Nz: Where Is Kendal?

Here's a New Zealand stamp cancelled in Kendal in 1970. Problem is, there does not seem to be a place by that name anywhere in the country, at least as far as I can establish over the internet. Does anyone know where it is/was?

This might be what you are looking for: http://completestamp.co.nz/(RoxenUs...l?buy=212560

Thanks, that confirms there was a post office there! But why is there no place with the same name?

I am not sure, but it seems like it might be related to Christchurch. A neighborhood or something like that?

Edited backwards name.

Hi jimjamtwo

I Googled and found "Kendal School - Christchurch, New Zealand". Could the cancel be for the school?

Here is a link to a page full of Kendall School:
https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#...ealand+

I tend to agree that it might be a neighborhood.There is Kendal everything.

Jerry B

The postmark is a Class J postmark of New Zealand. Kendal should be the name of the post office, which apparently has since closed or moved. The unanswered question is -- why was the post office named Kendal? It could be the name of a person or a district. But where I live in the US, it is not unusual for post offices to be named after the street they're located (it's practical, given the size of my city and the many post offices here). Indeed, there is a current post office in Christchurch that is on Kendal Avenue. However, I don't know the original location of the closed Kendal post office.

Unless someone here has one of the 2-3 resources that list all the NZ post office historical information, I would think one option is to email "The Complete Stamp Company" of NZ and ask them for information on the Kendal post office and the meaning of their listing "Kendal, (CH), Opened 20/09/1965, Closed 05/02/1988, Postmark type".

Wooders in his 1998 "New Zealand Post Offices Cancellation and Postmark Guide" shows the Kendal post office opened 20 Sep 1965 and closed 05 Feb 1988.

64idgaf

Does it give the location of the post office?

No it doesn't, but I have emailed Richard Woodes asking that exact question.

I'll post his answer when received,

John

Thanks, John!

Richard is the owner of "The Complete Stamp Company" of New Zealand, is he not?

khi wrote, 'where I live in the US, it is not unusual for post offices to be named after the street they're located.'

Yes, but if this were the case then the name of the office would surely be KENDAL ST.

In Australia, we also have quite a few post offices named after the street they're in but STREET is always included in the name, e.g., CASTLEREAGH STREET.

Kendal does not appear to be a locality such as a suburb and is not listed on the relevant NZ database.

In the US, the street name is often no longer appended to the post office name, since the post office itself is not a street. For instance, in the US, it might be named Castlereagh Station or Castlereagh Post Office. This is the case for many of the post offices named after streets nearby my location.

But again, that was just a guess, since we could not locate a district named Kendal. Hopefully, John can get the answer from Richard.

Wooders does not have the street address for Kendal PO.

He is the owner of the Complete Stamp Co.

Thanks for the update, John! Somebody, somewhere knows...

Looking at Google maps there are shops at 162-178 Kendal Ave and at 60-74 Kendal Ave. The former looks older, my assumption would be that group of shops.

Does anyone have access to an older Christchurch phone book or streeet map?

High praise for NZ Post
and Mr. Andrew McNiven