Western Bay of Plenty Street Names - by Jinty Rorke

The Name “Tauranga” (8 August 1994)

'Tauranga means literally "landing place" from the Māori 'tau", 'to land". The name reflects the city's position on the shores of the harbour. Our Tauranga is certainly the largest and best known place of that name, but is certainly not the only Tauranga. Check an atlas and you will find several other places in New Zealand with this name.

Although the name 'tauranga" was known and used by the first Europeans, it referred to the whole of the district around the harbour, not to the mission settlement or, later, the newly established military township. In a similar way the name "Rotorua" was used for the area around the lakes long before the government spa was established in 1880.

The first name used for the peninsula on which the mission station was established in the 1830s was 'te Papa". Māori history relates that many waka passed through the Tauranga harbour, leaving people, legends and place names to mark their passing. The name 'te Papa" is said to have originated with Hei of the Arawa canoe. This name was in common use by both European and Māori until the late 1870s. The first editions of the Bay of Plenty Times carry advertisements for businesses on the waterfront which gave their address as "Beach Road, Te Papa". By the end of the 1870s there had been a complete change over, and the same businesses in the same location were using 'the Strand, Tauranga" as their address. Te Papa is still used in the legal description found on title deeds, and by the Te Papa Rotary Club.

Early Tauranga (15 August 1994)

How did the Tauranga look before European settlement? The Te Papa peninsula showed evidence of its geological past in a series of ancient sea cliffs and low lying swampy areas. There were no trees on the flat northern part of the peninsula, which was covered with fern. Cliffs bordered the present domain, the Mission Station and the headland of the Ōtamataha Pā (now the Mission Cemetery). They continued along the seaward side of the present Cliff Road, interrupted at the Taumatakahawai Pā (now the Monmouth Redoubt), by a sandy beach, then rose again at a sea cliff known to early European settlers as 'the Triangle" the base of Devonport Road.

Behind the beach the land rose steeply, with ancient sea cliffs at the corner of Wharf and Willow Streets and where Hamilton Street meets Cameron Road. A small stream with its origin at the south western end of Grey Street flowed into the harbour at the southern end of the beach, by the Triangle. There was sufficient flow in the centre of Spring Street to provide a reliable water supply for early settlers, hence the name given to the street. A pump and water trough were supplied here by the borough council.

Early entrepreneurs also made use of the water supply. The Springwell brewery was established by the Wrigley family on the northwest corner of Spring and Willow Streets. James Bodell one of the Waikato Militia, a real jack-of-all trades started an aerated water and cordial factory in 1866. In his reminiscences Bodell describes how he built himself a house, where with half a barrel, two buckets and the use of a fireplace he was able to brew 14 gallons of ale for Boxing Day 1864. This he sold at 1/6 per bottle. Bodell later renounced alcoholic beverages, and opened a Temperance Hotel, the Bellevue, on the corner of Cameron Road and Wharf Street.

C. A. Clarke, another Mayor of Tauranga, had a cordial factory on the corner of Spring Street and Grey Street in 1872. This was taken over about 1900 by T. H. Hall, and was in existence until the 1940s. Bottles from both these factories have been found by collectors.

Military History (22 August 1994)

The military history of the land wars of the 1860s is reflected in many of the names in and around Tauranga. Old identities still refer to land between the Domain and the harbour as 'the Camp", a reference to the fact that the troops made this area their headquarters.

The 43rd Monmouth and the 68th Durham regiments both arrived in Tauranga early in 1864, in order, the government claimed, to prevent supplies for the "rebel" Waikato tribes from passing through the Tauranga district.

The Durham regiment was responsible for guarding the western approaches from Ōtūmoetai and Bethlehem across the Waikareao estuary. A convenient high knoll, where the Durham Motor Inn has recently been built, was fortified as a redoubt. The adjacent land to the west, now part of the Domain, was used as a parade ground. After the land wars the buildings in the redoubt were used by Mr and Mrs Dalziel as a school. No sign remains of the redoubt today, however, the original high land having been cut down in the 1870s, and the spoil used to reduce the steepness of Hamilton Street. Further levelling took place in the 1920s, with the fill this time being used for the railway reclamation. The name Durham Street, which runs south from where the redoubt once stood, remains as a memorial.

