Edmonds name sure of return

The Edmonds name has risen again over a Woolston street.

The final street sign change signals the full restoration of the Thomas Edmonds legacy, replacing the last of a trio of signs for the wrongly named Edmond Street.

The last of the new Edmonds Street signs has gone up.

The change follows a request by the Edmonds family to the Christchurch City Council to fix a street sign “typo” dating back to the 19th century. The street was originally named Edmonds Street but became Edmond Street in the 1890s.

Just why the “s” at the end was dropped remained a mystery.

The street was named after Thomas Edmonds, a grocer who created two kiwi kitchen staples - Edmonds Sure to Rise Baking Powder and the Edmonds Cookery Book. First published in 1908, the cookery book is now in its 69th edition.

Edmonds was also a workplace pioneer, creating better conditions and the Edmonds Factory Gardens. The businessman also gave the city a clock tower and a band rotunda.

“Edmonds Street once again fully acknowledges the achievements of an early Christchurch innovator,” Christchurch City Council Transport Operations Manager Steffan Thomas says.

“By rectifying a century-old mistake, the Edmonds name reclaims its special spot in the city’s business and philanthropic history,” he says.

NZ Post and Land Information New Zealand have been notified of the “new” street name.