Ridder Pl – Named after the Ridder family Douglas James Frank Ridder (1917-2002) was a prominent Halswell identity. He had a long involvement with St Mary’s Anglican Church in Halswell and made a valuable contribution to the establishment of Halswell Quarry Park. He was widely known as “the Halswell historian”. His parents, John Frank Ridder (1883-1974) and his wife, Elsie, née Voice, (1895-1975), were residents of Halswell as was his grandfather, John Frederick Christopher Ridder (1823?-1902). Other members of the Ridder family were residents of Halswell. Edward Henry Christian “Ted” Ridder (1876?- 1961), an instructor in engineering and carpentry, was prominent in Halswell community affairs. First appears in street directories in 1987.A reasonable amount of information from the library website and not a lot that I can add to this. The grandfather’s name of John Frederick Christopher Ridder has been anglicised. The Kennedys Bush Neighbourhood Association has good information as well and the Ridder family lived on Kennedys Bush Rd.The houses here are from the 1980s and there is an entrance to Ridder Reserve here.

Patterson Tce- First appears in street directories in 1976. Not much information from the library website, I have a theory about the naming of this street and it is possibly spelt wrong. There was a Ned (Edward ) Paterson who was quarry manager at Halswell Quarry. The historic house at the quarry is now called Paterson House and the garden was designed by Doug Ridder. Ned Paterson retired in 1938 but couldn’t find much information about him on the ancestry website. Ridder Place runs off Patterson Tce.This street runs from Nottingham Ave to Wales St and most houses are dated from 1970s. There is also a park called Westbrooke Park on one map but Patterson Park Childrens Playground on another map. Confused as I know that I am.

Bracken St – Shelly Road, Named after Thomas Bracken (1843-1898). Shelly Road first appears in street directories in 1903. Re-named Bracken Street in 1917. Bracken, a poet who wrote the words for New Zealand National Anthem, “God defend New Zealand” in 1870

A small amount of information from the library website. This street is in the red zone and there are no longer any houses here. Information from Papers Past had council report from June 1917 about changing the name from from Shelley St to Bracken St because of duplicate street in Sydenham. Because the Sydenham street was an older street the decision was to change the Avonside one. All articles in Papers Past have the spelling as Shelley Street. No information about why the street was renamed Bracken St. Thomas Bracken died in Dunedin aged 55 years old of goitre. He also used the names of Paddy Murphy and Didymus for his writing.
In 1928 a temporary dam was built across the Avon River at Bracken St to improve the rowing course. In 1929 the council agreed to pay for a weir in the River Avon by Bracken St.

The footpath is too rough to walk on and it is getting harder to see where the houses driveways used to be.

When looking for information about Morris St I found a report that said Bracken St was renamed after Tom Bracken.

Morris St – Carlyle Street – Carlyle Street first appears in street directories in 1914. Re-named Morris Street in 1917.

A small amount of information from the library website. This street is in the red zone and no longer has any houses.Found a council report on Papers Past about the renaming of the street. There were two Carlyle streets and the Sydenham one was older so they decided to rename the Avonside one. The report said that the street was named after William Morris the English poet. There was a William Morris Society.
In 1923 a footbridge was built across the river near Morris St.
In 1929 there was a report about deviating the Avon River at a corner called Bassett Corner to avoid having to pay huge compensation for taking land between Bracken St and Morris St for the riverside boulevard. This meant only three houses would be affected.
In 1939 and 1941 there was land set aside on Morris St for state housing.

Another street where I couldn’t walk on the footpath because it was too rough. There are remains of gardens here from where there used to be houses.

Monkton Place- Probably named after Monkton, near Troon in Ayrshire, Scotland. First appears in street directories in 1974.

A small amount of information from the library website. Another red zone street. Couldn’t find any other information about the naming of the street and Monkton is really close to Glasgow airport. Found an article in The Press about the street having been a previous winner in the Cul de Sac Street Awards and the judge talked about how sad it was to see the state of the street after the earthquakes.

Galbraith Ave – Named after Augustus William de Rohan Galbraith (1877?- 1957). Galbraith was the city engineer 1925-1941. It is described as a “new road” in The Press in 1944. Originally a blind road, it was extended to Avonside Drive later that year. First appears in street directories in 1946.

A small amount of information from the library website. Found the same report on Papers Past about the extension of the road to Avonside Drive. I couldn’t find out where Augustus Galbraith was buried as nothing on cemetery database. Also couldn’t find any information on Ancestry website. Best information was on government website about the Hurst Seagar house The Spur as Galbraith purchased this house in 1925 and died here in 1957. Also had the information that Galbraith was appointed as Christchurch City Engineer and Surveyor in 1925. He reorganised the Works and Sanitary dept. After he retired in 1941 he lived in Perth for a while but returned to NZ where he died.
From a Heritage Assessment paper there was mention of a building called Avonside Bulk Stores erected for Avonside Wool Scouring Works in 192s. This building was acquired by the Crown in 1940s and used by Army Works dept. After WWII the building was used by Post Office Telephone Exchange equipment.
This street was also mentioned in The Press in relationship to a murder because of a rare genetically mutated grass pollen.
Another red zone street with no houses and there is a park here with a sad looking playground.

