Bennett Street in St Albans – formerly Bennett’s Street. Named after Thomas Bennett Tomes (1821?- 1875). Tomes, a grazier, bought Rural Section 276, 50 acres in Papanui Road. Bennett’s Street first appears in street directories in 1892. Becomes Bennett Street in 1918.

A small amount of information from the library website and I couldn’t find anything to show that the street was ever called Bennett’s Street.

I did found a couple of entries as Bennett’s Street in 1923 and 1930. Papers Past had entries between 1882 and 1900 for sections for sale for Bennett Street. The sections were a subdivision for the Tomes Brothers in an area known as Scottston. In 1906 there were plans for extrending Bennett Street. There were several birth and death notices. In the 1950s and 1960s there were entries for the best garden competitions.

There were several houses built between 1910 and 1920 and they were all between Tomes Rd and Paparoa Street. The houses built between 1970 and 1990 were between Tomes Rd and Mays Rd. There were a couple of rebuilds amongst the houses.

A pleasant street that I walked on Tuesday afternoon. Some of the older houses were really lovely. Because I walked this street at the end of the school day there were lots of cars parked on the street plus I had to worry about cyclists speeding on the footpath.

Lingard Street in St Albans – Named after Archdeacon Edward Atherton Lingard (1839-1903). Lingard was a schoolmaster and later vicar of St. Luke’s Anglican Church 1867-1902. The street was formed on land formerly owned by the Anglican diocese. Described as a “new” street in The Press in 1926 when the Church Property Trustees advertises sections for sale in their St Albans West subdivision. First appears in street directories in 1928.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website. Not much information on Papers Past. The article in 1926 said that the road was formed as part of the extension of Chapter St. In 1929 there were sections for sale. A few death notices and ads plus in the 1950s and 1960s best street competitions were mentioned.

This was a short street that I walked on Tuesday afternoon and half of the houses were built in 1920 and 1930s. A couple of ugly modern houses on the street.

Claremont Avenue in Papanui – formerly Wakefield Avenue. Probably named after Claremont House, a large 18th century mansion near Esher in Surrey. Wakefield Avenue first appears in street directories in 1924. Re-named Claremont Avenue on 1 September 1948 when 120 streets were re-named. A Papanui war memorial street.

A small amount from the library website. I thought that it was highly likely to have been named after Claremont House in Surrey as the Claremont area near Timaru was supposed to have been named after Claremont House. I then looked at the Rhodes family who had owned Claremont Estate near Timaru and they were from Yorkshire. A quick google gave me Claremont House in Yorkshire near Leeds. Several streets in this area have streets names connected to the Rhodes family.

Very few entries on Papers Past and for Wakefield Ave most entries were for Wakefield Ave in Sumner. For the Papanui street there were just a few ads. As Claremont Ave there was mostly entries for best garden competition plus a few death notices.

I walked this street yesterday and made the mistake of walking it near 3pm. This street was full of cars parked up waiting for children to get out of a nearby school. At least half of the houses on this street were built in 1920 and the rebuilds since the earthquakes looked out of place. It is a tree lined street but the trees were on the road rather the the footpath which I haven’t seen before. I totally missed the plaque for this street being a War Memorial street which annoyed me as I like to get photos of the plaques. Still all the plaques have the exactly same wording on them.

Norfolk Street in St Albans – Formerly Fisher Street. Named after Robert Fisher Tomes (1856- 1923). Re-named Norfolk Street. Tomes was a son of Thomas Bennett Tomes (1821?-1875). Fisher Street is first mentioned in the Star in 1879 in a report of a meeting of the Sydenham Borough Council. First appears in street directories in 1894. Re-named Norfolk Street in 1905 when a “Mr T. M. Abbott” wrote to the Avon Road Board asking for the name change. A Papanui war memorial street. [When the kerb and channel was renewed in 2008 efforts were made to retain the appeal of the oak trees so they could remain a WW2 memorial for the community.]

