Allen Street – Named after George Allen (1805-1871). Allen, a market gardener and carrier, owned the New Zealander Hotel. His widow, Lizzie, née Westwood, (1826- 1910) married John Etherden Coker (1832- 1894) in 1872 and he built Coker’s Hotel (demolished 2011 following earthquake damage) on the land she had inherited from her first husband. Allen Street appears on an 1879 map. The city council formally took over this street on 18 July 1881. First appears in street directories in 1883.

A reasonable amount of information on the library website. Lots of articles on Papers Past especially about brothels and disorderly houses. Also frequent complaints about the state of the road. There was also a nearby George St also named after George Allen. Couldn’t find anything on the ancestry website on either George Allen or John Coker. Lizzie got married for a third time but couldn’t find the details.

This street is now a business area but is mostly car parking. The library was in temporary premises here after the earthquakes. Most the buildings seem to be empty. It runs from Manchester St to Madras St. Some great street art on the street.

Rope Street – Formerly Lyttelton Street. Named at the request of the residents to honour the visit to Christchurch of George William Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lyttelton (1817-1876), in 1868. Re-named Stafford Street. Probably named after Edward William Stafford (1819-1901). Re-named Truro Street. Named after Truro, a cathedral town in Cornwall. Re-named Rope Street. Lyttelton Street was a blind alley laid out in 1862. Taken over officially as a public street in 1881. Re-named Stafford Street in 1894. From 1896 Lyttelton Street appears with a see ref. to Stafford Street. This change was made official on 7 March 1904. Stafford was Premier 1856-1861, 1865-1869 and 1872. Re-named Truro Street in 1909. Re-named Rope Street on 1 September 1948 when 120 streets were renamed.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website for a tiny street. In 1874 a woman was charged for keeping a house of ill-fame. I discovered the details of this street when searching for Lyttelton St in Spreydon on Papers Past. I suspect it was this Lyttelton St that was a hotbed of sickness as it sounds like it was a narrow cramped alley. I couldn’t find out how it got the name Rope St. I checked ancestry website and there were people with the surname Rope in Christchurch but couldn’t find out much information about them.

Can’t actually walk this street these days as it is at the back of countdown. It is off Madras St.

Barrington Street – Formerly Wilderness Road. Named after Wilderness, the home there of John Parker Marshman (1823-1913). Re-named Barrington Street. Named after the maiden name of Louisa Edith Simeon, née Barrington, (1790- 1847), mother of Captain Charles Simeon (1816- 1867). She was the daughter and heir of Sir Fitzwilliam Barrington (1755- 1832), 10th Baronet Barrington of Barrington Hall, Essex. Charles Simeon’s four sons, Philip, Algernon, Geoffrey and Hugh, were given the middle name of Barrington, in honour of their maternal grandfather whose male line expired on his death in 1883. Marshman was an emigration agent and head of the provincial railways in the 1870s. Wilderness Road is first mentioned in The Press in 1871. The 25 May 1912 newspaper article says all the property from the Heathcote bridge to what became Barrington Street was once known as Wilderness Farm and was owned by Lord Lyttelton. Re-named Barrington Street in 1885 at the request of Messrs Harman and Stevens on behalf of Sarah Jane Simeon, widow of Capt. Simeon, She said that as there was no longer a property named Wilderness there was no point in retaining the name. The next month the Board was asked to alter street signs accordingly. Captain Simeon purchased Rural Section 154, land in Spreydon. He held the office of Resident Magistrate at Lyttelton and Christchurch at different times. He was also the first Provincial Treasurer after local government had been granted to the provinces and was elected speaker on the opening of the Provincial Council in 1853. Originally ran in a direct line from Lincoln Road to the hills, but motorway construction in 1980 caused alterations in parts of Barrington, Jerrold and Edinburgh Streets and Taramea Street (now Place), resulting in Barrington Street meeting Lincoln Road at Whiteleigh Street.

A huge amount of information from the library website. I found the same information about the name change of the street on Papers Past. For a few years both names were used. The article from May 1912 was interesting. The information about Marshman’s home Wilderness and Wilderness was a bit confusing but after a lot of reading on Papers Past plus searching ancestry website I figured it out in my head. I didn’t find out who owned the land where Wilderness / Wilderness Farm was situated was probably owned by Lord Lyttelton as it was leasehold land. John Parker Marshman was there in 1854 before moving to Avonside area. Then a Stephen Kimber leased the land in the 1860s until he purchased his own land out at Greenpark. The next person was Cordner but he went bankrupt in 1872. Several ads for tenders for the lease in 1872 and instead of the normal 7 year lease they were offering a 14 year lease. The next person to hold the lease was John Grigg but it looks like he employed a manager Mr Straw. Before Mr Straw the manager was T Lowe. Confused.

