Category Archives: Uncategorized

Vaila Place in Woolston – Named after Vaila, one of the Shetland Islands of Scotland. The Thomson family emigrated to Stewart Island in the 1860s from Vaila. A descendant is a director of the company that carried out the subdivision. Named in 2013. A small amount of information from the library website. The name Vaila …

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Foula Place in Woolston – Named after Foula, one of the Shetland Islands of Scotland. Continues the theme of using names from the Shetland Islands for cul-de-sacs developed off Kennaway Road. Named in 2014. A small amount of information from the library website. Foula means bird island and I had recently looked it up in …

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Sullivan Ave in Woolston -Formerly Richardson Street. Named after John Richardson (1847?-1927). Re-named Sullivan Avenue. Named after Daniel Giles Sullivan (1882- 1947). Richardson was the first mayor of Woolston when the borough was created in 1893. Richardson Street is first mentioned in the Star in 1884 and first appears in street directories in 1906. Re-named …

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Skylark Lane in Woolston and nothing on library website. The houses here were built in the 1990s and I was a bit surprised that there were 13 houses here. I only walked a very small part of this lane as it just felt like it was a driveway to a couple of houses.

Tabart St in Woolston – Named after Francis Christopher Tabart (1830- 1901).Tabart was the mayor of Hokitika 1869-1877. He later moved to Opawa and became an auctioneer and general merchant in Christchurch. First mentioned in The Press in 1909 when “five fine building sites facing Tabart Street” are advertised for sale. First appears in street …

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Whittington Ave in Woolston – formerly Rhodes Street. Probably named after Whittington, a small village near Worcester. Rhodes Street first appears in street directories in 1908. Whittington Avenue is first mentioned in The Press in 1909 in a report of a meeting of the Woolston Borough Council. A small amount of information on the library …

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Vintners Lane in Woolston – Named because the German couple who owned the property for many years grew grapes in glasshouses on the property. The development company, Opawa Residential Ltd, wanted to recognise this in the name of the right-of way, developed at 83 & 85 Mackenzie Avenue. Named in 2007. A small amount of …

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Youngston Lane in Woolston and nothing on the library website. I suspect that this lane is named after a person but I couldn’t find anyone with that surname in Christchurch. There were several people with the surname Youngson but none seemed to live in this area. Only 7 houses here and most built from 2016 …

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Seaforth Place in Woolston and nothing on library website. I did find a couple of people with the surname Seaforth but they lived in Lyttelton and died in 1919. It also wasn’t their real name as their original name was German and they adopted an English sounding name. Seaforth is a place near Liverpool. Most …

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Palamino Place in Woolston and nothing on library website. I thought that it was possibly a surname but no one with that surname in Christchurch that I could find. It is probably named after a grape as there is a nearby lane called Vintners Lane. Most houses here were built in the 1980s and 1990s …

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