not to use the sister’s name but to refer to her as Miss Glynne she had to be the eldest sister. Mary died in 1857 and Lord Lyttelton remarried in 1869. I couldn’t find anything about this street on Papers Past yet most the houses were built in 1940s with one house dating from 1910 and another from 1920. The houses built in 1940s and 1950s were obvious state houses and there were ads for carpenters to work on Government houses in Spreydon. Some houses were in reasonable condition. There is a wee park here with a playground. The houses didn’t really stand out for me as they were typical looking for state houses of that era. Even the two older houses didn’t stand out as I would have expected. There are new houses being built for Kainga Ora which is the name for the Government dept that used to be Housing Corp and previous to that was called State Housing. The houses that were demolished to make way for the new houses were really nice looking tidy houses on decent sized sections.

Gleig Place in Spreydon- Named after the George Robert Gleig (1796- 1888). Gleig was a member of the Canterbury Association from 27 March 1848 until he resigned 25 November 1851. Several streets in this area have names associated with the Canterbury Association and, especially, the Lyttelton family because they were formed on Rural Section 76, 700 acres on the “Lower Lincoln Road, Heathcote Bridge” purchased by Frederick Spencer, 4th Earl Spencer (1798-1857) and Conway Lucas Rose (1817- 1910). Spencer’s interest in the land was passed on to his nephew, the Hon. George William Spencer Lyttelton (1847- 1913), the 4th son of George William Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lyttelton (1817-1876). First appears in street directories in 1950.A reasonable of information from the library website and nothing that I can add about the name of the street. Nothing in Papers Past about the street and most the houses here have the appearance of being state houses. Most date from 1950s with 7 properties dating from 1990s. There is a wee walkway at the end of the street that takes you through to Lyttelton St. I didn’t really like this street or feel safe here and was pleased it was a short street. At the end next to the walkway was a large properties with high fences, locked gates and you had to ring a bell to be let in. A huge sign about dogs on the property and I think that there were cameras. The dogs sounded ferocious. Rev George Robert Gleig was born in Stirling and his father was a minister in the Scottish Episcopal Church. George fought in France under Wellington and then in the USA. After the wars he returned to studies and became a minister. I was surprised to find someone from Scotland connected to the Canterbury Association as that was a strong Anglican Association. A bit of googling and the Scottish Episcopal Church was linked to the Anglican Church. George died in England and lived close to Winchester

Weir Place in Hoon Hay- Named after the Weir family. Henry Weir (1835?- 1884) and his wife, Mary Jane, settled in Halswell in 1863, living on Hoon Hay Road. Their son, Walter Henry Weir (1877-1935) farmed at Dalkeith, 99 Hoon Hay Road. He “always took a keen interest in the affairs of the Cashmere – Halswell district”. First appears in street directories in 1953.A small amount of information from the library website and I am going to have to disagree with the library as they have put this street into the suburb of Halswell. This street is near Hoon Hay Road and nowhere near Halswell and I suspect that the person at the library got misled by the obituary which says that the Weir family lived in Halswell and that Henry Weir settled in Halswell when he arrived in NZ. The obituary is the only place that mentions Halswell. I checked Papers Past and the ancestry website and apart from the obituary all the other information has the Weir family living on Hoon Hay Road at a property called Dalkeith. Most mentions of the property have it in Spreydon and the street is on the edge of Spreydon. Henry Weir married Mary Jane Barrett in January 1875 but sadly she died in October 1877 aged 25. Henry Weir died in 1883 aged 49. In 1884 his farm in Spreydon was offered up for lease for a seven year period. There was another item in 1884 where Alexander Weir was appointed guardian of the infants Florence Mary and Walter Henry Weir. Walter Henry Weir went on to farm the same property and was also a member of the Spreydon Road Board. Walter Henry Weir died in 1935 aged only 58 and it is his obituary that has him living in Halswell which isn’t backed up by electoral rolls of the day. The ancestry website has Henry Weir as being born in Dublin yet he named his property after a place in Scotland. The family trees on ancestry were just as confused about his wife Mary Jane Barrett as some had her born in Cornwall and others had her born in Australia. I couldn’t find a connection to my Barrett ancestors but didn’t spend a lot of time looking.There are only 16 properties here and most were built in the 1950s with one from 1980 and another from 1990. It was a pleasant street with some lovely gardens. There was one huge house from the 1950s that I suspect has been extended. I even quite liked the more modern house on the street. The side of the street closest to the Heathcote River is lower than the other side yet the street that it runs off is flat. No photos for this street.