The Monmouth regiment had a rather easier task. Their redoubt, intended to watch over the eastern approaches, was constructed on the site of the old Taumatakahawai Pā. The Monmouths left again in 1864 after only a few months, and the redoubt was used as the headquarters of the 12th regiment and then of the Armed Constabulary Force, which was established in 1867. The Monmouths are commemorated by the Redoubt itself, and by Monmouth Street.

Military Men (29 August 1994)

The town of Tauranga came into being as a direct result of the Land Wars. When the area was surveyed in 1867 several of the streets in the town centre were named after officers who had served in the wars. The most obvious case is Cameron Road, named after Lieutenant General Sir Duncan Cameron, the officer in command of imperial troops in New Zealand. Cameron arrived in Tauranga on 21 April shortly before the action we now refer to as the battle of Gate Pā. On the eve of the battle Archdeacon Brown invited all the officers who could be spared from duty to dine with him at the Mission Station. It is believed that Cameron was one of his guests. Of the ten or so officers who sat around the oval table in the dining room of the mission house all of those who went into action the next day were killed, except Dr Manley, the surgeon. Cameron had little to be proud of in Tauranga, for some 200 Māori warriors achieved a resounding victory over a troop ten times that size. Manley won a VC for his bravery in helping the wounded in the pā. Cameron left Tauranga again in mid May, returning with Sir George Grey for the peace making in August 1864.

There were several officers by the name of Hamilton, after whom Hamilton Street may have been named. The most likely is Captain J. F. C. Hamilton, commander of the Esk, who was killed during the assault on Gate Pā. The city of Hamilton is named after him. There was, however, a Captain R. F. Hamilton serving with the 43rd Monmouth regiment, who was also killed during the battle, and a Colonel Hamilton, who is referred to in 1867 leading troops during the engagement at Whakamārama.

There is, however, no doubt about the original bearer of the name Harington, which should most definitely be spelled with only one "r"! Lieutenant Colonel Philip Harington arrived in Tauranga in 1864 as officer in charge of the 1st Waikato Militia. He later transferred to the Armed Constabulary with the rank of Inspector. In the general allocation of farm land to military settlers Harington received a prime site on Cambridge Road still known by the name he gave it, Kelston.

Politicians & Missionaries (5 September 1994)

Only two streets in central Tauranga were named in honour of figures of political importance. Grey Street is named for Sir George Grey, Governor of New Zealand. During 1864 Archdeacon Brown had been in constant correspondence with Grey about the state of affairs in Tauranga. Grey thought the peacemaking in Tauranga of sufficient importance for him to travel down from Auckland to talk to the assembled tribes himself.

Mc. Lean Street is named after Sir Donald Mc. Lean, who as government land purchase agent was involved in Tauranga after the land confiscation.

Another name of national significance is that of Selwyn Street, named after Bishop G. A. Selwyn of the Church Missionary Society. Selwyn had close connections with the Brown family and often visited the Te Papa Mission Station. Williams Street, close by, is another name with missionary connections. Both Henry and William Williams were involved with the establishment of the mission station in Tauranga. Henry Williams was on board the first European ship known to have entered the Tauranga harbour, the mission schooner Herald. In June 1826 the Herald anchored below Maunganui and traded with the local people. Henry Williams returned to Tauranga on many occasions, but it was his brother William, who, together with A. N. Brown picked out the site for the Te Papa mission station in 1834.

Captain Mirrielees (12 September 1994)

Before reclamation began the tip of the Te Papa peninsula ended in a sandy bank, which curved round to the west and provided a sheltered anchorage at the base of the cliff to the north of the Mission Station. This sandbank was generally known as The Spit, and the road leading to it Spit Road. In the 1860s the imperial regiments established a practice rifle range here. It was also used by the Armed Constabulary and, later, by the Tauranga Rifle Volunteers.

The name was changed to Mirrielees Road in 1951 after Captain A. J. Mirrielees, who had been in charge of the Rifles Volunteers who practised at the butts. Mirrielees, who was a founding member of the Tauranga Harbour Board, had a chemist's shop on The Strand. He was also a commercial photographer, as were many chemists in those days, and his postcards are an important part of the Tauranga District Library's photograph collection. Mirrielees son, Ron, kept homing pigeons, in the loft of their house on Cameron Road. During the filming of "My Lady of the Caves" on Mayor Island in the 1920s his birds were used by the film crew to send messages to the mainland. This was particularly important as the leading lady had her young baby on the island with her. Fishing boats would then deliver the necessary items to Mayor Island. A. J. Mirrielees, 1926.