This street is a long one and part of it I walk frequently.. It starts at Lincoln Rd, goes past Addington Park, then houses until Barrington Park, Spreydon Library and Barrington Mall. Several shops in the Barrington Mall area. The parks and Mall are all on one side of the road whereas the other side is mostly houses with an occasional business. The road ends at Cashmere Rd by the Heathcote River. Hohepa Home is at this end. The main entrance to Cashmere High School is at this end. The houses are from every possible decade and there are still some older wooden villas on the street. I was amused at one part where several houses had exactly the same dark blue painted trims. There was at least one toilet block style of house. On the opposite side there were two or three houses with exactly the same green painted trims. This is a very busy main road.

Lyttelton Street – Named after the Lyttelton family. From Lincoln Road to Edinburgh Street was formerly Hellewell Street. Named after James Henry Hellewell (1848-1919). 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). The city section of Lyttelton Street first appears in street directories in 1887. Hellewell Street is first mentioned in the Star in 1897 in a report of a meeting of the Spreydon Road Board. Hellewell was a carrier and a resident of Hellewell Street in 1902 when it first appears in street directories. He died at 26 Lyttelton Street in 1919. Lyttelton Street was a continuation of this, running from Neville Street to Cobham Street. Hellewell Street was incorporated into Lyttelton Street in 1907.

A huge amount of information from the library website. The first mention of Hellewell St that I found on Papers Past was in 1897 plus in 1907 there were several ads for the sale of sections.
Lyttelton St gets a bit more confusing and I suspect that there were two streets with the name Lyttelton St.There were several entries for a Lyttelton St that was off Madras St South and near Manchester St. It was described as a blind alley. It was also near the railway station. I was amused by the several entries about a house of ill-fame.
There was an article in 1878 about a survey of Lyttelton St to check that it was in proper order before being taken over by the City Council because it was a hot bed of sickness. I don’t know which Lyttelton St it was referring to but suspect it was the one in the city centre as the narrowness of the was mentioned. My reasoning for this is that Lyttelton St in Spreydon in 1870s is unlikely to have come under the City Council.

The street runs from Lyttelton St to Rose St and has a mixture of styles of buildings on it. Many lovely older wooden villas still exist mixed in with 1960s to 1990s brick houses. At the Lincoln Rd end there is a big empty section where a supermarket used to stand. Another victim of the earthquakes. Further along is the South West Baptist Church, George Manning Retirement Village and West Spreydon School. At the Rose St end is Pioneer Stadium and Centennial Park. A busy street for traffic and I am not sure if I would like to live here yet parts of it I do like. There is a wee walkway where the Little Free Library stands and I think that it goes through to Windsor Crescent. Note I did find another Lyttelton St which is now Rope St.

Mountfort Street – Named after Benjamin Woolfield Mountfort (1825- 1898). Mountfort was an architect. Named in 1960.
A small amount of information from the library website. To say that Mountfort was an architect is an understatement.

Benjamin Mountfort would be one of our best architects. He was born in Birmingham and arrived in New Zealand on the Charlotte Jane. His first commission in New Zealand was the Most Holy Trinity Church in Lyttelton. This was a wooden building and was built in 1852 and demolished in 1857 as it was considered unsafe. I suspect that it was his inexperience with our local trees and our winds caused the problems with the building. He eventually became one of our most celebrated architects and introduced the gothic style to NZ. He is buried at Holy Trinity Avonside which was one of his designs but sadly this building didn’t survive the earthquakes.

Most of the houses are from the 1960s and are brick or concrete block. I didn’t take any photos. The street runs from Stourbridge St to Lyttelton St. Was a pleasant and tidy street but my feeling was that it was a boring street to be named after an interesting architect. I will now have to visit the cemetery to find his grave.

Dobson Street – Named after Arthur Dobson (1841-1934). Dobson was city engineer for Christchurch and also a surveyor, geologist and explorer. Developed in a Government housing subdivision. Name submitted by A. Tyndall, Director of Housing Construction, at the suggestion of the Canterbury Centennial Historical Committee. Named in 1938. First appears in street directories in 1941.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website. I was surprised that there was only one article that I could find on Papers Past about Arthur Dobson . Most the houses on this street are dated from 1940 with a couple from 1990. I didn’t take any photos on this street but did find a photo that I had taken of Arthur’s grave at Linwood cemetery back in 2017. The street is a dead end street that runs off Selwyn St but there is a walkway through to Milton St.It is a tree lined street but the roots of these trees have cracked the footpath quite badly so I had to be careful walking.I don’t usually say this about a street but I didn’t like the street and would hate to live here.

