Harrow Street in Phillipstown – formerly William Street. Named after Harrow, a town in the London Borough of Harrow, North West London. William Street first appears in street directories in 1896.Re-named Harrow Street on 7 March 1904. Among a number of streets re-named in 1904 and given the names of place-names in the United Kingdom. Further information The Press, 2 September 1930, p 12 [This article lists Harrow Street as named by Redpath. This is incorrect as Harrow Street was named much earlier and is not mentioned in the 1909 article]
A small amount of information from the library website. On Papers Past as William Street there was just a few ads plus some death notices. The article in 1904 about the name change from William Street to Harrow Street stated that it was because of duplication of street names because of Sydenham, St Albans and Linwood amalgamating. Still lots of death notices as Harrow Street. The Aldwin family were mentioned a few times from 1920s through to 1940s.
There are still a few older houses on this street dating between 1905 to 1920. There is at least one house from every decade and several built in 1990s and 2000s. The older houses have been getting demolished and replaced by ugly modern houses. I got sidetracked on this street by a steampunk house and I especially loved the skeleton in the garden.
Glasgow Street in Phillipstown – Named after Glasgow, a city in Scotland. Named by John Alexander Redpath (1846?-1942) in 1909 when he subdivided his land there and laid out the new streets. He founded the firm of J A Redpath & Sons Ltd., coal merchants. Redpath’s wife was born Rose Ann Glasgow (1843?- 1921) and the street could also have been named in her honour. First appears in street directories in 1913
A small amount of information from the library website. As both John Alexander Redpath and his wife Rose Ann Glasgow were born in Ireland I personally think that the street was named after John’s wife. I found the same article from 1909 that mentioned the new streets Glasgow St and Newcastle St. There were the usual death notices for the street. Lots of birth notices as there was a Nurse Adam’s at 9 Glasgow St. There were new sewers for the street in 1927. John Alexander Redpath had a son also called John Alexander Redpath. I got a bit confused for a moment about the wives of the men but I think that John Alexander Redpath Junior remarried after his first wife died. John Alexander Redpath Junior possibly also had a son with the same name. Looked at Ancestry website but that got too confusing.
Only 28 houses here and 13 of them were built between 1910 and 1920 plus there was one built in 1905. Most are in good condition but suspect that they will gradually disappear and be replaced with multi modern ugly units as this is already happening here. I liked this street with the lovely older houses.
Gatherer Street in Phillipstown – Formerly Victoria Street. Named after HM Queen Victoria (1819- 1901). Re-named Gatherer Street. Named after James Gatherer (1830-1877) and his wife, Margaret Gatherer (1837?- 1900). Victoria Street first appears in street directories in 1892, running off Tuam Street. It ran parallel with Albert Street, later Saxon Street and was an unformed street. James Gatherer, a horse dealer, is mentioned in the Star in a report of a meeting of the Heathcote Road Board in 1877. Sections in Gatherer’s Paddock, Cashel Street East, are advertised in the Star for sale in 1879. Tenders were called for the formation of Gatherer Street in 1880. In 1884 Mrs Gatherer is listed living at Strickland
House in Strickland Street. First appears in street directories in 1906.
A reasonable amount of information from the library website but I don’t believe that this street was ever called Victoria Street. On Papers Past I found a council report from 1904 where it stated that Victoria Street, Linwood to be renamed Osborne Street.
I eventually found the 1880 ad for tenders for forming the street and it would have helped if the library website had the street name correct. In the 1880s the street was called Gatherer’s Street. Note if the street was called Gatherer’s Street in the 1880s it was hardly likely to be called Victoria Street.
There was the usual death notices. In 1907 there were several sections for sale from a deceased estate. A stable was destroyed by fire in 1908. There was an article in 1970 about a house being demolished and the interior walls were lined with newspapers from 1863. From the 1960s the street seems to have been zoned industrial and Papers Past only had ads for businesses. James Gatherer was often in the court news usually for wandering horses but he also was possibly an angry drunk. He was a horse dealer.
There are only businesses on this street and even though I walked this street on a Saturday afternoon it was impossible to walk on the footpaths as the businesses had cars parked on the footpaths.
Fred Allen Lane in Phillipstown and nothing on the library website.
This street runs off Olliviers Road and is probably named after Fred Allen who was a coach of the All Blacks. Fred was born in Oamaru but he moved to Christchurch as a child with his mother. He went to Phillipstown school and they lived on Olliviers Road. There is a Wikipedia for Fred Allen.
There are 8 houses here all built in 2019 and they all look exactly the same.