Sulphur Point 1 (19 September 1994)

The name Sulphur Point came into use with the establishment of a sulphur works by J. A. Wilson in 1878. Sulphur for use as a fertiliser was a scarce commodity in New Zealand in the 1870s, with most of the country's needs supplied from Sicily. Wilson, the eldest son of Rev. J. A. Wilson who had served at the Te Papa Mission Station in 1838-39, purchased half of White Island in 1877, and built a factory to process the sulphur from the island. He managed to convince many Tauranga residents to invest in the scheme, which unfortunately for the investors, collapsed in 1886. Wilson himself came out of it very well and there was a lot of ill-feeling between him and the townsfolk.

The Tauranga residents had always looked forward, with the Victorian fascination with strange natural phenomena, to an annual trip to White Island organised by Wilson. After the collapse of the sulphur works he ran the trip for Aucklanders, and although the small vessel carrying them to the island called in at Tauranga, Wilson refused to allow local people aboard. So irate were the people that while the sight-seers were away, they constructed a sort of Guy Fawkes effigy of Wilson, which they burned on the wharf when the vessel returned. More painful still for Wilson, who was a Judge of the Māori Land Court, the townsfolk complained about him to the chief judge, and had him removed from the bench for several years.

Sulphur Point 2 (26 September 1994)

The story of the sulphur works did not end in 1886 with the closure of J. A. Wilson's factory. Another company took over the buildings to work the Te Teko sulphur deposits. This enterprise also collapsed and by 1900 the buildings were being used by the Salvation Army as a fish processing factory.

The lure of White Island remained. In 1912 a team of men was left on the island to mine the sulphur, which was brought to Tauranga to be processed. Eleven men were killed in an eruption on the island in 1914, the pet cat being the only survivor, and work ceased. One last effort was made in 1926, when another brave band of workers attempted to benefit from the deposits on the island. The sulphur was again discharged at a wharf just off Sulphur Point. This final attempt was abandoned in 1934.

The original Sulphur Point is no longer identifiable after extensive reclamation work for the port extensions and the marina. Nor does anything significant remain on White Island to bear witness to fifty years of trying to exploit its sulphur deposits. Fifty years of corrosion by sulphuric acid and of land disturbance from volcanic action have removed virtually all traces of the human exploitation. The name Sulphur Point, however, serves as a reminder of one of Tauranga's earliest industrial enterprises.

Willows; the Mission Station (3 October 1994)

Only one of the street names in downtown Tauranga - Willow Street - gives us a hint of the natural features of the area in the late 1860s. As you might imagine, Willow Street was named after a group of willow trees growing nearby. From this original group of willows Thomas Wrigley planted some cuttings along the boundaries of his property fronting Hamilton and Willow Streets, thus giving Willow Street its name. These trees survived for many years, but the last remaining one was cut down in July 1882. The name, if not the tree, lives on.

Streets at the northern end of the peninsula are associated with the mission station: Brown Street for Rev. Alfred Nesbit Brown and Mission Street for the mission station itself. The original Mission Chapel gave its name to Chapel Street, which used to stop at the cliff edge beside the gate leading to the chapel until the causeway was built across to Ōtūmoetai in 1959.

When the Mission Station was opened in the 1830s small vessels were able to find safe anchorage behind the sand spit at the northern end of the peninsula. Goods for the missionaries were discharged onto the beach below the cliff, and carried up a path to the mission station at the top. The track leading along the base of the cliff was called Marsh Street, not from the swampy nature of the land, but in memory of Rev. A. N. Brown's only son, Marsh. This unusual Christian name was actually the surname of a good friend and mentor of Rev. Brown, who had encouraged him into the mission field. Marsh died in 1845 at the age of 14 from the result of an injury. In the 1920s, when land was needed for a railway station and goods yard, the spoil resulting from cutting through the cliff beside the mission cemetery was used to reclaim the area to the north of the mission station.

