Gasson Street in the suburb of Sydenham, Christchurch

Gasson Street – Part of Madras Street, the section of the street south of Moorhouse Avenue. Named after the Gasson family. The Gasson family were early settlers in this area. Charles Gasson (1846?- 1905), a carpenter, lived with his wife, Harriet, at Sixth Street (later Stanley Street). Named Gasson Street on 1 September 1948 when 120 streets were re-named.
A small amount of information from the library website. I am sure that I have a photo of this family’s grave somewhere. I remember thinking to myself when I took the photo that there had to be a connection to this street. As with the rest of Sydenham it used to be a residential area that it now a street full of businesses. A mixture of new and old buildings. I got the feeling when walking in this area that every type of business connected to cars is in this area. There are other businesses but cars do dominate. This street runs from Brougham St to Moorhouse Ave and there is street art by the railway line. Lots of horrible graffiti as well on the buildings near the railway lines. There were a couple of cafes on this street that actually looked OKish.

Hawdon Street in the suburb of Sydenham, Christchurch

Hawdon Street -Named after the Honourable Joseph Hawdon (1813-1871) and his son, Arthur Joseph Hawdon (1844-1920). Hawdon was an explorer in Australia and a runholder in Australia and New Zealand. He lived in New Zealand from 1863 and was appointed a member of the Legislative Council by the Stafford ministry of 1866. He died in Christchurch. Arthur Hawdon, his eldest son, was the first elected councillor for Selwyn County. Hawdon’s Railway Paddock, 20 acres of land belonging to Arthur Hawdon, “adjoining the Christchurch Railway Station”, is advertised for sale in the Star in 1875. That this land was part of Joseph Hawdon’s estate is mentioned in the Star in a report of a meeting of the Sydenham Borough Council held in 1878. The street appears on an 1879 map.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website. Nothing that I can really add to this but note I haven’t looked up Joseph Hawdon yet as I was too tired last night. Yet another street in Sydenham that used to be residential but is now all businesses. The usual businesses connected to cars along with other businesses. A mixture of new and old buildings. I like it when a business has interesting street art style of artwork on their building. This street also had a cafe that looked OKish. What I mean by this is that it looks better than what is often aimed at local workmen. No individual business stood out for me but note I do like interesting shaped buildings, artwork or old historic looking buildings.

I found a huge amount of information about Joseph Hawdon and his family on Papers Past. Joseph was born in Walkerfield, County Durham and came to NZ via Australia. His children were born in Melbourne and it is said that Joseph pioneered the overland stock route from Sydney to Melbourne. It is said that the reason he moved to Canterbury was because of drought in Australia. He was one of the first Australian Colonists to move to NZ. Joseph died 12/04/1871 of dropsy caused by excessive debility and he is buried at St Peter’s at Upper Riccarton. At some stage his widow Mary must have moved back to England as she died in London in 1905 and in 1895 when her daughter got married she was living at Albert Hall Mansions, Hyde Park.

Joseph’s son Arthur took over Joseph’s property in NZ but he eventually moved to Peel Forest area where he died in 1920. Another one of Joseph’s sons Cyril died in Hove, UK in 1917.

Joseph had a grandson Captain Kynard Hawdon who died of cholera in Sprangagar, Kashmir. His obit mentions that he was the hero of Quetta Journey of April 1905.

In 1880 I found an article about a stained glass memorial window for Joseph Hawdon being installed at the Cathedral. An article dated 05/02/1934 gives good information about the Cathedral.

