Balfour Terrace in the Central City, Christchurch

Balfour Terrace – Formerly Baker’s Lane and later Gladstone Terrace. Named after William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898). Re-named Balfour Terrace. Named after Arthur Balfour, the 1st Earl of Balfour (1848- 1930). Gladstone was a British Prime Minister and also brother-in-law to Lord Lyttelton. Re-named Balfour Terrace in 1909. Balfour was British Prime Minister 1902-1905.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website.
Antigua St end has been closed off because of the new sports venue that will be built here. The Stewart St end has a brand new building housing a child care place which had a lovely play area for the children.

Waller Street in the Central City, Christchurch

Waller Terrace – formerly Richmond Road and Richmond Terrace. Named after Francis Dalziel Waller (1869- 1944). Re-named Waller Terrace on 1 September 1948 when 120 streets were re-named. Waller was headmaster of Christchurch West High School (later Hagley High School) 1916-1927.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website. One side of the street at the Hagley Ave end has Hagley College and on the other has houses. There were two older houses and there was a brand new place that I am sure wasn’t there last time I walked down this street. Moorhouse Ave end has businesses plus I found some street art.
I am sure that at school ( Christchurch Girls High )there was a teacher called Miss Waller and I wonder if she was related to Francis Waller.

New Regent Street in the Central City, Christchurch

New Regent Street – Named after Regent Street in London. The area was originally known as “The Circus paddock” as it was where circuses set themselves up in the 1880s. It was also the site of the massive Colosseum which had been used as a skating rink, theatre, boot factory and a garage. The street is rated a heritage site because of the Spanish mission style of its continuous facades chosen by architect Harry Francis Willis (1893?-1972). The street was first proposed by George Gould (1865-1941) in 1929. Arthur Francis Stacey (1888?-1952), a valuer and estate agent, was responsible for its construction. It was opened by the mayor, D. G Sullivan, in 1932.

A good amount of information from the library Website.This area is always buzzing and last night there was a huge queue outside the ice-cream shop. I thought that I had photos of the street but couldn’t find them. This street would be one of the main tourist attractions in Christchurch.

Cathedral Square in the Central City, Christchurch

Cathedral Square – At first it was alternately named Ridley Square. Named after Nicholas Ridley (1500-1555), Bishop of London and an Anglican martyr. Latimer Square, Cranmer Square and Ridley (later Cathedral) Square are all named after martyred bishops. Building of the cathedral did not start until 16 December 1864 and the cathedral was not consecrated until 1 November 1881.

A reasonable of information from the library website. Anyone who has ever been to Christchurch will have been to the Square. When I was growing up the buses all left from the Square and I caught the Lyttelton bus outside the BNZ building. I also remember that there used to be underground toilets for men in the centre of the Square. Us females used to have to go down an alley way to get to our toilets. I can’t remember what year buses and cars were stopped from going through the centre of the Square. There was a huge fuss when it was tiled as this was considered to be dangerous. Most of the buildings around the Square were demolished after the earthquakes. The brand new library is in one corner of the Square. I visit the Square a lot especially on a Friday night because of the food trucks and last night I had my favourite green ninja chips.There was music last night and the Square was busy as it was a pleasant evening. I used to work in the Square at the ANZ which is now an empty section. I decided to use a photo of the old Post Office building rather the Cathedral.

Halkett Street in the Central City, Christchurch

Halkett Street – Formerly Lumbs Lane. Named after John Lumb (1819?-1909) and his wife, Eliza (1839?-1904). Re-named Halkett Street. Probably named after Peter Alexander Halkett (1820?- 1885). In 1875 the city surveyor was instructed to prepare an estimate for the forming and draining of Halkett Street, the property of a Mr Halkett, Halkett, a Commander in the Royal Navy, owned several Town Reserves. He died in Devon, England.

There is a lot of information on the library website for a boring little street. This is a business area of the city and the Montreal St end looks like a driveway rather a road.

Ernlea Terrace in the suburb of Cashmere, Christchurch

Ernlea Terrace – Named after Leonard Ernle Clark (1906- 1964). Clark’s middle name is pronounced Ernlee so the “a” may have been added to ensure his name was pronounced correctly

Very little information on the library website for a street named after an interesting person. The Terrace is named after a man dubbed the forgotten flyer. He was a pilot and was the second person to fly solo from England to NZ and only one of 5 people to fly solo from Australia to NZ. His nickname was the Flying Farmer. He learnt to fly at the Canterbury Aero Club and when he was in England purchased a Percival Gull so that he could fly home for the shearing season. He was a pilot in the Royal Air Force in World War Two.
At the end of this street there is a reserve called Ernle Clark Reserve and it was a pleasant walk here today in the shade of trees as it was such a hot day.
There is a property on this street that sells water to Christchurch people who object to our chlorinated water. The house on this property is fantastic. It is a tiny street with lovely large houses and even the two modern houses are interesting. In the reserve there are signs warning people to stay away from the swans as the swans bite. It is ages since I have walked here.