Smartlea Street in Hoon Hay – First appears in street directories in 1953.A tiny amount of information from the library which is disappointing as the street is named after an interesting man. There is also a Smarts Road in Hornby named after the same man. Lea means a meadow or field so the meaning of the street name is Smart’s field. The street is named after Samuel Smart and Papers Past and the ancestry website had reasonable of information him. Samuel was born in Nottingham, UK and he came out to New Zealand on the ship Zealandia in 1858 with his wife and children. His wife gave birth to a child on board ship. His first contract in New Zealand was building a wharf in Lyttelton for the government. Samuel was a contractor specialising in asphalt and is credited with introducing asphalt into New Zealand. Samuel leant his trade working for his uncle in Nottingham. He lived on Milton Street and was a member of the Spreydon Road Board. I realised that I already knew about this man from previously reading about Smart’s Pond. Samuel had a quarry which eventually filled up with water so he stocked with fish. I found entries calling it Smart’s celebrated fish lake and one article used the word piscine. Samuel then purchased land in Hornby to use as a quarry. Samuel died in 1897 and his son Alfred continued in the family business.This is a short street running from Heathcote River to Hoon Hay Road. There is a wee bridge over the river between Glynne Crescent and Smartlea Street. Most the houses were built in 1950s with only 4 or 5 houses from a later date. Most houses are in good condition with nice gardens. One or two are looking a bit rundown but it looked like a pleasant wee street. One house on the corner of Smartlea St and Weir Place had a garden so immaculate that I could imagine weeds being too scared to grow there. There was an Art Deco looking house but I couldn’t get a good look at it because of the well established trees around it. Pity as Art Deco houses are usually very interesting.

Haddon Lane in Harewood. There was nothing on the library website about this street. I assumed that it was because it was a very new street so was very surprised to find that the houses date from 1995 and 2005. The houses were huge and there are only 9 houses here. One house was very Mediterranean looking and I wish that I could have got a photo of it. Another house was extremely modern looking and looked more like a office building than a house. The street is where 298 Gardiners Road would have been. At the end of the street there is a reserve that leads to Springvale Gardens. The value of these houses was a little bit beyond my budget. I searched cemetery database and ancestry website but couldn’t find anyone with the surname Haddon that lived in this area. There is also a place called Haddon in England but suspect that it is more likely to be named after someone but couldn’t find out who. This street isn’t on Street View.

Springvale Gardens in Harewood. Nothing on library website for this street yet most of the houses date from 1990s and there is a couple from 2005 and 2008. Only 9 houses here and they are huge. Also well beyond my budget. The street is down the road from Willowbank and is where 26 to 28 Husseys Road would have been. At the end of the street there is a reserve and there is a tiny bridge that goes across a wee creek / pond. I am assuming that this is the spring that the street is named after.

Swynford Lane in Spreydon – Named after Swynford Farm in North Canterbury near Hawarden. It is part of the Horsley Downs Station. Named in 1998A small amount of information the library website. Information from the council in June 1998 said that the name of Swinford Place for 19A Hammond Place was requested and declined. Applicant reapplied and supplied more information. Swinford name was historically significant as it was the name of a farm in North Canterbury near Hawarden and part of Horsley Downs Station. Requested was granted this time. Swinford is also a town in Ireland. I also found a real estate ad for the sale of Swinford Farm as owners were retiring but couldn’t find a date for this sale. In Papers Past for the year 1893 I found marriage details for a daughter of J E Barnes of Swynford, Hawarden. Later in the same year I found the death notice for J E Barnes of Swynford, Mason’s Flat aged 63 years.I had a quick look at ancestry website and James Edward Barnes was from near London and Swynford is used as a place name in several parts of England. He had several children and I suspect that one of them owned 19A Hammond Place. This street looks like a private driveway but did have a footpath. When I was walking along Hammond Place three cars drove past me and these three cars turned into Swynford Place. The cars had several men in them and I didn’t feel comfortable or safe enough to walk this street. QV website had 11 properties listed all built in 1930s except for one built in 1920s which is really strange if the street was only named in 1998. I checked google maps as I hadn’t felt safe walking this street and the houses are definitely older places and typical of 1930s wooden houses. The house at the entrance to the street is Art Deco style.

Rowallan Lane in Spreydon – First appears in street directories in 1957. A tiny amount of information from the library website and they also have this street as Rowallan Ave. I was slightly confused as this lane runs off Andrews Crescent and I have already walked Andrews Crescent so why hadn’t I already walked it. When I got there I realised that I had walked it but not realised that it was a street. There are no houses here and no evidence of any houses but suspect there were houses at one stage. I did a some googling but couldn’t come up with anything regarding this street. This street runs through Jerrold Reserve and it is highly likely that any houses here would have been demolished when the motorway was built. It is also possible that this street was much bigger and originally called an Avenue but I couldn’t find the information with a quick google. I also couldn’t find a reason for the name but have three theories. One theory is that it is named after Lord Rowallan who toured New Zealand in 1949 when he was the Empire Chief Scout. Second theory is that there is a connection to the Deans family as they used the name Rowallan for a property that was owned by Douglas Deans and this property was practically next door to Homebush. Trouble was that I could find no evidence of the Deans family having any connection to Addington / Spreydon. I searched Papers Past and ancestry website. My third theory is that it is just a random Scottish name used as many of the streets in this area are named after places in Scotland. Rowallan is in Ayrshire and I got seriously sidetracked reading about Rowallan Castle. Lord Rowallan died at Rowallan Castle and his surname was Corbett. The castle was returned to the Campbell family in 1989. The 4th Lord Rowallan was declared bankrupt in 1993 and he actually sold the castle in 1989. He must have sold a lot of other things as I saw an auction entry for his grandfather’s war medals. Interesting family as the 3rd Lord Rowallan was disowned by his father and this was possibly because he had married a transgender woman. The marriage didn’t last.