Navarra Road in Halswell and too new for the library website. Council website said that the street was named after the racehorse Navarra Franco.

The houses here have been built between 2022 and 2024 with some empty sections still. No photos as nothing stood out for me here. Modern houses with lawns and shrubs. No colour as not many flowers in the gardens but a few houses did have Christmas decorations in their gardens.

Whitburn Avenue in Halswell and too new to be on the library website. Information from the council website – Whitburn is understood to be the place where John Miln’s mother Catherine lived after his father in Scotland. That sentence from the council website makes no sense at all. It should say after his father died. I don’t know who is responsible for loading the council minutes online but I found found several mistakes. When Catherine Miln died she was living with her daughter and son-in-law in the Whitburn area. Checking the map for Whitburn in Scotland I realised that I would have driven past Whitburn a couple of times when driving between Edinburgh and Glasgow.

None of the houses stood out for me here but as the houses were built between 2020 and 2024 many of the gardens were nice. There was one house with great Christmas decorations and garden ornaments and I would love to have managed to have got a photo here. What I do remember is the lovely reserve here and I visited this reserve a year ago when geocaching. There is also a playground at the Milns Road end called Whitburn Park

Collier Drive in Halswell and too new for the library website. Information from the council website – Jean Collier was one of the first New Zealand women to own property in New Zealand. It would have saved me a lot of time if the council website had her correct name of Jeanie Collier. Last night I searched Ancestry and Papers Past with no luck and then by sheer luck I discovered her correct name. It was nearly midnight so I had another look this morning. Practically nothing on Ancestry and this would be because she was a single woman with no children. Found a few entries on Papers Past with her correct name. There is a Wikipedia page for her but it has very little information. The best information is at Te Ara – Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. She came to New Zealand via Australia aged about 63 and she was accompanied by three nephews and a brother. She took up a property in South Canterbury and is acknowledged as the first woman runholder in New Zealand. She is also supposed to have been the first white woman in the Waimate area. She died in September 1861 and sadly her nephews squandered their inheritance from their aunt. I found a couple of mentions online about her grave including Findagrave and I realised that I had visited her grave. there used to be a multi cache where you needed information from her gravestone. The grave is also what we would call a lonely grave. It is in a paddock down a long rural road in the back of beyond.

Why they decided to name a street after someone who had never lived in Christchurch I don’t know but I certainly seriously sidetracked researching Jeanie Collier. They possibly used this name because Jeanie was born in Scotland and John Miln who originally owned most of the land here was also from Scotland.

This is a fairly long road and the houses didn’t really stand out for me. At one end there are houses on both sides of the street but at the Sparks Road end the houses are only on one side of the street. The other side hasn’t been developed yet. At one spot there was an old looking parking area yet there wasn’t a road here before 2020. I drive down Sparks Road a lot and have watched this area change from farmland to housing subdivisions. Don’t get me started on about all the roadworks this year on Sparks Road in the area.

Mabel Crescent in Halswell and the street is too new to be on the library website. Information from the council website – Mabel is the name of two of the previous owners – Mabel Kearns (1930’s) and Nyra Mavel Symes (1980’s). First obvious mistake is that they have spelt Mabel incorrectly as Mavel. If Nyra Mabel Symes owned this land she had never lived there as she lived on Cashmere Rd including during the 1980s. There was a Margaret Patricia Symes who did live in this area. I had checked Ancestry and Papers Past. Personally I think that Mabel Kearns is the best reason for the name of the street.

There are a few houses built in 2023 and 2024 but also lots of empty sections. There is a footpath on both sides of the street which I like. No photos as nothing stood out for me.

Helen Place in Halswell and it is too new for the library website. I couldn’t find out who the street was named after. I looked at the council website plus Ancestry and Papers Past using the surnames Collier and Kearns. This street looks more established than some of the other streets in the area. The houses here were built between 2020 and 2023 but none stood out for me. What I did find unusual about this street was the end of the street. Most streets of this type have a curved end like a semi circle but this street had a square shape at the end of the street. Edited as I did find information on the council website. Helen McKenna (nee Thornton) is understood to have been John Miln’s second wife, and sister of his third wife Catherine. Found out more information about Helen and it is very sad. She was married very young to a man who had a drinking problem plus he was a bankrupt and he was also violent towards her. He died in 1879 and she married John Miln in 1880. She died in 1882 aged 29 and her son was only 12 months old.

Larissa Road in Halswell and it is too new for the library website. The council website said that the street is named after a racehorse Larissa’s Desire. The houses here were all built between 2022 and 2024 and none really stood out for me. There was one built from black bricks and I wish that I could have taken a photo of it. When I was in Adelaide my sister and I had a couple of conversations about houses being built from black bricks. A few houses had outdoor Christmas decorations but I still didn’t manage any photos for this street.

Kearns Drive in Halswell and too new to be on the library website. I couldn’t find out on the council website about the reason for the name but they did mention that the road was being damaged by anti social driving. It is possibly named after a family that lived in the area and there is still a family with that name living nearby. There are a few houses built in 2023 and 2024 but it is mostly empty sections. There is one house that dates from 2000 and it possibly originally had a Halswell Rd address. Edited to say that the house built in 2000 would have originally been at 42 Milns Rd. The land was possibly owned by Hugh and Mabel Alice Kearns but it doesn’t look like they ever lived here. From council website – Mabel Alice Kearns owned the property from the 1930’s to 1950’s.

I walked through the reserve that runs from Whitburn Ave to Kearns Drive. The house dating from 2000 is on a very large section and looked well established compared to the other houses on the street.

Winifred Ave in Halswell and too new for the library website. Information from the council website – Winifred Rogers was a strong pioneering woman from Hartlepool, who became a theatre sister (operating-room nurse) in one of London’s largest hospitals in the late 1880’s before making the long journey out to New Zealand, where she settled in the Halswell area and worked in the medical profession for many years.

I searched Papers Past, Findagrave and Ancestry but couldn’t find out any information about this woman. She was possibly the Winifred Rogers mentioned in Papers Past as a Nursing Cadet in St Johns but I would have expected her to have been beyond being a cadet in the 1930s assuming that the council have the correct information about her. I couldn’t find anyone with that name living in the Halswell area when I checked the electoral rolls.

This street is only a few metres long and the locals use it as a car park. No houses here yet and I couldn’t manage a photo here because of how many cars were parked here.

Mary Quinn Ave in Halswell and too new to be on the library website. Information from the council website – Mary Quinn came from London as a young girl with her family in the 1870’s. Mary was a very pioneering woman who due to the death of her parents at a young age carried on farming in the Halswell area as a single woman for many years.

The wording on the council website is slightly strange. I searched both Papers Past and Ancestry and couldn’t find out anything about this woman. The street is only a few metres long and I remember walking here last year and it hasn’t changed. No houses here yet and locals tend to just use it as a car park. There is a roundabout here separating it from Collier Drive and I don’t recall the roundabout being here last year but I can’t find the photo that I thought I had taken last year.

Dalness Crescent in Halswell and it is too new to be on the library website. The council website said that it is named after a racehorse called Dalness Xchange. The houses here are built in 2023 and 2024 with some still being built. I had noticed when walking around the streets in this area that every house had a fairly large circular object in the front lawn. On this street I ended up chatting to a workman who said that they were to do with water and drains and that it cost each house owner $20,000 to have installed. He also said that all new houses have to have them. He personally preferred older houses. This street only had a footpath on one side of the street.