Hunter Tce – Named after Charles Hunter (1876?-1965). Hunter was a cartage contractor of 62 Colombo Street. Named in 1947 at the suggestion of the Heathcote County Council. The chairman Cr F. W. Freeman said that “the present creditable appearance of the street was due in great measure
A small amount of information from the library website and not a lot that I can add. Nothing on Paper Past but his father who was also Charles Hunter was mentioned a few times. Sadly one item was the death of baby twins. Charles was born 06/03/1876 and I couldn’t find a precise date of death or where he was buried. On the ancestry website there were several people with the same name and amused by the family tree that put Colombo St in Lyttelton.
I visit this street a lot of there is an entrance to South Library here. As well as the library there is also the Cashmere Club on the street. Only 9 houses and mostly from 1940 and 1950 but one from 1970. There is also a gun club here and I believe that it is the one that my late brother belonged to. The street runs along the Heathcote River and there are buildings on only one side of the street. I wouldn’t actually like to live here as it is the low side of the river and my personal feeling is that you would be at risk of being flooded.

Marley View St – Named because Marleys Hill can be seen from the street. Marleys Hill is named after William Henry Marley (1816-1896). Marley was a pioneer architect and builder. First appears in street directories in 1957.
A small amount of information from the library website and I don’t believe that the information about William Marley is entirely correct.
Information from Papers Past says that William Marley arrived on the Charlotte Jane and his obituary describes him as an organ builder and that he built the first organ in Canterbury at St Michaels Church. The same obituary mentions his son William Marley architect of Christchurch.
Harry Ell wrote a piece about William Marley which described him as a builder and architect and I suspect that he got the father and son muddled up as they both had the same name including the same middle name.
The ancestry website has William Marley’s occupation as a carpenter and it has the son as an architect.
This street is where 52 to 58 Rose Street used to be and most houses are built in the 1950s but one house was built in 1925. I couldn’t get a good look at this property but it did look like an older house compared to the rest of the street. The houses built in the 1950s were very ordinary looking.

Rose St – Named after Conway Lucas Rose (1817- 1910). Rose emigrated as a Canterbury Association settler about 1851 and purchased Rural Section 76, 700 acres on the “Lower Lincoln Road, Heathcote Bridge” in partnership with Frederick Spencer, 4th Earl Spencer (1798- 1857). He returned to England in 1855 and died in Chard, Somerset. Sewell’s journal says: Although he had more capital than most settlers, he was unenterprising, did not farm and built a large house in Manchester Street, Christchurch. Spencer’s interest in the land was passed on to his nephew, the Hon. George William Spencer Lyttelton (1847- 1913). First appears in street directories in 1908.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website. Papers Past had ads for sections in 1907 and 1909. There was also an ad for the sale of the cottage in 1903. I couldn’t find out a lot of information about Conway Lucas Rose and he didn’t stay in NZ for very long. The ancestry website didn’t have travel information for him but I did find information about his will. He lived at Furnham House in Chard and he was worth 24576.80 pounds.
The houses on this street date from most decades and there is a real mixture of styles. One house looked very confused as it looked like a wooden villa with an art deco house attached to the front of it. There was at least one toilet block style of house. There is also an entrance to Cashmere High School on this street. There are also two retirement homes Cashmere View and Rose Court. Between Lyttelton School and Hoon Hay Rd is Centennial Park. .
It was a pleasant street to walk and I had a lovely chat with a man working in his garden.

When I posted this on my Facebook a friend commented that she had a great-uncle live on this street and he was an MP but she only knew his surname. With a bit of googling found Arthur Ernest Armstrong known as Tommy Armstrong who lived at 59A Rose St. His father Hubert Thomas Armstrong known as Tim was also a MP.

Glue Pl – Named after William Percy Glue (1888-1980). A tiny amount of information from the library website. I get my library information from the section about place names. If you google Glue Bros there is more information about William Glue and this is also on the library website but in a different section. William was a building contractor with his brother Walter and he invented a hollowwall concrete system. The ancestry website has him buried at Woodlawn Memorial Gardens and Christchurch Crematorium. Note that was the wording on the ancestry website and I would assume it is his ashes there. Mervyn Glue was his son for those who remember Mervyn’s acting.
I couldn’t find any information about the houses here except that they are social housing owned by the council. I don’t know the age of the buildings but they have a 1960s or 1980s look about them. I didn’t walk this street as I didn’t feel comfortable doing this. This street is off Lyttelton Street near Pioneer Stadium.