Kingsley Street in the suburb of Sydenham, Christchurch

Kingsley Street – Formerly part of Third Street. The streets south of, and parallel to, Moorhouse Avenue were named in numerical order. Re-named Kingsley Street. Named after Charles Kingsley (1819-1875). Third Street is first mentioned in the Star in 1873. Does not appear in street directories, only maps. On a 1879 map it is shown running from Harper Street (later Orbell Street) to Gasworks Road (later Waltham Road). From Hawford Street to Gasworks Road was renamed Kingsley Street. 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. Kingsley was the author of The Water Babies, Westward Ho etc. Kingsley Street first appears in street directories in 1887.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website. I checked Papers Past but didn’t find anything extra.Another street in Sydenham that used to be residential but is now a street full of businesses.The usual mixture of new and old buildings.
There was one business that had appeared on a TV show called Renters. The business called Escape appealed to me but then we know how much I like travelling.. I couldn’t see the vans properly but they were painted in bright colours. I actually wouldn’t like to hire these vans as it makes it too obvious that you are a tourist and you are then targeted by the wrong people.
Can I just say that I have stayed in Westward Ho.

Maldon Street in the suburb of Sydenham, Christchurch

Maldon Street – formerly Matson Street Probably named after Maldon in Essex. Matson Street first appears in the Star in 1876 in an inquest report. First appears in street directories in 1887. Re-named Maldon Street on 24 May 1926 when 21 streets were renamed.
A small amount of information from the library website. A small street and every business here was related to the car industry except for a cleaning business. No photos and nothing stood out for me here.

I have now checked Papers Past and this street had more interesting information than the other Sydenham streets that I looked up. The reason that the street name was changed from Matson St to Maldron St was because there was another street called Matson St in Papanui. No reason given for why Maldon was chosen.There was excitement on this street in 1932 when someone tried blowing up a dairy with gelignite.This wasn’t a corner shop but a milk company called Milk Coupon Company This was an act of sabotage possibly by a rival company. There was a milk price war and the Milk Coupon Company was selling their milk cheaper than other companies. In the 1930s there seemed to be a mixture of houses and businesses. By the 1940s there were car businesses on this street.

Washington Way in the suburb of Sydenham, Christchurch

Washington Way — Named after the Washington, the first train to travel from Christchurch to Dunedin. Named because the street was developed near the site of the Moorhouse Avenue Railway Station subdivision. First appears in street directories in 1995.
A small amount of information from the library website. That information was more interesting than I was expecting. The buildings here are all fairly new and they look good from this street but the railway side of the buildings are covered with horrible graffiti. The back entrance to McDonalds was here and they were busy. The skateboard park was fairly busy and I didn’t take photos here even though there is some good street art here. I took photos here a couple of years ago of the street art. This street had a mixture of businesses and not a car related business in sight. A few organisations are based here.

Found a Wikipedia page this included information about this train engine. There were two American built locomotives were ordered and they were known as NZR K class 1877. Up to that date only UK built engines were being used. The first two locomotives were called Washington and Lincoln. Look up the Wikipedia page as they are gorgeous looking. Washington As in the library website information the Washington was the first train to go from Christchurch to Dunedin on the newly completed Man South Line. Eventually these engines became obsolete and were dumped. Washington was exhumed from it’s river grave by the Southland Vintage Car Club in 1974 and it is now at The Plains Vintage Railway and Historical Museum. Guess where I now want to visit.

Willowbrook Place in the suburb of Fendalton, Christchurch

Willowbrook Place –Named after Willowbrook, the town house in Fendalton Road belonging to, and named by, John Barton Arundel Acland (1823- 1904). He named his property after the childhood home of his wife. William Widdowson (1833-1915) originally bought the land, part of Rural Section 60, from William Guise Brittan in 1865 and built a 12-room house. He advertised the property for sale in 1868, as it was too far for his sons to travel to Christ’s College every day. Acland bought the property on 5 March 1874 and by the time Widdowson advertised an auction of his stock and chattels later that month the property had been named Willowbrook. Acland was a barrister, sheep farmer, and politician. He married Emily Weddell Harper (1830-1905), daughter of Bishop Harper. Her sister Ellen Shephard Tripp (1834-1916) married Acland’s business partner Charles George Tripp (1826-1897). She describes in her book their early life at Willowbrook, a house standing on the border of Slough and Eton, in England. The Christchurch Willowbrook was demolished about 1956 when the land was subdivided. By 1958 five homes had been built there and half of the total subdivision had been sold. A Home of the Year had been built there by Maurice R. Carter Ltd. First appears in street directories 1960.

