Walker Street – Taken over by the council as a public street in 1877. That was boring information from the library website.

This street only has businesses on it and they are mostly all connected to the vehicle industry. Couldn’t find any extra information on Papers Past or Ancestry website. Found a couple of men with the surname Walker who the street could have been named after but couldn’t confirm this.

Orbell Street – formerly Harper Street. Harper was the first Bishop of Christchurch and the second Primate of New Zealand. Re-named Orbell Street on 1 September 1948 when 120 streets were re-named. Orbell was the vicar at various times of several Anglican parishes in Christchurch. [This was a residential zone (railwaymen’s cottages etc.) until the 1970s when it became a light to heavy industrial area.]

A reasonable amount of information from the library website.

It is years since I walked this street. Used to walk part of it frequently when I worked at Sydenham ANZ. It is a street of businesses with a big empty section where Lane Walker Rudkins factory used to be. The factory shop for merino clothing is still on this street. There is a new to me factory shop for Globalculture and I might have to pay it a visit as I quite liked some of the T-shirts that I saw in the window.

This week I ended up chatting to an older woman who had lived on this street when growing up. She used to go to dances at a hall on Selwyn St and there was a short cut to get home that included walking through the cemetery. She liked cemeteries but one evening had a boyfriend with her and he was scared of the cemetery at night, The one and only time he walked through the cemetery he ended up being a gibbering idiot afterwards. The relationship didn’t last.

Could find nothing on Papers Past relating to the naming of this street.

Sydney Street – formerly Little Simeon Street – May be named after Sir Philip Sydney (1554- 1586). Little Simeon Street first appears in street directories in 1903 as a “blind street off the right side of Selwyn Street”. Re-named Sydney Street in 1913 when it was extended further towards Simeon Street. Sir Philip Sydney was a poet, diplomat, courtier and soldier. May continue the theme of “poets and writers” streets of Sydenham, Addington and Waltham.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website. Mostly older villas here in various conditions. Some have been done up nicely but others need serious work done on them. A pleasant street.

Nothing in Papers Past about why this street was given this name. I found Sydney St mentioned as early as 1911. Thought that it might have something to do with Simeon family but they didn’t seem to have a connection to Sydney and had already left New Zealand to return to England.

Garnett Ave – First appears in street directories in 1938. This is all that the library website had about the street. A small wee cul de sac with a croquet club at the end of it. Really nice houses here.

No information on Papers Past about naming of this street. There are two possible reasons for the name. One is that in keeping with nearby streets that it has an author theme and is named after Dr Richard Garrett 1835 – 1906 scholar, librarian, biographer and poet. He was the son of Richard Garnett an author and was also keeper of printed books in the British Museum.

The other possibility is another Richard Garnett 1890 – 1964 who was a nurseryman and he lived on Clarence St. I couldn’t find out where his business was situated. His father was Arthur Henry Garnett who lived in Opawa. The Ancestry website didn’t have a lot of information and it wasn’t helped by people making mistakes when linking ancestors to family trees. This is all pure guesswork but the name had to come from somewhere.

Bolton Ave – Named in 1921 and this is all the information that the library website had about the street.

The man who was the original owner of the property that I have just sold used to live on this street. A nice private wee street but too close to Brougham St for my liking as it would have too much traffic noise.

I couldn’t find out why the name Bolton was used but the name Bolton Ave was used in ads as early as May 1917 when the company Ford and Hadfield were offering sections in the new subdivision. Included in the ad was information about the tram passing both ends of the new street of Bolton Ave.

In 1921 Ford and Hadfield applied for consent for the new road to be named Bolton Ave. This was agreed to as the layout of the new road had already been approved by the Spreydon Council in Nov 1913. I am assuming that the name Bolton was relevant to Ford and Hadfield. I found a Charles Ford who joined this company but he left in 1914 to move to Wanganui. I found a John Hadfield who was mayor of Sydenham but there was no obituary for him which was a bit surprising as he seemed to be very active in local affairs. Couldn’t find out if he was connected to this firm. He did own land on Brougham St. Nothing on Ancestry website. It is possible that there is a connection to Bolton in the UK but couldn’t find anything.

