​​This 21-page document was prepared by Louise Beaumont in 2010 for the Christchurch City Council, and outlines the history and development of the what were once the grounds of Avebury House, now Avebury Park. The report nicely complements the 2000 report on the house itself (available below on this site) and includes several new historical photos of the house and grounds, as well as a detailed look at the landscape elements of the park.
The report’s date, August 2010, makes it a poignant reminder of how much things can change in a short time. Some of the photos show nearby buildings that are now gone. This is another precious document for anyone interested in the story of Avebury House & Park.

Leo Shaw was a long-standing Richmond resident and well known among the community. In the 1990s, Leo made three audio tapes recording his memories of Richmond and surrounding districts over many years — Leo was born in 1914. These audio tapes are in the Richmond History Group collection at Avebury House, along with a number of recorded interviews with local residents carried out by Christine Thieme in 2008–9. It appears that so far, none of this material has been transcribed.
The document below includes a transcription of a talk Leo gave to the Shirley Probus club in 1997. It will be of interest to anyone who wishes to learn about Richmond’s past. The photo below is the only one we have of Leo, as a 15-year old with his mother and father. If anyone knew Leo, we would love to hear from you. Please contact us at Avebury House (email: admin@aveburyhouse.co.nz, phone: (03) 381-6615).

This great piece of work, labelled “Richmond Village”, shows the layout of sections along the north end of Stanmore Road c.1940. North is at the right. The stretch of Stanmore Road runs from the corner of Draper St and Swanns Rd to its northern end at the intersection with North Avon Rd. The data was researched by Noeline Hansen and Shona Ward who were very active in the Richmond History Group based at Avebury House in the years before the earthquakes. The map was drawn by Ken Washington. The original document is large: 2500 x 460 mm and is on display in the Richmond Room, upstairs at Avebury House, 9 Eveleyn Couzins Ave.

On the map, residences are coloured pink and commercial properties are blue. Utilities are indicated in yellow. Where the residential occupiers (not necessarily the owners) of the properties have been identified, their names and occupation, if known, have been shown. Businesses show the name of the owner and the type of enterprise. The map makes for fascinating reading. As late as 1940 there are two blacksmiths in this one stretch of Stanmore Rd.

There is a post office marked at 323 Stanmore Rd. This building had previously been occupied by a fruiterer business — there are two photos of this shop dated 1927 in the history group collection at Avebury House. A section is shown as having been set aside for the construction of a post office on the eastern corner of Stanmore and North Avon Rds, but this was never built.

Bruce St used to connect Stanmore Rd and Pavitt St. The roadway still exists as a driveway immediately south of the St. Vincent de Paul building on Stanmore Rd, but sometime after 1954 (Bruce St appears in a Christchurch map of that date), the name was dropped and the road is not marked on modern maps. In 1940, the site of the St. Vincent de Paul shop was occupied by Morgan Davies, a cobbler, with Aldersley’s bakery immediately behind that to the west.

The butcher, Eric McPherson, moved from 321 Stanmore Rd, as shown on the map, to the shop at 75 North Avon Rd (at the north end of Stanmore Rd) in 1940.1

For many years there was a suburban police station at 245 Stanmore, known as Bingsland police station; the name was a carry-over from the earliest days of settlement in the area. The station, which was opened in 1879, retained that name until 1957, when it was changed to ‘North Avon’. The station moved to new premises at 45 North Parade in 1963, but the North Avon station closed altogether in 1968.2


Click on the picture above to see the map in detail.

Notes:
1  Interview with Noeline Hansen (née McPherson), Eric’s daughter.
2  Thomson, Barry, 1989. “Sharing the Challenge — A Social and Pictorial History of the Christchurch Police District”, pp146–7.

The handwritten caption for this photo simply states “Launching the Rondino”. A little more information might be useful!? It turns out that the Rondino was a boat built by Huia Beaumont, a well-known Richmond resident, in the late 1930s. In his autobiography, “Long Time Passing”,* Huia writes at some length about the Rondino, how he built it and the adventures he and his family enjoyed in the boat on the Avon River.

Huia started building the Rondino in 1939, from plans published in “Popular Mechanic” magazine. The boat was 17 feet long with a 6-foot beam and drew only 4 inches unloaded. Even with 16 adults and children on board, Huia says the boat drew only 8 inches and was very stable.

If the photo was taken at the launching, as the caption suggests, the date was 1 February 1940 and the location was just downstream of the Medway St weir. The photo was taken from the north bank looking upstream. The picture reveals more than its nominal subject matter. The old wooden Medway St bridge, built in 1938 and replaced in 1980, is visible, as is the weir, which was removed in the 1950s. The river banks appear to be sparsely planted and the willow trees on the south bank are a lot smaller than today.

The photo is a poor modern copy of an old colour print. Colour film was still unusual in New Zealand in 1940; most photos at this time were taken on B&W film. Large scale colour photography didn’t become commonplace in New Zealand for non-enthusiasts until the 1960’s.

* Beaumont, H.W., “Long Time Passing, the Life Story of ‘Down to Earth Beauie”
Richmond Village Bookshop, 1992.
pp163–173.

This photograph is a modern copy print of an original photograph, showing a group attending the wedding of Hilda Marjory Cusack and Gordon Robert Wilson in 1922. The photo was taken at 79 North Avon Road. There is some information recorded on the reverse of the print, which is summarized below:
79 North Avon Road. Richmond. Christchurch. 1922.
The wedding photo of Hilda Marjory Cusack and Gordon Robert Wilson.

The baby to the left of the group is Jeffrey Raymond Pentecost, held by his father, Samuel Pentecost J.P. and secretary to Dan Sullivan, Labour M.P. for Avon, 1919–47. The Pentecost family lived at 85 North Avon Road, and the photograph and information were donated by Mrs. Joan Pentecost, wife of Jeffrey.

Families occupying the four houses on the block between Stapletons Road & Petrie Street:
75 North Avon Road — Straws: two daughters.
79 North Avon Road — Cusack: four daughters.
85 North Avon Road — Pentecost: four daughters & one son.
89 North Avon Road — Ramsay: three daughters.