A reasonable of information from the library website and I can’t see that I can add anything here. These are all well-known early settlers and if you google them there will be lots of information out there.
A small street that runs off Fendalton Rd and I didn’t take any photos here. Mostly brick houses with just a couple of newer houses. I remember thinking that this was a very ordinary looking street considering it’s location.

Fendalton Road in the suburb of Fendalton, Christchurch

Fendalton Rd – formerly Fendall Town Road. Princess/Princ es Street was incorporated into Fendalton Road. Named after Walpole Cheshire Fendall (1830– 1913) Fendall Town Road was cut through Rural Section 18, 50 acres in Fendall Town purchased by W. C. Fendall. Fendall Town Road is first mentioned in The Lyttelton Times in 1857. Fendalton Road first appears in street directories in 1894. At that time Fendalton Road extended into what became Burnside Road (later Memorial Avenue). A section of Fendalton Road near Holmwood ). Road was formerly named Princess or Princes Street. First mentioned in The Press in 1880 when “53 beautiful villa sites adjoining Mr Wilkin’s residence at Holmwood” are advertised for sale in The Press.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website. Nothing that I can add here as Walpole Fendall is one of our more well-known early settlers. If you google him I am sure that you will find a huge amount of information.

I walked this street yesterday after being at the University. A quick coffee at a cafe at the Clyde Rd corner before walking home via this street. A fairly long street and sadly many of the wonderful old houses have been demolished. Some still remain but many are hidden behind tall fences and security gates. The rebuilt houses are a mixture of styles. Some have been rebuilt to look similar to the original houses but others are modern looking houses. Some ugly toilet block style here. Also along this street is Fendalton Park, Mona Vale gatehouse and entrance to Mona Vale and Latter Days Saints church. I stopped at St Barnabas as it was open. I realised that I had never been inside this church before so I was pleased to be able to have a good look at it.
I took so many photos.

Quamby Place in the suburb of Fendalton, Christchurch

Quamby Place – Named after the brook which ran beside the Tasmanian home of Thomas Gregory Russell (1850-1935). Russell came to Christchurch to live on five acres of land in the 1870s, naming his property, Quamby. A son was born to the Russells at Quamby in 1892. The property was sold to the McLean Institute in 1909 and re-named Holly Lea. Quamby Place was formed in 1983 from Holly Lea land. First appears in street directories in 1987.

A reasonable amount of information from library website. I will take the library’s word about the reason for the name and I could only find Quamby House in Tasmania on Papers Past.
There was a small piece on the library website about Quamby Place but they focused on Allan McLean and Holly Lea and I wanted information on Thomas Russell. I eventually found a piece on the library website about a house called Knowlescourt on Papanui Rd. Looks like it was a gorgeous building and sadly it has been demolished. This information led me on a total wild goose chase as it said that the house was built for Thomas Russell and his wife Doris in 1910.

Nearly two hours later after searching Papers Past, cemetery database and the Ancestry website I have it clear in my head.
Knowlescourt was built for Thomas Russell but he was still married to his first wife Helen Stringer who he married in 1874 and she died in 1915. They had several children.

Thomas married Doris Pearce Baldwin in 1917 and she died on Oct 17th 1918 in New York. Death notice said At New York Doris Pearce wife of T G Russell of Knowlescourt, only daughter of Major and Mrs Pearce Baldwin late of Raratonga. Couldn’t find a grave for Doris.

Thomas then married Gertrude Brown in 1919 and she was the younger daughter of Professor F D Brown. Gertrude possibly died in 1960 but can’t find a grave. At one stage she was living at the Clarendon Hotel.

Thomas died in December 1935 and cemetery database has his details as solicitor and aged 85. It also said that he had lived in NZ for 70 years.He is buried with his first wife Helen and their children are mentioned on the headstone. Note the cemetery record has Thomas as being born at Colchester in Essex.

