Beaumont Street – Named after Francis Beaumont (1584- 1616). Beaumont was a poet and dramatist. One of the “poets and writers” streets of Sydenham, Addington and Waltham named by a committee of the Sydenham Borough Council on 19 January 1880. First appears in street directories in 1887.

A small amount of information from the library website. Papers Past has ads for sale of sections dated 1881. Several ads for sale of cottages in 1885 and 1886. There was a letter of complaint dated in 1889 where a householder was refusing to pay his rates until the drains were fixed. In 1882 there was a letter of complaint where someone was complaining about his neighbour lighting bonfires. In 1919 there were ads from a joinery company on this street.
QV has the houses here dating from 1890 to 1915. The houses are looking rundown and are only on one side of the street as the Countdown supermarket takes up the full extent of the other side of the street. There is also a tyre company on this street at the Colombo St end. This street didn’t do a lot for me but the gorgeous Shelley St runs of Beaumont St.

Forbes Street – Probably named after Edward Forbes (1815- 1854). Forbes was a British naturalist. First mentioned in The Press in 1881 when Anderson’s paddock is subdivided into 44 sections ”situated in the best part of Sydenham” and sold by auction. First appears in street directories in 1906

A small amount of information from the library website. Found the same article about Anderson’s paddock being subdivided. Papers Past had lots of ads in 1881 and 1882 for sections for sale on this street. There was another lot of ads in 1896 and 1898. There was also mention of Anderson’s paddock being bounded by Cashel, Lichfield and Bardadoes Streets. It is highly likely that Anderson had more than one block of land as he was a successful businessman.
Nothing on Papers Past to say why it was called Forbes Street and Edward Forbes is certainly possible. There were also at least two businessmen with the surname Forbes who lived in the area. A mixture of houses here ranging from old cottages to a brand new house. The older cottages dated from 1905 and 1910. One house built in 2012 looks exactly like the older cottages so I am assuming it has been rebuilt to look exactly the same as the original. There were several two story flats built in 1975 that looked different and were curved rather than straight. The street also has the back of the Countdown on it. One end of the street ends at Bradford Park.

St Leonard’s Square is first mentioned in The Press in 1882. Very little information on the library website. I found the article from 1882 where a section is for sale. Most articles on Papers Past mention the park and not the street. Going by QV website many houses date from 1915 and 1920s but one is a bit more modern and dated from 1990. My best guess for the name would be that it is from the town in East Sussex.
I obviously walked this tiny street before lockdown. The houses are only on one side of the street as St Leonards Square Park is on the other side

Duncan Street- nothing on library website. I was surprised that there wasn’t any information about this street in Sumner on the library website. In Papers Past there were ads for a new house in 1910. I searched and searched but couldn’t find out the reason for the name. I would like to know more about a Dr James Duncan to see if the street was named after him but had no luck there either.
I obviously walked this street before lockdown and it is a mixture of old houses and newer ones. It is a weird street as it is split into two but an article on Papers Past dated 1923 explains why. St Leonards Square Park was enlarged in 1923 and a road was closed so that this could be done.They didn’t name the closed street in the article but if you look at Google Maps and see the shape of the street the article from 1923 makes a lot of sense and it has to be referring to Duncan St.I didn’t manage any photos here and I am not sure why.

Denman Street formerly Denham Street – Named after Edward Denham (1834-1925). Denham was a mayor of Sumner in the early 1900s. Sections for sale in Denham Street, “close to Lyttelton Road”, are advertised in the Star in 1905. The street appears as Denham Street in 1906 street directories but the name was misspelt during a later street naming project.

A wee bit of information from the library website. On Papers Past there were lots of ads for sections in 1905 but I did find an entry dated January 1904 about someone being fined for letting his donkeys wander. I found entries using the name Denham St as late as 1920 and entries using the name Denman as early as 1917. Edward Denham worked for Land Registry and became mayor of Sumner when he retired. Obituary for him in February 1925 and he was a busy man.

Note I walked this before lockdown but didn’t get around to writing it up. A pleasant street with a mixture of brick houses and lovely wooden villas. The street goes from Wakefield Ave and then curves around and becomes Duncan St. Part of it borders a park which is possibly called St Leonards.

Arnold Street is first mentioned in The Press in 1895. First appears in street directories in 1912. Not a lot from the library website.
I checked Papers Past and Ancestry website. I found the same article from 1895 and it was about a water issue on the street. Several sections in the street for sale in 1905 and in 1916 the council provided money for a footpath and a new bridge. I suspect that the street is named after a person and there was a family with that surname in Lyttelton but couldn’t find a Sumner connection.. There was also a Mr Arnold who worked for Dalgety and Co and it sounded like he was high up in the company. There was also an actor called Mr Arnold who was very popular at this time and he had done at least three tours to NZ.
I have just realised that I haven’t found a cemetery in Sumner. This street had a mixture of new and old houses and no house style really stood out for me. There was one lovely old house that I loved and my photo just doesn’t do it justice. Interesting letterbox at another house. Another street that I walked before lockdown.

