Chapter Street in St Albans – Named after a position in the Anglican church. A chapter is the name given to the clergy associated with a cathedral. It usually consists of the dean of the cathedral and residentiary canons. One of a number of streets with names with Anglican associations, chosen when the Church Property Trustees sold their land. Dedicated in 1907. First appears in street directories in 1908.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website and nothing that I can add about the name of the street. Huge number of entries on Papers Past and this was because of the status of the people who lived on this street. Many of the entries related to the social activities of the residents. Their social events were recorded along with who was visiting them plus reporting them going away on holiday. Many had holiday homes and it would be mentioned whenever they went to stay at their baches / holiday homes. There were many death notices as well as other family notices such as births and weddings. Between 1908 and 1910 there were a huge number of ads for the sale of sections. During World War One an artist Frederick Saxby Candy was mentioned. I couldn’t find out much more information about him. I was hoping to find examples of his artwork but google will only give me images of lollies because of Americans using the word candy for lollies/ sweets. Very annoying.

In 1926 there was a further subdivision of church land and the street was extended to Rutland St. In the 1930s there were a few mentions of a couple of suicides and the men were involved in the finance industry.

In 1945 Rev Brittan died aged 97 and he came out to New Zealand as a two year child with his family. There were a fair number of people connected to the Anglican church living on this street. Many of the family names from this street are still well known surnames in Christchurch.

Entries from 1950s onwards were mostly death notices.

This is a street with seriously gorgeous houses on it but I only managed a couple of photos. Some of the houses have been demolished after the earthquakes and replaced with ugly modern houses that don’t fit in with the character of the street. These houses really ruin the look of a lovely street. A huge number of the houses date between 1905 and 1930s. I wish that I could have got a photo of one of the houses from 1905 as it was gorgeous with a fantastic garden but the view was blocked by a vehicle. I looked at street view but an aged concern vehicle was blocking the view of the house. Tempted to go back to the street just to get a photo. There was another gorgeous house from 1910 but there was a huge big truck in the driveway plus blocking the footpath. It better not be getting demolished. Loved the street but the houses would be well beyond my price range plus I actually like living within walking distance of the central city. I am also within walking distance of the hospital and yes I am still in my son’s bad books for walking to the hospital when I had that weird illness last year.

Tavendale Place in St Albans – Formed on land previously owned by Ernest Alexander Ching (1910?-1969), a carpenter. In 1957 he is listed as living at 117 Mays Road where this street was formed. Named in 1955. First appears in street directories in 1960.

A reasonable amount of information from the library but I couldn’t find out why it was called Tavendale. Probably named after a person but I couldn’t find out who it was named after. I couldn’t find a link with Ernest Ching. Ernest was born in Kaiapoi in 1918. He was a conscientious objector in World War Two and he was granted a divorce from his wife in 1965. It didn’t give a reason for the divorce which was unusual for those days. He was living with his mother after his divorce and was living with her when he died. This would have made him only 51 when he died. None of the family trees on Ancestry website mentions the divorce. Both Ernest and his wife Dorothy appeared in court occasionally on minor charges.

Nothing much in Papers Past about the street just a few death notices and a few ads.

Most houses were built in the 1950s and a couple were demolished after the earthquakes and rebuilt. Footpath on both sides of the road and it seemed like a pleasant street.

Mathias Street in St Albans – Named after Archdeacon Octavius Mathias (1805-1864). Mathias was the vicar of Christchurch and the commissary of Bishop Selwyn. Formed on land that had been originally 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 1938.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website. Interesting that the library website calls him the vicar of Christchurch. Articles on Papers Past give him the title of Archdeacon of Akaroa. Previously he was Rector of Canterbury. He was living at Willow Lodge in Riccarton when he died aged 59.

Not a huge amount of information on Papers Past plus there was a street with the same name in Darfield. In 1926 there were several ads for the Church Property subdivision sections. There were still ads for the sale of sections in the 1930s plus mention of best garden awards. In the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s it was mostly best garden awards mentioned. A few death notices.