There are several family trees on the ancestry website for this man but none mention the second or third wives.These wives just disappeared into oblivion. These same family trees have him born in Shoreditch, Middlesex. Also none of these family trees mention Tasmania.

Found out a little bit more information. Thomas Russell went to Tasmania in 1855 at the age of 4 years with his parents and a brother and a sister. They were on the ship Whirlwind and under the Indenture System. Can’t find when and how they came to NZ but his parents ended up living in Wellington along with the rest of his family. Parents died in Wellington and were buried at Bolton Cemetery. I got confused here as cemetery records also had them buried at Linwood. The ashes of Thomas’s parents and siblings were reinterred at Linwood in 1969 and this information is on the headstone. The family possibly went to Otago in 1864 on the ship City of Hobart. Note none of the public family trees have this information.

Quamby means lie down especially in order to sleep

Wood Lane in the suburb of Fendalton, Christchurch

Wood Lane formerly Park Lane -Named after William Derisley Wood (1824- 1904). Park Lane is first mentioned in The Press in 1884 in a report of a meeting of the Riccarton Borough Council. First appears in street directories in 1900. Re-named Wood Lane in June 1948 when 24 streets in the Waimairi County were re-named. Wood set up a flour mill at the end of this lane

A reasonable amount of information from the library website. This information confused me as I was only aware of the mill on Wise Street in Addington. The Cyclopedia of New Zealand and Peeling Back History has much more information about this man and the mills. William Wood arrived on the Randolph in 1850. He went back to England where he purchased a windmill to bring back to NZ. He set up a mill which was called Riccarton Mill. This mill had a fire in 1971 and was demolished in 1974. Girls High School is built where the mill used to be. The mill on Wise Street in Addington was an additional mill for him. Apparently the only thing left of Riccarton Mill is a weir and I realised that I took a photo of it without knowing what it was. William Wood is buried at Linwood cemetery.

Several new houses being built here and there were workmen everywhere. A couple of older houses here.Not sure that I would like to live here even if it is a lovely area as I think that you would be at risk of flooding.

Heathfield Avenue in the suburb of Fendalton, Christchurch

Heathfield Ave formerly Heathfield Road -Named after Heathfield, the property of William Cuddon (1834-1924). Land belonging to Cuddon, a brewer and maltster, was sub-divided into 32 sections in 1913 and auctioned. A house was built there for Geoffrey Ernest Fitzhardinge Kingscote (1889?-1949), an accountant, and his wife, Florence Agnes Placida Kingscote, née Humphries, (1889-1975), ready for Kingscote’s return from serving in the army during World War One. The house was demolished in 2000. Heathfield Road is first mentioned in The Press in 1913. Is Heathfield Avenue in a death notice in The Press in 1917. First appears in street directories in 1918.

A reasonable of information from the library website and there is nothing that I could add to it except that the library have this street in the suburb of Mairehau which is totally wrong. This street is in the heart of Fendalton and is at least two suburbs away from Mairehau.

The Cyclopedia of New Zealand has more information about William Cuddon if you want to know more about him. The library have a shorter version under Early Residents of Fendalton. I liked the bit where it said that he was popular with his neighbours because he had a private bowling green. I am assuming that they were allowed to use it.

Found articles on Stuff from 2017 and 2018 and this street is apparently the most expensive street in Christchurch. Well beyond my budget.

Hard to see some of the houses because of high fences. Some amazing houses but a couple were fairly average. There was one place that had a wee bridge over the stream to get to it but it was taped off so I suspect that it will be getting repaired or demolished to make way for a new build.I am also assuming that the huge place with security camera signs is the house that was mentioned in one of the Stuff articles.
I was amused by wee wooden structure on the footpath as it was a toilet.A pleasant wee street and this mature woman wearing a backpack walking on the street would probably be considered suspicious. I don’t do handbags.