I seriously sidetracked today when researching Bamford Street. There was an interesting ad in 1895 which read Wanted if this should meet the eye of Mrs McCallum late of Oxford Terrace, Christchurch can you help me find out the persons that are trying to take my life by poison. If so please come at once to Mrs Weaver of Bamford Street, Woolston. A year earlier in 1894 Mrs Emily Weaver a respectable looking middle aged woman charged her husband with failing to provide for her plus ill treating her and beating her. They had been married for 23 years and had seven children. She frequently consulted fortune tellers McCallum’s and Noble. Her son also George Weaver said that these accusations were imaginary and that his father treated his mother fairly. Sadly George Weaver the son died in 1905 aged 32. In 1907 Albert Weaver died from the rupture of a blood vessel in the brain possibly caused by over exertion when rowing. There was a daughter Flora who died aged two in a fire in her bed. She had been left alone in the house. George Weaver pops up again in the court news and this time it is his wife Charlotte charging him with the lack of maintenance. The judge said that they were an elderly couple who had only been married a year. There were issues concerning adult children from previous marriages. The family trees on Ancestry website were useless as they have confused the father and son as both were called George. To confuse matters even further Emily Weaver died in 1928 and is buried with George. Charlotte was a widow when she married George Weaver but is buried with her first husband. George and Emily were divorced in 1915 but are buried together. George Weaver died in 1924 aged 73.

Roosevelt Avenue in St Albans – formerly Courtenay Street from Westminster Street to Innes Road. Named after Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882- 1945). Roosevelt was 32nd President of the USA 1933-1945. First appears in street directories in 1947.

A small amount of information on the library website. Not much information on Papers Past as it was mostly ads plus death notices. I only looked for information when it was Roosevelt Avenue. A church is mentioned several times as being on the corner of Roosevelt Avenue and Malvern Street. The church was St David’s Church but then I was getting funeral notices for a Greek Orthodox Church at the same corner. A bit more searching and St David’s Church was established in 1928 and the last entry I found was dated 1957. The earliest entry for the Greek Orthodox Church that I found was in 1961. I couldn’t any entries explaining the change from an Anglican church to Greek Orthodox. For a while the Russian Orthodox Church used the building until they built their own church. Technically the address for the church is on Malvern Street but most of the facade is on Roosevelt Avenue.

I walked this street early on Monday morning after I had been lurking behind trees in Malvern Park trying to get photos of the solar eclipse.

There are some modern ugly houses on the street but most houses were built between 1910 and 1930. It is a lovely tree lined street with Malvern Park at one end.

Jameson Avenue in St Albans – formerly Part of McFaddens Road. Also Jameson Street. Named after George Jameson (1850-1934). Jameson lived at 116 McFaddens Road in a large house named Ellerton. For a time he was secretary and general manager of the New Zealand Cooperative Association in Christchurch. His father, James Purvis Jameson (1824-1896), was the mayor of Christchurch in 1871. Jameson Street first appears in street directories in 1947. Becomes Jameson Avenue in 1950

A reasonable amount of information from the library website. George Jameson’s will had several donations to charities. He was born in Manchester and came to New Zealand with his family on the ship Sebastopol. He went to Christ’s College and was a stock agent in Ashburton for many years before coming back to Christchurch.

When looking at Papers Past I just looked at Jameson Street / Jameson Ave information. In 1947 the section of McFaddens Road running at right angles to the rest of McFaddens Road was renamed Jameson Street and in 1948 it was renamed Jameson Ave. Not much information on Papers Past. Several ads and the usual birth and death notices. The best street competition mentioned a few times plus discussion about bus routes.

I walked this street very early on Monday morning and at the end of the street by McFaddens Road there is a creek and it is possibly Dudley Creek as this creek has so many twists and turns in it.

There is also a Art Deco house this end as well. It is a pleasant tree lined street and most houses were built in the 1940s with a few built in the 1950s.

Jacobs Street in St Albans – Named after Henry Jacobs (1824-1901). Jacobs was the first headmaster of Christ’s College and dean of Christchurch Cathedral. One of three streets named in 1923 and formed on land that had been originally owned by the Anglican diocese. Sales of land were made for “increased revenue for Diocesan purposes”. First appears in street directories in 1925.

A small amount of information from the library website and there is a Wikipedia page for Henry Jacobs. He wrote a book called History of the Church in New Zealand plus some poetry. These are available at the library for in library use only. I did find his book online and you can read it online.

Not a lot of information on Papers Past and the earliest entry was in 1923 when it was a new street that had been asphalted plus concrete channelling and wide footpaths were done. There were sections for sale in 1925. In 1932 Dr J R G Thompson commenced practice at 26 Jacobs Street. There were a few ads over the years plus garden competitions mentioned between 1930s and 1970s. The usual birth and death notices along with a few engagement notices.

The valuation website that I use said that there were some houses built in 2000, 2016 and 2023 and the rest were built in 1920. I doublechecked the ones that were supposed to have been built this century and they were all actually built in 1920 but had repair work done after the earthquakes.