Everard Street – First mentioned in The Press in 1913. Part of the street disappeared when Barrington Mall was developed. Video Village of Barrington incorporated the Everard Street sign and original power pole in their shop development.

A small amount of information from the library website. The Video Village shop is no longer there. This is a tiny street and the few houses looked really nice.

I couldn’t find anything extra on Papers Past or Ancestry website. This street runs off Milton St which is named after a poet so it is possible that this street is named after Rev George Everard who was the author of several Christian themed books. This is just guesswork by me and I could be totally wrong.

Athelstan Street – Probably named after Athelstan (c.895- 939) – Athelstan was the first king of all England, and Alfred the Great’s grandson. Athelstan Street is first mentioned in The Press in 1913 when 32 sections in Spreydon were auctioned.

A small amount of information from the library website.

Barrington Mall is one side and there is a medical centre and dentist plus some houses on the other side of the street. I usually do my shopping at this Mall plus I worked at the Post Office / Postbank here a very long time ago. The Post Office building is now a Coupland’s Bakery.

After searching Papers Past I have come up with some ideas for the naming of this street. It was surprising how common this name was especially as a middle name. There was a Leonard Athelstan King who was a builder and he died in 1935. There was Edward Athelstan Worthy who was a teacher at Christs College. He drowned in France in 1894. There was also John Athelstan Parsons who lived in Kaikoura but he moved to Christchurch in 1897. He was employed by the Land Board. The other possible reason for the name is the Druid Lodge Athelstan and the first meeting of this lodge was in 1880. There were also several articles about the history of Athelstan, King of England especially in connection with Malmesbury Abbey.

There was nothing on Papers Past to say why this street was given its name but as the library website mentions the first mention of the street was in 1913.

Coronation Street – Named to commemorate the coronation of Edward VII (1841-1910) on 26 June 1902.

A small amount of information from the library website. Not a lot that I can add here. I don’t normally walk the full street here as I usually divert through the park and play Pokemon. Lots of older villas on this street with a few newer places. This street runs from Selwyn St to Barrington St and it feels like it should be part of Selwyn St. I checked Papers Past and couldn’t find anything about the naming of this street. In the 1910s several articles and one was about tramlines. Also the articles sometimes said Spreydon and others said Woolston. The same street or was there two Coronation Streets.

Hagley Avenue – formerly Part of Lower Lincoln Road, renamed Lincoln Road, from Moorhouse Avenue to Riccarton Avenue. In 1922 residents petitioned the Christchurch City Council for the name to be changed to Hagley Avenue. This was done in 1924. In 1928 the Riccarton Borough Council asked yet again for the name to be changed as they felt there was confusion with Hagley Street in Riccarton which had been named first. Residents of Hagley Avenue presented a petition and the request was declined. The Riccarton Borough council was asked to change the name of Hagley Street instead.

A reasonable of information from the library website but I am a bit disappointed with the library website as there is no mention of where the name Hagley came from. There is Hagley Park one side of the road and Hagley College on the other side. I don’t know which used the name Hagley first but the name comes from Hagley Hall in the UK which is Lord Lyttelton’s home.I have a photo of Hagley Hall on my old laptop. When I was in the UK I was driving to Ironbridge with a friend when I came across a pub called Lyttelton Arms so I had to stop. Hagley Hall was just up the road and the young man behind the bar was very knowledgeable about the area.

I walk here frequently when going into town to clear my PO Box.

Acton Street – Formerly Bowen Street. Named after Sir Charles Christopher Bowen (1830-1917). Re-named Acton Street. Named after Lord John Acton (1834-1902). Bowen was an administrator, politician, poet, magistrate and educationalist. Re-named Acton Street by the Christchurch City Council in 1909. Acton was an English historian.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website and nothing that I can add to it.

A tiny street that I have never walked down before. It runs off Montreal street and is a business area.