Karen Lane – Formed in 1976. First appears in street directories in 1979.
A small amount of information from the library website. Couldn’t find any reason for the name of the street. Looks like it was developed at 40 and 42 Birdwood Ave and Karen is possibly connected to the developer. It was a private lane and I didn’t walk it. The information from QV website has the houses built from 1970 to 1990.

Piper Lane – Named because early informal names for Tennyson Street were Pipers Lane and Pipers Road. Named after George Piper (1843- 1909), also known as Whistling Piper. Formed off 46 Birdwood Avenue. Named in 2002.
A reasonable of information from the library website and nothing that I can add regarding the naming of this lane. Another private lane that runs off Birdwood Ave and I didn’t walk it. I did spend quite a big of time looking at Papers Past and the ancestry website as I had a mysterious Piper family pop up on my DNA with strong links. George Piper lived on Tennyson St in a house called Pioneer House. He was a brickmaker in business with his brothers. He died suddenly and the newspaper description is that he fell down dead on Fisher St while out walking with his daughter. It didn’t say which daughter and he had at least seven daughters. Coroner’s report said that he suffered from heart disease.
The houses date from 200 to 2005.

Tuscany Place – Named after Tuscany in Italy. Named by Lynda Mallard who was particularly fond of Tuscany. First appears in street directories in 1991.
A small amount of information from library website and nothing that I can really add. Most the houses seem to have been built in 1980 and 1985 with a couple built in 1990 and 1995 and most are brick houses. Looks like this street was developed at 55 and 57 Waimea Tce. At the end of the street there is a long driveway that leads to several houses. As usual with more modern cul de sac type of street there is a footpath on only one side of the street and we all know how much I hate this. Lynda Mallard is possibly a NZ artist. Note I found that there was a Mallard family living on Corson Ave in the early 1900s.

Corson Ave – Named after Frederick Corson (1860?-1927). Corson was a member of the Heathcote Road Board 1902- 1907 and chairman 1906- 1907. Corson Avenue was dedicated in 1907. First appears in street directories in 1910.
A small amount of information from the library website. On Papers Past I found the same article from 1907 about this street being dedicated. On papers Past there were ads for sections in 1910 and 1911. The area was known as Fisherton for a long time and also known as both Beckenham and Sydenham. Information from Ancestry website has Frederick Corson born 19th Sept 1859 at Chatham Medway in Kent. He was an accountant and Papers Past has him working for Wood Bros. He is buried at Linwood Cemetery. The QV website has houses built from 1910 to 2019. The house built in 2019 is possibly a rebuild as it is actually originally built in the 1950s and still looks like a 1950s style of house.
This street is in a loop of the Heathcote River and goes from Waimea Tce to Eastern Tce. Mostly lovely wooden villas with lovely gardens on the street but at least two houses have been roughcasted. This was the fashion in 1950s and 1960s and I was always told to avoid such houses as you didn’t know if there was any rotten wood underneath the roughcast. There was one very rough rundown house but my photo of it isn’t very good. I was surprised to see that it looked like someone was living in it as it didn’t look habitable, I borrowed the book Beckenham A Suburb of Christchurch, New Zealand from the library and on page 64 has a note that after WWII this area was subdivided for further housing. If you are interested in this area it is a interesting wee book to read and it was published by Beckenham Neighbourhood Association.

Martin Ave – formerly Martin’s Avenue. Named after John Martin. Martin was a land and estate agent and also chairman of the Heathcote Road Board 1899-1901. He lived in Grange Street, Hillsborough. Dedicated as a public street in 1907. Martin’s Avenue first appears in street directories in 1909. Becomes Martin Avenue in 1914.
A small amount of information from the library website.. On Papers Past found the same information about being dedicated as a public street. Many sections for sale in 1910 and area described as Fisherton. The QV website had many houses built in 1910 and 1920 and they are lovely wooden villas . A couple of brick houses dated from 1990. Papers Past had articles about Methodist Church School Hall in the 1940s and what I thought was a very modern house was actually the Martin Ave entrance to the Methodist Church. It has obviously been rebuilt after the earthquakes. The Martin Ave entrance also has the car park for the church.
I couldn’t find any information about John Martin on the ancestry website and it wasn’t helped that it was a very common name in Canterbury.
No information about John Martin in the Beckenham book that I borrowed from the library and no extra information about the street.
Another lovely street in the Beckenham area and I do like the older wooden villas. Another street in the Heathcote River loop and runs from Waimea Tce to Eastern Tce. I didn’t get as many photos as I would have liked of the gorgeous houses.