Wherstead Road in the suburb of Cashmere, Christchurch

Wherstead Road -Probably named after Wherstead, a village in Suffolk, England.

This was a street of mostly lovely old houses but wasn’t possible to take photos. Near the playground there were two very modern ugly houses. This is a posh and expensive area. Very little information on the library website. It is likely that an early settler would have come from the Suffolk area.

Lewis Street in the suburb of Hoon Hay, Christchurch

Lewis Street – Named after the Lewis family. David Lewis (1825- 1874), of Halswell House, arrived in Canterbury in the 1850s. His son, Charles Lewis (1857-1927), was a member of the House of Representatives and also parliamentary whip. He farmed at Halswell where he bred Shropshire cattle.

The library website had a long blurp for a very short uninteresting street. A more modern area of town probably from the 1960s to 1970s. There are a few shops here but the only reason I did this street yesterday was because I needed a geocache for a souvenir. David Lewis is buried at Barbadoes St Cemetery

Brougham Street in the suburb of Addington/ Sydenham in Christchurch

Brougham St – formerly Going’s Road and Pound Road, Lord Brougham Street and Lord St Leonards Street. Sydenham Crescent Road and South Crescent Road were incorporated into Brougham Street. . Named after Henry Peter Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux (1778- 1868). Going’s Road was the section of road east of Colombo Road through to Gasworks Road (later Waltham Road). First mentioned in the Star in 1877 in a report of a meeting of the Heathcote Road Board. Pound Road was the section of what is now Brougham Street west from Colombo Road to Montreal Street. Named after the animal pound there. Lord Brougham Street (section east of Colombo Road) and Lord St Leonards Street (section west of Colombo Road) are both first mentioned in the Star in reports of meetings of the Drainage Board held 1882. Lord St Leonards Street was probably named after St Leonards in Sussex. Re-named Brougham Street in 1889. Brougham was a British lawyer and politician who became Lord Chancellor. Sydenham Crescent Road was re-named South Crescent Road on 7 March 1904 and was later incorporated into Brougham Street.

A huge amount of information from the library website. This is a very long street and is now a major thoroughfare. The road carries a large number of trucks as it goes from the Southern Motorway and joins Opawa Rd leading to the business area in Hillborough and also many trucks go to Lyttelton.
At the Opawa St end I had to take a short detour as there is no footpath. I am then able to use a walkway that eventually joins a footpath. On one side there is mostly businesses and on the other side there are a few houses. There is 2 or 3 blocks of empty land where there used to be a large number of social housing flats. These were badly damaged in the earthquakes.
This street covers three suburbs.In the Sydenham area there are still businesses on one side with a couple of exceptions. One is a tiny church called St Nicholas Rocor Orthodox church and the other is a set brand new apartment complex. The apartments are brightly coloured but everyone I have spoken with agree that these apartments don’t look safe.
Sydenham Park is in this area. Opposite the park is a pile of rubble that used to be a church. This church was demolished by mistake as it was the old Post Office on the other side of Colombo St that supposed to have been demolished. As I get closer to home there are less businesses and more houses.
There is a large retirement complex which is fairly new and this replaced an old historic building. It is still called Nazareth House and google research says that it started as an orphanage in the early 1900s and became a rest home later. I had an ancestor die at Nazareth House in 1913.
As you get closer to the motorway it is mostly housing but there is Addington school on one side and the Samoan Addington Seventh Day Adventist church on the other side of the road.

With further research I found an article in Papers Past dated 1882 and it was about drainage issue. It was asking if Lord Brougham St was synonymous with Going’s Road and the reply was yes. Going’s Road was mentioned as early as 1875. On an Ancestry website I found William Going who came out in 1855 with his family. There were two sons Thomas and George who were farming in South Christchurch in the 1850s and 1860s. I suspect that Going’s Road was named after this family.

Hazeldean Road in the suburb of Addington in Christchurch

 Hazeldean Road – First mentioned in the Star in 1873. First appears in street directories in 1878. Not much information from the library website.This is a street in the industrial area of Addington and most of the businesses seem to be connected to the auto industry.

A small amount of information on the library website, With further research on Papers Past the first mention is in 1873 when someone was fined for having cows on the road.Lots of ads for sale of land and cottages in 1870s and 1880s. In 1875 it was requested that the council look at a footpath for the road. In 1878 a woman was charged with keeping a low brothel. This amused me as I now want to know if there are high brothels. In 1879 there were three ads from a A H Harts of Hazeldean Cottage. In 1900 there was an article about an Engineers Band Room on this street. A big article in 1937 about land needed for new railway station and that all the houses on Hazeldean Road will be demolished. The houses were described as being red brick terraced houses. By the 1940s there seemed to be only ads for car sales and other similar businesses. Couldn’t find anyone with the name of Hazeldean in cemetery records apart from a baby. There was at least one person with the surname Hazeldean living in Christchurch in this period but he was living on Tuam St.