The Avenues 1 (10 October 1994)

There can be few cities in New Zealand with as many avenues as Tauranga. It was not always so. First to Eleventh Avenues were given this designation at the suggestion, it is said, of John Harris Mc. Caw, who hailed from the United States of America. Mc. Caw, a member of the 1st Waikato regiment who settled in Tauranga, became clerk for the Highways Board and first town clerk for the Borough, and may well have had a say in naming the streets. These early avenues were surveyed into soldiers' town lots of one quarter of an acre, and the area was commonly referred to as 'the Quarter Acres".

Briar Avenues 12 to 23 originally had names which commemorated early settlers. When the Tauranga Borough Council made the decision to change from names to numbers in 1956 much of the early history was consigned to oblivion.

Twelfth Avenue was formerly Briarley Street, named after the Briarley estate along which it ran. Thirteenth Avenue was Morris Street after Captain George Bentham Morris, who lived at Poikē. English born, Morris' political career began when he was elected to represent Tauranga on the Auckland Provincial Council between 1873 and 1876. He was the member of the House of Representatives for the East Coast from 1876 to 1879 and for Tauranga from 1881 to 1885, during which time he was Minister of Trade and Customs, and Marine Affairs in the Stout-Vogel ministry of 1884. When his wife died in 1885 he moved to Auckland, where he served on the Legislative Council from 1885 to 1903. Although none of Morris' descendants by his wife Helen still live in this district, a well known local Māori family is proud to acknowledge its connection with him.

The Avenues 2 (17 October 1994)

Fourteenth Avenue, previously known as Roberts Street, links Tauranga to Lieutenant-Colonel John Mackintosh Roberts, who had a long association with Tauranga. Roberts was posted to Tauranga several times during his period of service in the Armed Constabulary. As the threat of war receded, the Armed Constables were put to work making roads. Roberts is credited with the formation of Cameron Road in 1871. He also held the position of Resident Magistrate, and compensated for his lack of legal training by collecting law books. His salary was 400 pounds per annum, with an extra 50 pounds command allowance. For relaxation he interested himself in horse racing - he was judge at the New Year's Day race meeting in 1873 - and amateur dramatics, being patron of the local drama club.

Roberts military duties took him away from Tauranga again, but he returned in 1891 as Resident Magistrate, by now a fulltime position. The courtroom was in the large, wooden government Buildings, where Roberts also had an office. Here he kept his now large library of law books, which was totally destroyed when the Government Buildings burned down in November 1902.

Roberts owned an eight acre vineyard at Judea, planted in Black Homburg grapes. The old Judea Redoubt, in use during the land wars, was on this property. The house still stands at 47 Judea Road. When his wife died there in 1908 Roberts walked out of the house and refused to return, taking up temporary lodgings in town. Most of his retirement was spent in Rotorua, where he died in 1928 at the age of 87. He was buried beside his wife in the cemetery at 17th Avenue.

The Avenues 3 (25 October 1994)

Not all the names given to the streets now known as avenues can be as fully explained as Roberts Street (14th Avenue) was last week. Fifteenth Avenue was originally known as Hunter Street, and Eighteenth Avenue as Pitt Street, but of Hunter and Pitt I can find little information to connect them with Tauranga. As far as can be ascertained, Hunter was probably Inspector William Hunter of the Armed Constabulary, and Pitt the Inspector Cholwell Dean Pitt who had command of the Poverty Bay District of the Armed Constabulary.

Wrigley Street, now Sixteenth Avenue, was named for the Wrigley family. There were two unrelated families of this name in Tauranga in its early days. This was complicated still further by the fact that both the senior Wrigleys were called Thomas! The Wrigley with the earliest connection with Tauranga, and the one most likely to be connected with Wrigley Street, was born in Stockport, Cheshire, in 1817. Arriving in New Zealand in 1858 he established a store in Maketū in 1861, and another in Tauranga in 1863. He owned other stores and a flax mill. He was elected to the first town board and was twice elected mayor of Tauranga. His Tauranga store was destroyed by fire in 1881, when the Tauranga Hotel was also burned down.

In the laying out of the town of Tauranga, the surveyors allocated a site just outside the borough boundary as a hospital reserve. Seventeenth Avenue was called Hospital Street, despite the fact that there was no permanent hospital in Tauranga until October 1913. The land designated for a hospital was situated on the block bounded by Cameron Road, Hospital Street, the extension of Edgcumbe Road and Pitt Street.