A tiny amount of information on the library website. There wasn’t much information on Papers Past for this street. There was a report from the Council recommending that the short street that ran between Cashel Street and Essex Street be named Raglan Street. There was another report with almost exactly the same wording dated 1924. There were a few death notices and a few personal ads. In 1926 the residents in Cashel Street requested a tram stop to be installed on Raglan Street. The street was flooded in 1987 when there was a ruptured water main on Cashel Street. The street is shown on the old map from 1912.
There are houses here but they aren’t on the valuation website so I suspect that they are social housing. The houses are only on the one side of the street. The other side of the street had a big section that seemed to belong to a building that was on Essex Street. There was a sign on a fence on Cashel Street that said Raglan Reserve. The council website said that it is a public park but it looked like a private property and there didn’t seem to be an entrance to this reserve.
Essex Street in Phillipstown – formerly Old Stanmore Road and Gordon Street. Named after Essex, a county in the East of England. Old Stanmore Road is first mentioned in the Star in 1870. Re-named Gordon Street in 1881. Re-named Essex Street on 7 March 1904. Among a number of streets re-named in 1904 and given the names of place-names in the United Kingdom.
A small amount of information from the library website. Note I have used the information from the old streets of Christchurch library website as the new streets information on the Christchurch library website has even less information. Yes I have found a way of accessing both old and new Streets of Christchurch information on the library website. Personally the old website was much better than the new and ‘improved’ website.
Most of the information on Papers Past about Old Stanmore Road were complaints about the state of the road and drainage issues. The earliest complaint about the state of the road was in 1867. The drainage issues seem to relate to a defective artesian well.
In 1881 under the Heathcote Road Board there was a request to change the name of the street from Old Stanmore Road to Gordon Street. I couldn’t find a reason for the name change but after checking the cemetery database I have potentially come up with a reason for the Gordon name. George Gordon was the first Town clerk of the city and he died in his 50s in 1875. Many of the streets in this area are named after his associates.
Under the Gordon Street name I have possibly missed entries on Papers Past but there was also a Gordon Street in Sydenham so I limited my search to Gordon Street Linwood. As usual there were lots of birth and death notices for the street. Sadly many of the death notices were for children. Typhoid was a big problem in parts of Christchurch and there were drainage issues in this area. Between 1894 and 1903 there were several entries about the female refuge on this street. In 1904 the name of the street was changed from Gordon Street to Essex Street. The council report didn’t say why but one possible reason could be the fact that there was another Gordon Street in Sydenham.
In 1921 Stacey and Hawker’s Bakery known as Essex Bakery started using the SX trademark. This symbol is on at least three buildings on this street and nearby Clothier Street. This business took up a large block of land on Essex Street and Clothier Street. Papers Past had hundreds of ads for this business.
In 1928 the new Essex Home is to be built and it will be built in brick and erected on the site of the old female refuge. This building is still there and is now emergency housing. Most of it fronts onto a fairly new street called Elmdale Lane but it’s official address is 62 Essex St. I had my older son here in 1979 but it closed down in 1980.
The map from 1912 has the street as Essex St but the map from 1879 shows the street but it doesn’t have a name on it. Between Fitzgerald Ave and Clothier Street the buildings are all businesses including a cafe. Between Clothier Street and Saxon Street the business Goodman Fielder takes up one side of the street. On the other side there are houses and most seem to be in reasonable condition. Out of the 11 houses on the street 6 of them were built between 1880 and 1915.
Clothier Street in Phillipstown – Named after Samuel Clothier (1825-1889). Clothier and his family lived there for 4 years after arriving in Canterbury in 1850. Sections for sale in Clothier Street are advertised in the Star in 1883. First appears in street directories in 1892
A small amount of information from the library website. Papers Past had a reasonable amount of information especially birth and death notices. In September 1881 there was an ad requesting the removal of a dwelling place located on an Old Stanmore Rd property as a new street was to be developed on the property. In 1890 a new channel and culvert to be built plus the bridge to be widened. In 1935 Stacey and Hawker’s Bakery was mentioned. The street was tar sealed in 1941. From 1960s onwards only businesses were mentioned.
Samuel Clothier was living in the Kaiapoi area from the 1860s onwards but still owned the property in Christchurch. His wife died in 1870 and she was only 45. Samuel was found in his shed on his farm on Kaiapoi Island in 1889. I was amused to read in Papers Past that Samuel Clothier was bankrupt in November 1881. I have lost count of how streets in Christchurch were named after men who went bankrupt.