I double checked because I couldn’t remember seeing any modern houses on this street when I walked here very early yesterday morning. I had been lurking in Rugby Park unsuccessfully trying to get photos of the eclipse. It is a lovely treelined street with mostly lovely wooden villas from the 1920s. On one tree there was a swing for children to play on. I suspect parking could be a problem when there is a rugby game on.

Magnolia Lane in St Albans – Named because the developer advised that he would planted an evergreen variety of magnolia throughout the lane. Developed at 133-137 McFaddens Road. Named in 2000

A small amount of information from the library website and it is a copy and paste from their website and the spelling mistake is their mistake.

There are six houses here apparently but it just looks like a private driveway. Nothing online that I could find apart from real estate ads. I didn’t actually walk this street as there isn’t a footpath and I was walking in the area at 6am this morning. I had got up very early to attempt to see the solar eclipse and my photos are very different to what I saw online but I hadn’t played with the settings on my camera. I also didn’t see any magnolia trees in this street.

O’Connor Place in Burnside – Named after Reginald Vincent O’Connor (1927-) O’Connor, of O’Connor Enterprises Ltd., bought 2.46 hectares of land from Lion Breweries, owner of neighbouring Russley Hotel. He divided the land into 29 residential sections and formed the street. First appears in street directories in 1995. Information supplied in 2008 by Reg O’Connor in an interview with Colin Amodeo who passed the information on to Margaret Harper.

A reasonable amount of information from the library website and Reg O’Connor died in 2015 aged 88.

There were a few ads on Papers Past in 1986 and 1988 for houses available in the exclusive subdivision. The houses in the street were built in the 1980s and 1990s.

I walked this street a week ago and there is a footpath on only one side of the street. The houses were a variety of styles and it looked like a pleasant street.

Wiremu Street in Redwood and nothing on the library website. This is a bit surprising as the street was developed in the 1970s. The name is possibly Maori for William meaning resolute protector. Not much information on Papers Past and it was just ads for sections in the Woodlands Subdivision.

Most of the houses here were built in the 1980s and 1990s. None of the houses stood out for me and at the end of the street there is a big fence blocking off a commercial building. The footpath is being repaired and the footpath on one side of the street was blocked off.

Ramore Place in Redwood – First appears in street directories in 1972.

Tiny amount of information from the library website. There wasn’t anyone with a surname Ramore in Canterbury. The best meaning that I could find for the word was big fort and it was possibly Irish. Not much information on Papers Past. In 1969 and 1984 there were ads for sections and new houses. A couple of death notices. In 1971 there were two articles about the Ramore Reserve to remain as a playground / reserve and the application from Papanui Pool to turn the reserve into car parking for the pool was declined. My Christchurch map must be old as it shows the Papanui Pool on Winters Rd. It took a bit of googling and I eventually found out that the Papanui Pool closed in 1993.

Most of the houses on this street date from between 1970s and 1980s. There were a few that were built in 2024 so I looked at street view. I was going to say that a gorgeous old villa was demolished just so that these ugly modern units could be built. I then had a brain wave and checked street view. This gorgeous house was moved to Autumn Place.

The reserve and playground is still here and it looked like a pleasant tree lined street. Apart from the ugly modern units none of the other houses stood out.

Fraser Street in Papanui – Named after Frederick James Edgar Fraser (1907?-1964). Fraser was headmaster of Papanui Primary School 1951-1963. Named in September 1968. First appears in street directories in 1981. Information on date of naming in a letter sent to the City Librarian from the Town Clerk dated 18 September 1968.

A small amount of information from the library website. I only found a couple of ads on Papers Past for Fraser St in Papanui but it was a very common street name in New Zealand. Because there was a street named after him I expected to see information on Papers Past for Frederick Fraser but nothing. He was born in Gore in 1907 and possibly died in Gore. He was only 57 when he died. He is mentioned on the online cenotaph and he served in the Middle East and North Africa during WWII.

I searched old maps and this street was probably formed on the site of a disused garage that was on Tuttons Rd which is now the top end of Cranford Street.

The houses are on only one side of the street and the valuation website gives the date of 1980s for the houses here but they were probably built in the 1970s as the ads for the sale of houses here were in 1978. Papanui Primary School is on the other side of the street and I did sneak into the grounds of the school because of the street art style of artwork here.

Autumn Place in Mairehau – Named because it runs off Winters Road. This is an unfortunate naming because Winters Road is not named after the season. Named in 1987.

A small amount of information from the library website. Only a couple of ads on Papers Past.

I walked this street today as I was geocaching in the area. The footpath was on only one side of the street so I wasn’t surprised that the houses here were built in the 1990s. The valuation website that I use gave one house a build date of 2021 but it felt wrong. I took a screenshot from street view and my gut feeling was that this house was older than this. I eventually found information that gives the age of the house and it was probably built in 1910. It was relocated here in 2021. This was a pleasant looking street and the houses were a variety of styles.