The Avenues 4 (31 October 1994)

The early issues of the Bay of Plenty Times give the reader a very clear idea of the personalities of many of the residents. One of Tauranga's more flamboyant characters was Edward Mortimer Edgcumbe, after whom Edg(e)cumbe Road is named. Closely related to the Earl of Edgcume he was very much aware of his social status and his importance in the community. Edgcumbe owned the Bay of Plenty Times from 1875 to January 1879, and again in 1882. He also seems to have been connected with a rival paper, the short-lived (1883-84) Tauranga Telegraph. He lived at The Knoll, a house on the Church Missionary Society block to the south of Eleventh Avenue. Edgcumbe eventually sold up and went to Australia, where he died.

The area south of the early borough boundary (17th Avenue), which is now known as Gate Pā, was originally surveyed as farm lots, rather than house lots. When the streets which later became 19th to 23rd Avenues were formed they received names relating to well known Tauranga families. Tanner Street, (19th Avenue) was named after the Tanners, who were butchers. A well known local doctor gave his name to Macdiarmid Street (21st Avenue). The Tebbs family was remembered by Tebbs Street (22nd Avenue). Sellars Street is probably named for the family of John Lees Faulkner's son-in-law, Daniel Sellars, who was the captain some of Faulkner's coastal trading ships.

Gate Pā (7 November 1994)

The suburb of Gate Pā is, of course, so named because it includes the site of the battle of Gate Pā, which took place on 29 April 1864. Credit for the construction of the earth works constructed to fortify the position, which were quite sophisticated for their time, is given to Penetaka, often referred to as the engineer of Gate Pā. Luckily Horatio Gordon Robley, then a lieutenant with the 68th Durham Regiment, drew a sketch plan which showed the lay-out of the pā and the trenches, for modifications to the pā were undertaken by the Durhams when they took it over as a redoubt after the battle. It was further altered by the Armed Constabulary, when they, too, made use of it.

Although the site was inspected by all important visitors to Tauranga for many years, the Greerton settlers were more concerned about the safety of their families than with the preservation of an historic site. With the blessing of the Tauranga District Highway Board (later the Tauranga County Council) a group of them filled in the remaining ditches and trenches in 1877. The Board actually recompensed them for their trouble with a payment of five pounds. The townsfolk in Tauranga were highly indignant at this wanton destruction of the pā, and the five settlers were brought before the Resident Magistrate. They were convicted, the damage was set at five pounds, they were fined one shilling and ordered to pay the costs of four pounds two shillings and sixpence. All square - except that Tauranga had lost an irreplaceable part of its history.

The St Georges Memorial Church was erected virtually on the site of the pā in 1900. Cameron Road now runs right though the centre of the site. Signs of the trenches, which were visible when the road cutting was made, are concealed by the rock retaining wall.

Farms & Nurseries (14 November 1994)

Two of the streets in the area near the hospital get their names from the Government Experimantal Farm which was established there in 1906. It began with eleven acres planted with fruit trees. Mr W. C. Berridge, a market gardener, was the first manager. Two years later the size was increased enormously when 68 acres from Captain Kerr's farm were added. The contents of the Borough nightsoil cart were used as fertiliser until 1915.

Davidson Street (20th Avenue) was named for J. H. Davidson, who became manager of the Experimental Farm in 1915. By the time it closed down in the 1920s the farm was experimenting with the growing of avocados. Mr Davidson bought part of the farm, which he continued to run as a citrus orchard.

Botanical Road, which ran through the farm, is named for that association. The Backpackers' Lodge there was once the single men's quarters, and Hodgson House, on the opposite side of the road, stands on the site of the apiary.

Another early plant nursery was situated on northern side Fifteenth Avenue, overlooking the Waimapū estuary. It was run by a widow, Mary Booth, whose husband had been killed by a fall from his horse. In the 1880s Mrs Booth and her family grew a huge variety of plants, both edible and ornamental, many of which we have never heard of today. They even advertised strawberries and cream for those who wished to go to pick their own. On one condition - no dogs were allowed in the nursery!

Story of a Peach Tree (28 November 1994)

Tauranga's biggest impact on the horticultural industry is not as you might think in the kiwifruit industry. It goes back to 1909, when the Reeve family of Gate Pā grew an outstanding peach tree from a seedling. The fruit grown on the tree was of the clingstone variety, its rich, juicy flesh a deep yellow. The tree was a heavy cropper, and the skin of the fruit was tough enough to prevent damage by handling. It kept well, and was excellent for both canning and bottling. It was - yes the Golden Queen peach.