Cowlishaw St – Named after William Patten Cowlishaw (1839- 1903). Cowlishaw was a barrister and solicitor who founded the firm of Garrick & Cowlishaw. He was provincial solicitor, a member of the Provincial Council, and also city solicitor for many years. The entrance to the street was once the entrance to his home. Formed after Cowlishaw’s death in 1903. In 1904 a petition was received by the Heathcote Road Board from ratepayers, asking that Cowlishaw Street be formed. First appears in street directories in 1906.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website. On Papers Past found the same information about the petition from the ratepayers asking for the street to be formed. There was additional information about the petitioners agreeing to pay the costs. Sections were available for sale in 1905. William Cowlishaw was born in Sydney 01/11/1839 and died 27/03/1903. He is buried at Avonside Cemetery. Under personal items in January 1903 there was a piece that said friends of W P Cowlishaw would be pleased to hear that he was able to be out on Friday for a brief period.
In June 1903 there was an ad for the sale of the residence of the late W P Cowlishaw including five acres of land in charming grounds.

The Avonside Drive end of this street borders what used to be Avonside Girls High School but googling this school has that the school now at the old QEII site. when I walked this street there is still a school here and if it isn’t Avonside Girls High I have have no idea what school is now here. There seems to be one house left standing here but the rest have gone.

Chaddesden Lane – Named after Chaddesden, the home once there of William Patten Cowlishaw (1839- 1903) and his wife Helen. The subdivision by Horncastle Homes created 12 residential allotments off Cowlishaw Street. The property was formerly occupied by the Avonmore Academy. Named in 2005.

A small amount of information from the library website.I didn’t walk this street as I couldn’t find it. It is also not on google maps. Chaddesden is a place in Derby so William Cowlishaw’s house is probably named after this place. There was obviously no houses here as this is the red zone. Found more information and William Cowlishaw’s father came from Caddesden in the UK and he named his property in Australia after Caddesden.

Halcyon Way – Named after the halcyon, a mythical breed of kingfisher. The developers also felt the name conveyed messages of “calm, peaceful, tranquil, happy, joyful, carefree and prosperous”. As it is a right-of- way, it was the city council’s policy to name it a Lane. However the developers felt Halcyon Way flowed better. Named in 2013.

A small amount of information from the library website and nothing that I can add to this about the name of the street.There is only about 3 or 4 houses on this street in the Cashmere Hills. There are sections for sale here and most are on the steep side of the street. I wouldn’t like to build on these sections. I ended up talking to a developer who lives on Kiteroa Place and he said that the sections are safe but expensive to build on. There was one house that I would loved to have got a photo off as it looked unusual but between a high wall and tree I couldn’t get a photo. No footpaths to walk on.

Murray Place – Matson’s Avenue and Matson Avenue, Murray Street and Yarra Street were amalgamated to form Murray Place. Matson’s Avenue, later Matson Avenue, was named after John Thomas Matson (1845-1895). Murray Street was named after the Murray River in South Australia. Yarra Street was named after the Yarra River in South Australia. Matson died at Springfield in 1895. Matson’s Avenue first appears in street directories in 1898. Becomes Matson Avenue in 1900. Murray Street first appears in 1900; Yarra Street in 1903. The three were amalgamated in 1909 to form Murray Place. Formed on land owned by Robert Ewing McDougall (1861-1942), who was born in Australia.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website and I found the same information on Papers Past about the renaming of the street. A large amount of information on Papers Past about John Matson. He was an auctioneer in Christchurch for 28 years but was declared bankrupt in 1894. Sounds like he owned land and property in several places in the South Island but eventually couldn’t pay his loans. Looks like the only reason he kept his house in Christchurch because it was in his wife’s name. He died on 15/04/1895 aged 55 years old after a few months of ill health. Going by the wording of his obituary it sounds like he possibly had cancer. He was also well known for being the first person to import ostriches and llamas to Canterbury.

In the 1920s there were lots of events held at 68 Murray Place in the garden of Henry Forwood. They ranged from garden fetes to garden parties.
In the 1930s and 1940s there seemed to be a lot of babies born at 80 Murray Place at an establishment called Nurse Howson’s.
On Papers Past there is a photo of a house at 56 Murray Place provided by the builder with a note saying it was built for Mrs Keith Garrick. Mrs Garrick was John Matson’s daughter.
Going by the QV website there are a couple of houses built in 1905 and at least one in 1930 and a couple from 1960 and 1970.. The rest were from from 2000 onwards.

It was a lovely street and the modern houses weren’t too bad but there was one ugly house. I couldn’t see the older houses houses as they were on back sections. There was no longer a 56 Murray Place and couldn’t see a house that looked like the one from Papers Past.