A reasonable amount of information from the library website and I will cover the Tomes family when I write up Tomes Rd. There is a mistake in the library information as the Fisher St mentioned in the Sydenham Borough Council meeting in 1879 is a totally different street. There were three streets named Fisher Street as there was also one in New Brighton. The one in Sydenham was renamed Fisher Avenue.

The first mention in Papers Past of the Fisher Street in St Albans / Papanui was in 1892 when the Tomes Brothers subdivided a property known as Scottston into 72 sections. There were also sections for sale in the 1920s and 1950s. In April 1905 Mr T M Abbott wrote in on behalf of the residents that they were prepared to guarantee the amount required for the formation of the street. In June of that same year Mr T M Abbott requested the name change to Norfolk St. I couldn’t find a reason for the Norfolk name as there didn’t seem to be a connection to Norfolk for the Abbott family. The Abbott family owned a business called Exeter Nursery in Papanui Rd. There were several death notices including a very young child who was the young son of Thomas Mason Abbott. I needed to check the ancestry website as the cemetery database had Thomas Mason Abbott death in 1904. The Thomas Mason Abbott mentioned in 1905 is the grandson of the Thomas Mason Abbott who died in 1904. The young child who died was also Thomas Mason Abbott.

This street is a pleasant tree lined street and it is one of the Papanui Memorial Streets. There is at least one house from every decade and I managed to get a photo of the house that was built in 1905. The house built in 2024 is extremely ugly. I walked this street yesterday before going to my son’s house to babysit my granddaughter.

I can’t believe that I missed this when I walked Mays Rd a few weeks ago. There was a bridge built here in 1913 that went over Dudley Creek. Dudley Creek is a very long creek that goes through several suburbs. In Christchurch there are lots of creeks running under the city. In the old days there were bridges over the various creeks but they are now hidden under the roads

Campana Lane in St Albans – The Riach family owned the Campana Hardy Plan Nursery for eighty years before selling the land to Mike Greer Homes in 2014. Named in 2016. Mike Greer homes development of 6 plots off 84 Tomes Street.

A small amount of information from the update library website. It was actually developed at 84 Tomes Road.

Managed to get information from Papers Past and the ancestry website. For the street it was mostly just ads on Papers Past. I got a reasonable amount of information about the owner of 84 Tomes Road once I sorted out the correct member of the Riach family. There were two men with the name Douglas Riach but eventually found Desmond Douglas Riach. In 1955 Desmond Riach had returned from Britain after being a student gardener at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew. He had received high marks. Before his trip to Britain he had worked for the Reserves Dept of the Christchurch Council. He was one of the judges for the Papanui Beautifying Society. Desmond and his family lived at 84 Tomes Rd and he was described as a nurseryman. His parents lived next door at 94 Tomes Rd and his father was described as a dairyman. Desmond died in Oxford in 2021 and there was an obituary for him in the NZ Garden Journal. In 2024 his collection of Botanical Book Collection was auctioned off.

There are only 6 houses here built in 2017 and it wasn’t possible to walk this street as it had a locked gate blocking it. This is the first time that I have come across something like this.

Jed Lane in St Albans – A private right-of-way named in 1967. A tiny amount of information from the library website. The updated library website had added that it was possibly named after HMS Jed.

There were two ships named HMS Jed and one was in service between 1904 and 1919 and the second one was in service between 1942 and 1957. They were named after a river in Scotland.

There was very little information on Papers Past and it was mostly a few ads. In April 1967 this street was mentioned in the article that had the headline Navel Names for Streets.

The houses here were built in the 1960s and there was a footpath that went a short way up the lane but I didn’t walk this private lane. Sometimes it just doesn’t feel comfortable walking such streets.