Malcolm Ave – Named after Robert Malcolm (1863-1929). Malcolm was a Heathcote Road Board member. He lived in St. Martins and managed an importing and manufacturing agency in Christchurch. Dedicated in 1907. First appears in street directories in 1909.
A small amount of information from the library website. Papers Past has ads for the sale of sections in 1911 and 1913 plus new houses for sale in 1920. Another street that was part of Fisherton. James Fisher had a house at 4 Malcolm Ave which was built in 1880 and demolished in 1989. The information about the house is from the book Beckenham, A Suburb of Christchurch. The area was called Fisherton because of the Fisher family.
The information from the ancestry website has Robert Malcolm in Anderston in Glasgow on 24/08/1863. I am amused that one family tree on the ancestry website has him born in the US with the same DOB. He is buried in the Addington cemetery.The Beckenham book had information that there was a police station at 2 Malcolm Ave from 1928 to 1958.
The QV website has the houses dating from 1910 to 1970. There were at least two houses built in 1960 that were brick.
There is a house in this street that I love at Halloween as they have the most wonderful decorations. This is a brick house but it was built in the 1920s and was originally a wooden house. The QV website has a photo of the house and it is half brick and half wooden whereas it is now completely brick.
The street starts at Colombo St and there is a bridge across the Heathcote River and it ends at the Heathcote River at Eastern Tce, The Heathcote river does a big loop here. On the corner of Birdwood Ave and Malcolm Ave is a cafe called The Birdwood. Almost opposite the cafe is the Methodist church.

Between Colombo St and the bridge at Hunter Tce it is considered to be in the suburb of Cashmere but from the bridge to Eastern Tce it is in the suburb of Beckenham.
Some lovely houses here including wooden villas but there is more of a mixture of styles.

Riverview St – Named because the subdivision off Colombo Street south was originally named the Riverview Estate. Land in the Riverview Estate is advertised for sale in the Star in 1907. Riverview Street first appears in street directories in 1918.
A small amount of information from the library website. The Beckenham book had very little information about the street. Papers Past had huge number of ads for sale of sections in the Riverview Estate. The ads started in September 1907 and also in September 1907 the Pioneer Bicycle and Athletic Club were given permission to hold an event on the estate by the owners. There were also ads for sections in 1909 and 1911 but most were in 1907 when the owner of the property was selling up. I couldn’t find out who owned the property.
From the QV website the houses ranged from 1910 to 2005. In the 1980s and 1990s many houses were built at the back of the older houses. Many older wooden villas and you couldn’t see the newer houses because they were on back sections. Down near the river was a mock tudor house. On the corner of Riverview Street and Birdwood Ave there were houses for the Thorrington Retirement Village being built.
I thought that it would probably be a pleasant street to live on until I realised that one of the residents owned a set of drums. I think this would soon get annoying. There is also a business called Cherry Early Learning on the street and on the fence of this business was an area for free food.

Anstorer Street in Bryndwr- Named in 1959. The source says this was “a new street in the DSIR block south of Christchurch” Streets named and changed”, The Press, 1 September 1959, p 16
A small amount of information from the library website. I searched Papers Past and the Ancestry website and couldn’t find any more information. I also couldn’t find any information about DSIR having land in this area. The QV website only has four houses on this street with three built in 1960s and one built in 1980. These four houses are all on only one side of the street. The short street runs between Jennifer St and Hudson St. I couldn’t find Anstorer as a surname and checked for A N Storer with no luck.

Jennifer Street – Named after Jennifer Anne Mayne, née Cox, (1945-) Jennifer Mayne’s father was Leslie Ballantyne Cox (1899-1967), once a ploughman in Rakaia and later a roading contractor in Christchurch. Cox established his business in 1927 and his obituary says “he formed many of the streets in Christchurch”. Much of his early work was done with horses and drays. First appears in street directories in 1948. Information supplied in 2009 by Jennifer Mayne in an interview with Margaret Harper.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website and not a lot that I can add to it.. Nothing on Papers Past and very little information on ancestry website.The QV website has houses dating from 1940s onwards. A few more modern houses on back sections. The art deco house is dated from 1940 and sold for the first time in 2018. Real agent made a big deal of this. Not the best example of art deco and it didn’t do a lot for me. Houses ranged from 1940 and covered most decades.There was one house I would loved to have got a photo of as the window sills and doors were bright blue. Even the curtains in the house were blue.It stood out. There is an entrance to Edgar Mcintosh Park from this street. A pleasant street.

Manor Place – Developed by Maurice R. Carter Ltd on the site of the Greer farm. First appears in street directories in 1957. Information supplied in 2008 by Maurice Carter (d. 2011) in an interview with Margaret Harper. “Maurice R. Carter Ltd. built “Home of Year”, The Press, 10 November 1958, pp 16-18

Reasonable amount of information from library website. Couldn’t find any extra information about the naming of the street. Maurice Carter was born in Bradford area in Yorkshire and possibly at Ravensthorpe going by ancestry website. Most houses on this street are dated from 1950s with one dated 2000. At the end of the street there is an entrance to Edgar Mcintosh Park. Mostly brick houses with a few wooden ones. Nothing really stood out for me on this street apart from an interesting letterbox.