The privileged life of the well-to-do is what most people associate with
Fendalton. Frieda Looser describes, in an eminently readable history,
how this suburb developed.
The attractive cover shows Mona Vale,
a beautiful home built on the banks of the Avon in the heart of
Fendalton in the late 1890s, and now owned by the people of
Christchurch. Guests at the restaurant sit under umbrellas, colourful
floweers bloom in the garden, three passengers enjoy a trip in one of
the punts that take tourists along the Avon River. The sun is shining
and the whole scene suggests an enjoyable weekend outing.
The first chapter describes the Fendalton area before European
settlement. To the Maori it was mainly a place to gather food, rather
than to settle.
Walpole Fendall arrived in the Sir George Seymour, one of
the first four ships to bring colonists to Canterbury under the
settlement scheme launched by the Canterbury Association. Fendall's aim
was definitely to settle there.He purchased 50 acres to the northwest of
Hagley Park and the area became known as Fendall Town. The main road
through this area gave access to the farms beyond the small settlement
at Christchurch and was called Fendall Town Road.
At first this area was no more desirable than any other suburb of
Christchurch and there was a range people of varied social status in all
the suburbs. For the first twenty five years the main concern in
Fendalton was to develop roads and bridges and drain and clear the land.
Frieda Looser has researched the ownership of other blocks of land near
Fendall's property and has described those who took up land. They
came from varied backgrounds but what many of them had in common was
that they sailed on the Sir George Seymour and also that they
were people of enterprise.
Much of the farmland was divided into large residential sections where
large houses were often built to accommodate large Victorian families,
and five acres of glebe land was reserved for an Anglican church and
school. By 1876 there was an Anglican chapel and a small village school
in Fendall Town.
The following chapter deals with the development of the neighbouring
estates of Riccarton and Ilam. Riccarton was the site of the farm of the
Deans brothers who first settled there in 1842.
In the last quarter of the nineteenth century rural Fendaltown changed
to Fendalton 'village'. There was little industrial development in the
area which made it more socially desirable than the suburbs to the south
and south-east where industry developed along the railway line.Most of
the houses were surrounded by large gardens and often a tennis
court.Notable citizens who moved into the area included Professor John
Macmillan Brown with his wife Helen,
and
Kate Sheppard and her husband Walter.
Next come chapters of the Welsh settlement at Bryndwr to the north of
Fendalton and the Scottish settlement to the northwest at Burnside.
Frieda Looser outlines the influences which resulted in Fendalton by.the
1920s becoming a very English suburb in the buildings and the way of
life of the well-to-do.
The first World War and the influenza epidemic which followed led to the
breakdown of some of the class distinctions in New Zealand society, but
still many of the prosperous Fendalton families sought the lifestyle of
the English gentry. Servicemen who had spent leave in England had a
renewed interest in the lifestyles of the English suburbs and villages.
At the centre of the village was the church and St Barnabas was an
important centre for Fendalton. To cater for the growing population in
1926 the wooden church was replaced by the stone church which continues
to be a landmark in Fendalton Road today.
The well-to-do citizens of Fendalton could afford to have their children
well educated and in the next chapter Frieda Looser traces the
development of public and private schools in the area.
From 1907 there was a tram service to Fendalton. This helped to
increase the popularity of the area for subdivision. The people of
Fendalton were very little affected by the hardships experienced by the
less well off in most areas of Christchurch during the Depression of the
1930s. Building in the area continued and settlement expanded to the
northwest. Some of the large properties were subdivided and this meant
that there was a considerable increase in population without a similar
expansion in area.
These trends continued over the rest of the nineteenth century, but new
influences brought change. Patronage of the corner stores and shops and
mall in Riccarton were largely replaced by shopping at the Fendalton
Mall opened in 1970. To the strong English traditions were added the
impact of the growth in interest in Maori culture and language and the
culture of the Asian immigrants and homestay students who came in
increasing numbers into the north-west area.
The development of the International Airport at Harewood led to a great
incease in traffic and a widening of Burnside Road into Memorial Avenue.
After prolonged planning and disputes Fendalton Road was changed into a
four lane road.
The vision for the future of the area is discussed in the final chapter.
All this is developed in detail in "Fendall's Legacy" and can easily be
accessed through its excellent index.. It is a book of compelling
interest to those who have spent time in the area, and should also be a
valuable source of material for those interested in social change in New
Zealand.
A limited number of copies available.
