Shirley, sometimes referred to as Windsor, is a suburb of Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...

, New Zealand, about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north-east of the city centre

Christchurch Central City

Christchurch Central City is the geographical centre and the heart of Christchurch, New Zealand. It is defined as the area within the four avenues and thus includes the densely built up central city, some less dense surrounding areas of residential, educational and industrial usage, and green...

.

Naming

Susannah Buxton (née Shirley) was married to John Buxton (1806–1886). On her deathbed in 1868, she asked her son, Joseph Shirley Buxton (1833–1898), to gift land to the Methodists to build a church. Her wish was carried out and the Shirley Methodist Church was named after her. The suburb eventually became known as Shirley after the church.

Subdivision started in the early 20th century, at which time the area was known as North Richmond. The name then changed to Windsor, until it was discussed at a meeting at the Windsor Wesleyan School that land agents indicated land sold better if the locality is called Shirley instead of Windsor. Windsor thus went out of fashion as the name of the suburb, but it lives on in names like Windsor Golf Club, Windsor Service Station, Windsor House and Windsor School.

Description and services

Most of the housing in Shirley was built between 1950 and 1980. It also has a shopping mall called The Palms Shopping Centre

The Palms Shopping Centre

The Palms Shopping Centre is a shopping mall located in the Christchurch, New Zealand suburb of Shirley, 4 km from the city's CBD....

, the Shirley Golf Course and Bunnings Homebase. Shirley Boys' High School

Shirley Boys' High School

Shirley Boys' High School is a single sex state secondary school in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is situated on a 6 hectare site in the suburb of Shirley, 3.8 kilometres from the city centre...

opened in September 1957.