McKendry Road in Wigram – Named after John Henry McKendry (1893-1969). McKendry was a farmer from Lyndhurst, Canterbury. He graduated from the Canterbury Flying School on 30 January 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. Further information Great Britain, Royal Aero Club Aviators’ Certificates, 1910‐1950 as found on Ancestry.com. The Canterbury (NZ) Aviation Co. Ltd: the first one hundred pilots.

A reasonable of information from the library website and both new and old websites had the same information. The Royal Aero Club certificate has his occupation as farmer at Lyndhurst . He was born 22th September 1893 and qualified in a Caudron Biplane. There is an entry for him on the online cenotaph.

Papers Past had a few entries and in 1917 he appealed for a delay in being called up so that he could harvest his crops. The saddest entry would have been in 1904 where he was a witness at the inquest for his younger brother. His younger brother was only 6 years old when he was killed by a kick to the head by a pony. John was only 11 years old when this incident happened. John died on 24th June 1969 just a few weeks after his wife’s death on 10th May 1969

Most of the houses here were built between 2013 and 2015 and it looked like a pleasant street but none of the houses stood out for me. Most houses just had lawns but a couple had nice gardens. No photos as nothing stood out for me.

Keith Street in Wigram – Named after Ian Herbert Neill Keith (1898- 1978).Keith was a student from Napier. He graduated from the Canterbury Flying School on 12 April 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 www.ancestry.com The Canterbury (NZ) Aviation Co. Ltd: the first one hundred pilots Wigram Skies.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website and the information on new and old library information is exactly the same. The Royal Aero Club certificate said that he qualified in a Caudron Biplane on 12th April 1918. The certificate said that his occupation was student but other records give his occupation as clerk. A few articles on Papers Past and all mention him as being a flying instructor in New Plymouth. I was a little bit surprised that there wasn’t more information as he was married in 1933 but divorced in 1951. It was usual for divorces to be in newspapers those days. The online cenotaph only mentions his World War One service but ancestry and Papers Past has him as a Flight Lieutenant in World War Two. I found both 1978 and 1977 for his year of death. Some of the family trees have 1978 and others have 1977. The cemetery records have his year of death as 1977 and he is buried with his parents. I couldn’t read the year of his death on the photo of his gravestone. When I eventually get to New Plymouth for family tree research I will be visiting this cemetery as my mysterious grandmother is buried in the same cemetery.

The houses on this street were all built in 2014 and 2015 and no photos as none of them stood out for me. Even the gardens were boring with just lawns and not much else.

Validation Place in Middleton – Still nothing on library website either the old or new and I originally walked this street in March 2019 and I wasn’t doing the research on Papers Past back then. This is what I wrote then – Marylands Place in Middleton was not on the library website so I have no idea how it got the name. This is an industrial / business area so I was surprised to see three houses amongst the businesses.

Note this street was renamed Validation Place recently because the survivors of abuse at the Marylands Home objected to the street name of Marylands Place.

Papers Past in July 1980 said that the northern portion of Torrens Road between the Southern motorway and Halls Road to be renamed Marylands Place. In 1981 there was a business advertising the change of address from Torrens Road to Marylands Place owing to the new motorway. In the 1980s there were lots of ads for businesses plus a few fires including arson in a derelict house. There were still a few people living in the street but not many. There were several articles about Marylands school being taken over by the state. The state had purchased the land here and rebuilt the original home / school after a fire. The school was run by The Hospitaller of St John of God but they requested that the state take it over. In 1984 the school was renamed Hogben School and I remember that as when I worked at Addington ANZ the boys from the school used to come in to do banking. The boys lived in at the school and were from all over New Zealand.

In 1988 a new IHC workshop / adult vocational opened on this street. Some of the headlines about the school weren’t very nice as the word retarded was frequently used. There was an article in 1987 about a 16 year old boy having a vasectomy and he wasn’t the first. These operations were at the request of the parents.

I had been geocaching in the area and decided to walk the street again because of the name change. There is still one house here but it isn’t on the valuation website so it probably now zoned industrial and being used by a business. The one house dating from 1960 that is on the valuation website has been recently demolished.

Denali Street in Halswell – Named after Denali National Park & Reserve in Alaska. In the Knights Stream Park subdivision where streets have been named with a common theme of World Heritage sites and national and major parks around the world.

A small amount of information from the library website. Denali is a native word meaning the tall one or big mountain. I googled the mountain and I hadn’t realised that it was the same mountain that was called Mt McKinley. The locals had always called it Denali but in 1896 someone decided to name it Mt McKinley after William McKinley. In 1975 the name was changed back to Denali by the Alaska Board of Geographic Names but the United States Board of Geographic Names refused to acknowledge this. In 2015 the US Board finally agreed that the name is Denali but several politicians protested this.

Many years ago when I was working at Barrington Postbank I met a young woman with the name Denali and she explained why she was given the name. At least one person on my Facebook will know this woman. I would have been at Barrington Postbank in the late 1980s so it was a few years ago.

There are 16 houses on this street built in 2015 but none stood out for me. There is a footpath on both sides of the street which I always like. There is a walkway that goes to Knights Stream Park and another walkway that goes to another street.