One entire side of the street is taken up with the business Goodman Fielder / Quality Bakers. The other side has various businesses but there was one building that was a bit of a puzzle. It had old toys on the window ledge but there wasn’t a business name on the building.
I walked this street today as I was doing the geocaching game of Adventure Lab in the area. It is easier to walk business / industrial areas in the weekend. Also my son would think that I was stalking him if I walked this street doing the week.
Elmdale Lane in Phillipstown- First appears in street directories in 1987.
A tiny amount of information from the library website. Not much information on Papers Past and it was just ads for businesses. The earliest ads in 1985 has it as Elmsdale Lane. I couldn’t find anyone with that surname or a place name in the UK.
The street has mostly businesses here but there was a building that looked like there would be people living in it. The building was originally Essex Maternity Hospital which closed in 1980. Lots of information on Papers Past as many people didn’t want it to close. Women were promised extra beds at Christchurch Women’s Hospital. Note this didn’t happen. I had my older son at Essex Hospital but I had to go to Lincoln for my second son.
The property was sold in 1983 and by 1986 there were ads for businesses on the street. Looking at old street views on Google maps the old hospital was still a brick building but by 2022 the brick had been painted white and another level had been added to it. It was being used for emergency housing under the name Essex Lodge. It is now being called New Essex Lodge under a new company name but same director. Found an interesting article about the previous operator of the emergency housing as that company had been put into receivership owing $10 million to creditors.
Winfield Drive in Wigram – Named after Denis Winfield (1899- 1979). Winfield was a farmer from Inglewood, Taranaki. He graduated from the Canterbury Flying School on 17 June 1918. In the Wigram Aerodrome subdivision by Ngāi Tahu Property Ltd where the street names are either of aircraft or taken from the list of the first 100 students at the Flight School established by Sir Henry Wigram in 1917. Named in 2012. Great Britain, Royal Aero Club Aviators’ Certificates, 1910‐1950 as found on Ancestry website.The Canterbury (NZ) Aviation Co. Ltd: the first one hundred pilots
A reasonable amount of information on the library website. Not much information on Papers Past but in 1914 there was a request for his scholarship from Stratford High School to be transferred to New Plymouth High School. Next entry was him being fined for being in a pub after hours in 1926. Nothing much on Ancestry website but I was amused by the two family trees where the surname was spelt wrong. Wingfield in one case and Windfield in the other case. Both family trees were quoting sources that had the correct spelling.
I walked this street on Friday before I tested positive for the plague. It was a pleasant street with houses built between 2013 and 2017 with most of them built in 2014. The architect with a column fetish obviously designed many of the houses here. One house looked slightly strange as it seemed to have a wooden wall on a plaster house. The two building materials didn’t really jell together in my eyes. There was also a house that looked like a bach rather than a house. There were some nice gardens here with quirky features. I did like the fake lambs on a lawn.
Orr Street in Wigram – Named after Eric James Orr (1897- 1961). Orr was a farmer of Hawkston in Hawkes Bay. He graduated from the Canterbury Flying School on August 24 1917. In the Wigram Aerodrome subdivision by Ngāi Tahu Property Ltd where the street names are either of aircraft or taken from the list of the first 100 students at the Flight School established by Sir Henry Wigram in 1917. Named in 2012. Great Britain, Royal Aero Club Aviators’ Certificates, 1910‐1950 as found on ancestry website. The Canterbury (NZ) Aviation Co. Ltd: the first one hundred pilots “Canterbury aviators”, The Press, 25 August 1917, p 8
A reasonable amount of information from the library website and I am not sure about the date of death. I actually walked this street on Friday before I lost my status as a novid on the Saturday. Nothing much on Papers Past apart from being fined for exceeding the speed limit on a motor bike in 1917. I started researching on the Ancestry website on the Friday only for the website to crash. It was a victim of the big IT crash. I also searched findagrave as there seemed to be a mystery with this man and his wives. His wife was Irene Madge Ballantyne and she died in 1960 but the cemetery where she is buried doesn’t have any photos of the gravestones. I found a death record for Eric James Orr and it gives a date of death as 1963. The gravestone also has this date of death plus it has his wife Muriel Hilton. I couldn’t find any marriage details for them but they were possibly married in 1961. The various family trees were of no help at all as they only said that they were married in 1961 but no sources were quoted. I am intrigued enough that I will possibly follow up this man by visiting the library. This will obviously have to wait until I am feeling better.
There was nothing outstanding about the street and the houses are all modern ones built in 2014 and 2015. Tautoru Park borders part of the street. No photos
Lytteltonwitch's Walking the streets of Christchurch Project 