Springfield Road in St Albans – Named after the Springfield Estate in Papanui Road. James Wyatt of Bangor, Wales was granted Rural Section 136, 100 acres in Papanui Road and was presumably an absentee landowner. His son, Benjamin, arrived on the Cressy in 1850, aged 22 years. He is described in the Lyttelton Times in 1856 as a “farmer of Papanui Road”. He was also a Church Property trustee. He returned to England in 1859, the year his wife, Sophia, died, and the Springfield Estate was auctioned and bought by David Innes (1830-1865). The property was leased in 1868 by Count Gerard Gustavus Ducarel de Lapasture, later the 4th Marquis de Lapasture (1838- 1916) who lived at Springfield for only a short time, leaving shortly after his first wife, Léontine “Lilly”, died in childbirth there, aged 26, in 1869. Her daughter, Monica Lilly, was baptised at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament on 19 April 1869. Later lessees were: Captain William Newton Millton (1816- 1889) and James Richard Hill (1836-1898), a bank manager. By the time the property was advertised for sale in The Press in 1879 by Innes’ trustees, the land had been subdivided with only 24½ acres remaining of the original estate. John Thomas Matson (1845-1895) bought the property. He imported ostriches, llamas and many kinds of rare birds and farmed them at Isleworth and Springfield. Matson’s widow, Marion, died in 1917 at the home in Murray Place of her daughter, Helen Hamilton Garrick (d. 1949) and her husband, Septimus Keith Garrick (d. 1934). The name of their residence had been changed to Springfield at the request of Marion Matson as their home was on part of what had been the Springfield Estate. The original Springfield homestead was on Papanui Road. Springfield Road is first mentioned in The Lyttelton Times in 1858. First appears in street directories in 1878.

A huge amount of information from the library website. The Springfield Estate was also known as Springfield Farm. There were several properties known as Springfield Estate throughout Canterbury. I suspect that Springfield Estate was named after the springs on the property. Papers Past had many entries about drainage issues on the street plus the springs and creeks in the area were mentioned. There were a huge number of entries on Papers Past and it took me hours of reading. Large number of birth and death notices plus social notices.

In 1858 there were just a couple of ads relating to jury lists. In 1860 George Gould a merchant was mentioned and his name was frequently mentioned in Papers Past. Most properties had names and two of them were called Eversleigh and Abberley. Not everyone liked George Gould as in 1867 there was an arson attempt on his house. His property was called Hambleden. A letter to the editor in 1869 complained about the tall gum trees on his property. In 1869 Mr Gould offered to pay half of the expense of metalling the road. In 1868 there were several complaints about Mr Joynt obstructing the watercourse on the north side of the road.

In 1873 apart from complaints about the footpath the best entry was about a escaped wallaby. The wallaby managed to get into a paddock with some cattle. The cattle complained rather loudly about the intruder into their paddock. In 1878 there was a letter to the editor complaining about telephone poles being erected. I found an article in 1931 about the first telephone in New Zealand being here. It was a telephone for J T Smith and Co between their office in Hereford St and the factory in Springfield Rd. In 1879 the residents objected to being annexed by the Borough of Christchurch. There was diphtheria reported on this street in 1882. In 1884 there was an accident and the defendant blamed a Chinaman’s cart for the accident. I wondered if the cart belonged to the Chinaman that Rutland St was originally named after. Also in 1884 two men were charged with operating a disorderly house on this street.

In 1886 the bones of a baby were dug up and they were in a small box. The courts decided that the bones belonged to a stillborn baby. Must have been a shock to the new owner of the property as he had only owned it for a week when he dug up the bones. In 1888 George Gould withdrew his offer of land for widening the road. Reason for his withdrawal was that the other residents in the street had withdrawn their offers. George Gould died in 1889. Sadly his son died in a gun accident in 1890. He was climbing through a wire fence with a loaded rifle. Also in 1890 there were complaints about the nightcarts stand on the street. Sounds like they were stored on the street.

In 1892 the estate of the late G Gould was to be subdivided. I was amused by a letter of complaint about cyclists on footpaths. The person complaining called them animals. Over the years cyclists were frequently fined for riding on the footpath. Personally I think that this is a good idea to fine cyclists. In 1899 the creek crossing the street was mentioned and in 1900 a concrete bridge was to be built to replace the wooden one.