Campbell Street -A street in the Johnstoneville subdivision in Sumner. First mentioned in The Press in a report of a meeting of the Sumner Borough Council in 1907. First appears in street directories in 1910.
Not much information on the library website.
I disagree with their date 1907 as I found an entry dated 1904 on Papers Past and it was about someone being fined for letting horses wander. Couldn’t find anything mentioning Johnstoneville subdivision. I also searched various names on Ancestry website with no luck. There was a property called Glen Lea and it is possible that there was someone with a Scottish connection on this street but can’t find any information. There was a business or property called Dingley Dell that was on this street and the earliest mention of this was in 1896.
Another street with a mixture of new and old houses and my photo is of a house that was mentioned a couple of times in Papers Past. I also got a photo of a modern ugly house. Please note that I walked this street before the lockdown and are catching up on my logging of the streets.

Waverley Street – formerly Templer Street Named after Waverley, a town in Surrey, England. Templer Street is first mentioned in the Star in 1888 in a report of a meeting of the Sydenham Borough Council. First appears in street directories in 1894. Re-named Waverley Street in 1904. Among a number of streets re-named in 1904 and given the names of place-names in the United Kingdom.

A wee bit of information from the library website. There was an mention on Papers Past dated 1890 about closing off part of the street to form swimming baths. There was also a Templer St in Avonside which is a possible reason for changing the name.There was no reason given for the name change. There were several ads for selling sections in 1909 and they all mentioned Sydenham School being on the boundary. In 1921 there was a decision to make part of the street a footpath only as it was narrow and cars driving down the street were endangering the school children.

I hadn’t realised that this was a street and it goes from Colombo St to Buchan St. It is narrow and only suitable for walking and not for cars. One side of the street has the side walls of businesses plus a car park. The other side has brand new apartments and is part of the complex that faces onto Brougham St and I would hate to live in one of these apartments. I watched them being built and I wouldn’t feel safe living in them.

Stanley Street – Formerly Sixth Street. The streets south of, and parallel to, Moorhouse Avenue were named in numeric order. Re-named Stanley Street. Named after Henry Morton Stanley (1841- 1904). Sixth Street does not appear in street directories, only maps. On a 1879 map it is shown running from Durham Street to Colombo Road only. First appears in The Press in 1878 in a death notice. Stanley was a writer and explorer. One of the “poets and writers” streets of Sydenham, Addington and Waltham named by a committee of the Sydenham Borough Council on 19 January 1880. Stanley Street first appears in the Star in 1883 when a house there is advertised for sale. First appears in street directories in 1887

A reasonable amount of information from the library website. Papers Past had several entries for Sixth Street up to 1882. Not a lot that I can add to this. The Colombo is on one side of the street and various businesses on the other side. Many of the buildings were older and a couple were a bit rundown.The street runs from Colombo St to Durham St. I vaguely recall that there used to be a police station here many years ago.

Moorhouse Ave – South Belt and South Town Belt. Junction Road and Junction Street were incorporated into Moorhouse Avenue. Formerly South Belt or South Town Belt. Named by the Canterbury Association surveyors who laid out the boundaries of the original city within roadways called ‘belts’ or ‘town belts’. Re-named Moorhouse Avenue. Named after William Sefton Moorhouse (1825?-1881). Re-named Moorhouse Avenue on 11 January 1904 after the merging of several boroughs into the City of Christchurch in 1903. Moorhouse was the second superintendent of Canterbury 1857-1863 and 1866-1868. It was thought appropriate that the street was named after him because of his connection with the Christchurch-Lyttelton Railway and the Lyttelton tunnel. Junction Street is first mentioned in the Star in 1880 in a report of a meeting of the Sydenham Borough Council. First appears in street directories in 1887 as a continuation of the South Belt. It was the section between Fitzgerald Avenue and Ferry Road. Mrs F. J. Lumb of “Junction Street, Lancaster Park” gave birth to a daughter in 1895. Incorporated into Moorhouse Avenue in 1909

A reasonable amount of information on the library website.Lots of entries on Papers Past but mostly a lot of ads. Found a council report dated December 1903 that had details about the renaming of this street.
I walked this street a couple of weeks ago. At one end is South Hagley Park and as you walk along there are lots of car yards along this street and there has always been lots of car yards here. Map World has been here since the earthquakes and all geocachers comment about a grumpy woman who works here.There are three supermarkets and the new Spotlight shop. The Christchurch Railway Station used to be here and when it closed it became Science Alive. Sadly this building was demolished because of earthquake damage. As you get towards Ferry Rd there is the Polytec which is now called Ara Institute. Also a school Marian College. There is also the bus depot where buses are parked up when not in use. Still lots of car yards. There were also a few houses this end. This is a long street which is normally very busy with traffic but in lockdown I was able to stand in the middle of it to take photos. Lots of other businesses and impossible for me to remembering all of them.