Most of the houses on this short street were built in 1930 and there was a house that was supposed to have been built in 2023 but it is probably a 1930s house that has been modernised. This was a pleasant tree lined street with some lovely houses.

Samantha Lawry Road in Hornby and it is too new to be on the library website or on google maps. I managed to find out who Samantha Lawry was and it is very sad. She died in a car accident in 2001 aged 12. The accident was on an icy road in the middle of winter. Her family lived on Awatea Road where this street is being developed. Her father died last year and he was only 70 which is my age. The council approved the name of the street in 2023 but didn’t say why the name. The houses are still being built here but a couple have been finished and it looked like they were occupied.

There is a pleasant walkway behind the street which I walked to get back to where I had parked my car.

Schofield Lane in Hornby and too new to be on the library website about streets. I couldn’t find the council information but I found a wee bit of information on a different part of the library website – Typescript draft titled historical information in the Wigram area by W. Raymond Schofield, detailing the history of farms and individuals in the area.

William R Schofield lived at 72 Awatea Road and this lane was developed behind his property. William died in 2012 and the houses on this lane were built between 2017 and 2019. William’s father Joseph lived at 48 Awatea Road and he died in 1985 aged 100. Joseph sounds like a fit man as there was an article in Papers Past about him walking the Bridle Path at the age of 93.

This is a private lane with no footpaths with only about 3 or 4 houses so I didn’t actually walk. I never feel comfortable walking such lanes as I feel like I am in private property.

Griselinia Crescent in Wigram and too new for library website. It is probably named after a plant. I did check ancestry website as I was expecting it to be named after a member of the Dellaca family. As I started writing this I decided to have another google and found information on the council website – Griselinia is a genus of seven species of shrubs and trees, with a highly disjunct distribution native to New Zealand and South America. It is a classic example of the Antarctic flora. It is a broadleaf, named for Franseco Griselini, an Italian naturalist from the 1700s.

This street is on maps but it hasn’t been developed or formed yet. The developers map on the council website was interesting as it was showing several houses on a section where I know that there is only one house.

Agathis Crescent in Wigram and too new for library website. It would have been named after a plant. This street wasn’t here last time I was in the area. I was checking one of my geocaches in Zinnia Park. Note it seems to be missing. The park was much smaller then and today I was able to walk to this street. When I hid the geocache in the park there was a paddock where there is now this street. Houses were built between 2022 and 2024 and they all looked almost exactly the same but I didn’t get a photo. It is a bit of a pity as almost all of them had a red front door and this amused me. The crescent runs off Brusio Drive and this is where my iphone got confused as Apple maps said that not only was the street in Hornby but had part of Brusio Drive as being Agathis Crescent. Luckily google maps had it correctly in Wigram and had it as a crescent and not a rectangle shape.

Edited as I found information on the council website – Agathis, commonly known as kauri, is a genus of 22 species of evergreen tree. The name agathis is derived from Greek and means ‘ball of thread’ for the distinctive cone. The kauri is the most famous native tree in New Zealand, mainly because it is among the largest trees in the world.

Ensete Road in Wigram and too new for the library website. It would have been named after a plant. Houses here were built between 2018 and 2021 and no photos as none of them stood out for me. Modern houses with lawns and a few shrubs. Footpath on only one side of the street. What came to mind was boring.

Hosta Lane in Wigram and too new for the library website. It will have been named after a plant. The valuation website said that the houses were built in 2018 which surprised me as I walked this area in 2020 and I don’t recall any houses here. When I walked Myrtle Rd and Brusio Drive in 2020 I made a note that there were houses being built and a couple of unnamed streets here.

I didn’t walk this street as it was another narrow private lane with no footpaths. It was also a crescent shape which is unusual for a lane. No photos for this street

Dianthus Place in Wigram and too new for the library website. It would have been named after a plant. Houses built between 2020 and 2022 but none stood out for me. Footpath on only one side of the street and the best thing about the street was the walkway through to another walkway.