In 1901 the two flower nurseries on the street were briefly mentioned and in 1919 there was an article about John Dutton florist establishment and nursery. In 1916 the business Griffiths and Co was mentioned as one of their bottles was used in a hoax in Lyttelton. By this date the business was probably closed as the owners were declared bankrupt a couple of years earlier. In 1923 the St Albans police quarters moved from Springfield Road to St Albans Street.

In 1922 the St Matthew Victory Memorial School opened on this street. In 1959 this school got new iron gates to replace the wooden ones. The school had their 75th anniversary the same year. It was founded in 1884 and renamed in 1922 when they had moved to Springfield Rd. In 1967 St Margaret’s College took over the school to be used as a primary school. In 1978 St Margaret’s Junior School moved from the Springfield Rd site.

In the 1920s the residents complained about buses using their street. These complaints continued for several decades. In 1926 there was an article about the south end of the street having many springs and this made the road very boggy. It was this article that made me wonder if this is how Springfield Estate received it’s name.

In 1910 the road board was still discussing widening road. They were still discussing it in 1929. They eventually did the road widening in 1930 but they removed many old oak trees because of the road widening. There were lots of complains about the trees being cut down as the trees were 70 years old. These trees had been planted by Mr George Gould’s father.

In 1929 a well known property on the corner of Springfield Rd and Bealey Ave was to be sold for a subdivision. Then in 1935 there was an article about the late George Gould’s house Hambleden to be purchased by the state to be used as a Vice Regal house. A few months later there was a another article saying that the article about the house having been purchased by the state was an error. In 1930 the new St Albans tennis club was opened.

In the 1940s it was mostly bus services mentioned in Papers Past plus death notices. In 1953 the RSA decided to sell their vacant section on this street. The previous year there had been grass fires on the section.

In 1956 a house was purchased for the Rehua Maori Hostel. Lots of entries about the hostel and it housed Maori apprentices. In 1963 a Marae was planned to be built next to the hostel. In June in 1973 there were a few problems as there were at least five petrol bombs found at the hostel. In 1974 two men on motorbikes shot at three apprentices when they were walking into the hostel.

In 1951 the council acquired land in Springfield Rd for the building of 24 pensioner cottages. They were still talking about building the pensioner cottages in 1971 but the lack of subsidy was a problem. Sounded like there had been a subsidy available when the council purchased the land. These cottages are probably the ones on Harold Denton Place.

In 1964 Superior Motels and Scotts Food Store Ltd got a mention. In 1972 the house on the corner of Holly Rd and Springfield Rd was to be demolished. The Ferrymead Trust wanted to preserve it as it was the home of the first Town Clerk. George Gordon was appointed as Town Clerk in 1854. In 1974 the new Durham St access road was being formed between the top of Durham St and Springfield Rd. The new part of Durham St would be two way while the rest of Durham St would be one way.

In 1979 the Rudolf Steiner School was mentioned and this was set up in the St Mathew’s Victory School / St Margaret’s Junior School building. In 1982 the building was sold to a group called the Full Gospel Fellowship.

I walked this street last Wednesday when I went from WEA to my son’s house. There are nearly 300 houses on this street and they cover every decade from 1880 to 2023. Still a reasonable number of the older houses left and the most gorgeous one is called Springfield Manor. This house was built in 1910 for Robert English an engineer. Most of the older houses are in good condition and I wish that I had managed more photos. There were some really ugly modern houses. Many different styles of houses. Many of the houses were built between 1970 and 1990. Apart from houses there is a shop plus a couple of medical centres. There was a big building with a sign saying Empower. I hadn’t taken a lot of notice of this building thinking that it was related to the power company but it was actually a church. It was probably where the St Matthew’s Victory School/ St Margaret’s School used to be. I googled and the original building was demolished after the earthquakes. Apparently it is unknown what happened to the roll of honour boards from the school.