Bill Harvey Drive in Halswell and nothing on the library website. The council just says the name of the street and that it is part of the subdivision at 340 Halswell Junction Road. Because the rest of the streets in this subdivision are named after young men who died in World War One the first thing that I did was look at the Halswell War Memorial. He wasn’t there and I then looked at the online cenotaph but no luck there. Searched Papers Past, Ancestry website and Findagrave with no luck. I can find several men with the name William Harvey or Bill Harvey but can’t match them up with the Halswell area. Because Stubberfield Street is named after John Harvey Stubberfield I thoroughly checked out his family tree but no luck there. I gave up.

There are 17 houses here built between 2019 and 2022 and it looks like they are planning more houses. There is a footpath on both sides of the street which I always like but none of the houses stood out for me. I imagine that the end near the Kartsport race track would get noisy and I wouldn’t like that.

Bryden Place in Halswell and nothing on library website. The council website just gives the name of the street and that it was part of the subdivision at 340 Halswell Junction Road.

I now know that the streets were named after young men who died in World War One and are on the Halswell War Memorial. There were two men with the surname Bryden on the War Memorial and I quickly found the information on the online cenotaph. Albert John Bryden and Walter Charles Bryden were brothers and they were born in Springfield but the family moved to Christchurch. Albert John Bryden was killed in action on 19th July 1916 at the Somme and is buried at Ration Farm Military Cemetery at La Chapelle-d’Armentiere Nord France.

Walter Charles Bryden was killed in action in Belgium on 13th June 1917. He is buried at Mesines Ridge New Zealand Memorial in Messines Ridge British Cemetery in Belgium.

There are only 10 houses on this street built between 2019 and 2022. The footpath is on only one side of the street. None of the houses stood out for me but when checking maps apparently there is a Multicultural Youth Association Centre on this street but it is temporarily closed. At the end of the street there was a walkway which I used to get to Halswell Junction Road where my car was parked.

Patrick McGough Way in Halswell and nothing on the library website. The council website just has the name of the street but I have now figured out that the streets in the subdivision at 340 Halswell Junction Road are named after young men who died in World War One. Their names are on the Halswell War Memorial.

Patrick was born in Ireland and he came out to New Zealand to work with his uncle Owen McGough. Patrick had worked on his uncle’s farm in Halswell for about 7 years when he enlisted. Patrick’s family were still living in Ireland. Patrick was killed in France on 27th March 1918. His name is on the memorial at Grevillers New Zealand Memorial at Grevillers British Cemetery at Pas-de-Calais in France.

There are 12 houses on this street all built in 2021 and there is a footpath on both sides of the street. It is probably a pleasant street and had modern houses but none stood out for me. Not even an ugly one for me to complain about.

John Holmes Road in Halswell and nothing on the library website. The council website doesn’t give a reason for the name. I searched Papers Past, Ancestry website and Findagrave and couldn’t find a John Holmes who lived in this area. John Holmes was a fairly common name which didn’t help.

Edited as I have found the correct John Holmes. John Alexander Huntley Holmes was born in Pigeon Bay in December 1884 and he died of his wounds on 30th September 1915. He is buried at the Cairo War Memorial Cemetery in Egypt. His name is on the Halswell War Memorial and the Pigeon Bay War Memorial. His father George Gordon Holmes was born in Huntley in Canada and came to New Zealand when his father inherited property. John Holmes was in the Mounted Rifles which makes sense as his father George Gordon Holmes breed and owned race horses. The streets in the subdivision at 340 Halswell Junction Road are named after young men on the Halswell War Memorial who all died in World War One.

At this stage there are only 12 houses here and they were built between 2021 and 2023. There is a big section that is blocked off as it hasn’t been formed yet. The part of the street near Bill Harvey Park would be pleasant enough but at the other end which is near the Kartsport’s race track would be horrible.

Thomas Ellis Lane in Halswell and nothing on library website. The council website only had the name and didn’t give a reason for the name. I searched Papers Past, Ancestry website and Findagrave but couldn’t find the person this street was named after.

Edited as I now have realised that the streets in the subdivision at 340 Halswell Junction Road are named after the young men who are on the Halswell War Memorial and died in World War One. The online centoph has been a big help for information. Thomas Henry Ellis lived at Hoon Hay Road when he enlisted in July 1915. He died from wounds on 20th September 1916 and is buried at Heilly Station Cemetery Mericourt-l’Abbe Somme in France.

The street only had a footpath on one side and it ran from John Holmes Rd and curved around back to John Holmes Rd. I am sure that it is a nice street but too noisy for me. I checked maps to find out where the noise was coming from and it was a race track for something called Kartsport. That constant noise all day long would be horrible.

Percy Fever Street in Halswell and nothing on the library website. From the council website . The Board decided to request that staff investigate options for inclusion of Anzac insignia on the street signs for Harry Manship Crescent and Percy Fever Street.

This young man took a bit of searching as Percy Fever wasn’t his real name but he is on the Halswell War Memorial under that name. He is mentioned in an article about Halswell’s Heroes in December 1916. He was killed in action on 21st September 1916 at the Somme and is buried at Sailly-Au-Bois Cemetery under the surname Perrett. His real name was Reuben Percy Claud Perrott and Fever was his stepfather’s surname. His father Arthur Ernest Perrott deserted his mother Harriet in 1895 and she eventually got a divorce in 1902. She remarried Frederick Fever a few months later. Note she already had at least one child to Frederick Fever before they were able to get married. Percy’s mother was pregnant with him when his father disappeared so he only ever knew Frederick as a father.

This street isn’t on the map yet and is still being formed and it runs off Harry Manship Crescent. I will have to come back in a couple of years time to walk it properly but decided to write it up anyway.