Rutland Street in St Albans – Formerly Chinaman’s Road. Re-named Churchill Street. Named after the Most Rev. Churchill Julius (1847-1938). Also formerly Church Road. Named because the Anglican diocese owned land in this area. Re-named Rutland Street. Named after John Rutland (1825-1897) Chinaman’s Lane was completed in 1889 and the street naming committee was asked to recommend a name for the street. Re-named Churchill Street in 1891. Church Road first appears in street directories in 1887. The streets were combined and re-named Rutland Street on 7 March 1904. Rutland was a builder and clerk of works. He built Craigie-Lea, a large house there. This later became the boarding hostel for the Christchurch Girls’ High School. He also designed the Wesleyan (Methodist) Church in St Albans.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website and there is a mistake in the library information. John Rutland lived on Papanui Rd and Acland House is on Papanui Rd.

For a change this street was named after someone who wasn’t a bankrupt.

There was very little information about Chinaman’s Road on Papers Past and in 1888 the works committee wanted to widen the road but Mr Harris refused to give land for the road widening. Between 1889 and 1891 the street was referred to the street naming committee for renaming. I couldn’t find out who Chinaman’s Street was named after. The only mention of this street when it was Churchill St was when it was renamed Rutland St in 1904. There was a Churchill St in the central city which is still there and all entries were about this street.

I possibly missed a few entries on Papers Past but there was a Rutland St in Auckland and this created thousands of entries so I limited my search to Rutland Street St Albans. In 1906 new culverts were built and in 1915 the street was widened. A couple of farmers were fined for allowing sheep and horses to wander. There were many death notices over the years. There were several accidents on the corner of Rutland St and Innes Road which was interesting as these days at certain times this corner is a nightmare. I am pleased that in the early evening on Mondays I am driving in the opposite direction to the long traffic jam on Rutland St. In 1909 permission to build a shop on the corner of Rutland St and McFaddens Road was declined. In 1953 a private kindergarten was opened at the Presbyterian Sunday School. In 1967 a dairy owner from this street was charged under the abortion act. She performed abortions at her premises until she was raided by the police.

This street now has a cycleway on both sides which makes the street fairly narrow which is why there is such a problem at the corner of Rutland St and Innes Rd. At peak times there is such a long queue of cars wanting to turn right that they block the cars wanting to go straight ahead.

The houses here cover every decade with many from the 1920s. Many older houses have sadly been replaced with ugly modern houses. There is one interesting looking art deco house on the street. I walked this street on Wednesday after WEA. I ended up babysitting my granddaughter on Wednesday morning and my son dropped me off at WEA and afterwards I walked back to my son’s house. Google maps said it would take me an hour but I managed it about 40 to 45 minutes.

At the St Albans Street end of the street there was the Rutland St Church. A bit further along there is St Albans Catholic Church School. There were then houses until near Innes Rd where there is a big building at Rugby Park and opposite there are shops. There were memorial gates at this park. Then there is an older building which has a sign saying The Oratory and I had to google it. It is something to do with the Catholic Church. Getting near the end of the street there is a kindergarten and nearby is the oldest house on the street. The house was built in 1905 and I couldn’t believe that I missed getting a photo of it so I cheated and took a screenshot from google maps.

Homersham Place in Burnside – First appears in street directories in 1993. Named after Brian Homersham (1915‐1983) and Contance Homersham née Pinwill (1918‐2016) founders of B. R. Homersham Ltd.

Additional information In 1975 the Hamershams purchased two hectares of land at 155 Roydvale Avenue to construct a purpose built factory for the business. The company, now known as Homersham Ltd, has its headquarters in Homersham Place opposite the location of the old factory. First appears in street directories in 1993. Further information – Homersham History

A reasonable amount of information from the new library website. The old website only had that it first appeared in street directories in 1993. They did manage to make a couple of spelling mistakes in the names.

In Brian Homersham’s obituary it mentions that he went Christchurch Boys High and then he was an apprenticeship to MED. He travelled to Britain in 1939 and he married Constance in England. The family trees on Ancestry are confusing as they say that he remarried in 1976 but didn’t mention him divorcing his first wife.

This street still has businesses here and weirdly the street sign points down the Untouched World carpark rather than the actual street. I had coffee with a friend at Untouched World last week and it seemed rude not to walk such a short street.