Edwin Reeve sold the tree to D. Hay and Son, who took it to Auckland, where further trees were produced from it by propagation of the bud wood. So all the Golden Queen peaches that you have ever eaten came, as it were, from that one tree that grew in Tauranga eighty five years ago. For many years the tree was catalogued as Reeve's Golden Queen.

It was later reported in the Bay of Plenty Times that the seedling may have come from some peaches which Mr Reeve had bought in Ōpōtiki from trees planted there by the missionaries.

A canning factory was opened in Bethlehem in 1915 by the Mayfield family to process some of the fruit which grew so successfully in this district. The fruit was marketed under the brand of the "Hawkridge Orchards, Tauranga". Fireblight on the pears and brown rot on the peaches forced the factory to close after only a few years.

Bell, Brooker & Brabant (5 December 1994)

Street names were chosen by subdividers from early days. George Bell, a partner in the real estate firm of Norris and Bell, gave the name Campbell Road to a street in Judea, in memory of his wife's family. Campbell was his wife's mother's maiden name. There was some confusion with Cameron Road, and so the name was changed to Bell Street. In what must surely be a most unusual gesture George Bell named the adjoining Paine Street for his favourite philosopher, Thomas Paine.

George Bell also named Courtney Road at Gate Pā, this time using his own mother”s maiden name.

Brookfield Road [sic. actually Ōtūmoetai Road) originally bore the name of Brookers Road, after Mr A. R. Brooker through whose citrus orchard the road ran. The name was changed by the Tauranga City Council in 1968 when many street names were "rationalised".

Claremont Terrace in Ōtūmoetai runs on land which was once the Claremont farm owned by the Darragh family. Nearby Maungawhare Place is named for the lovely homestead "Maungawhare" built in 1875 by a farmer, Henry Stainforth Brabant. About ten years later Mr Brabant divided his farm and sold the house, originally called "Woodhill". The purchaser, Harry Bell Johnstone, gave it a new name, Maungawhare, the house on the hill The name Woodhill was retained for the Brabant”s new home built further down Grange Road. The house which is now used as a funeral parlour originally had a tower at one end. The Brabant children are said to have watched the Tarawera eruption from this vantage point. So dramatic and frightening was the event that they thought the world was going to end, and suggested that if that were the case they could eat up all the sugar!

Ōtūmoetai Families (12 December 1994)

The Crapp family owned a farm at the end of the Ōtūmoetai peninsula between 1874 and 1894. At this time the road was known locally as Crapp Road. In 1911 Hugh Lever bought the Oreanui farm, named for the ancient pā on the land. Thereafter the road had a happy change of name to Lever’s Road.

The Tilby family owned the Arawa farm. When it was subdivided for housing the family name was commemorated in Tilby Drive and the first names of family members were used for other streets: Warrington, Clivedene, Ivy and Maxine.

The Thompson family named Longwood Lane, which leads to their old family home. Ena Thompson said her brother Alwyn first explored the idea of cool-storing Chinese gooseberries (kiwifruit) for transport to the United Kingdom in the late 1940s. It was considered impracticable at that time, but in 1951 she herself experimented with cool-storing the fruit with the help of the Tip Top Ice Cream Company. She sold stored fruit in Wellington in 1952. Keilor Road was named after Keilor in Melbourne, where Ena Thompson’s grandmother was born.

Howell Place was named after Edward Howell, a Methodist lay-preacher, choir master and circuit steward who lived in Longwood Lane. Lemon Grove leads over land which was originally a lemon orchard, planted by Denis Knowles in the 1930s, and the owner of an adjacent lemon orchard gave his name to Whitaker Street.

Landscape Road was originally known as Hervey Street East. However in 1943 local residents, of whom there cannot have been many at that time, for it was before the road bridge to Ōtūmoetai, complained about the confusion with Harvey Street and the name was changed.

Māori Names 1 (19 December 1994)

Some Māori place names are difficult to translate into English. The reason for the name being given to a particular area may have been lost or the name may remain only in a shortened form. Although the name Ōtūmoetai may be split into its parts, o - belonging to, tu - to stand, moe - to sleep and tai - the sea, the real sense of the name is still obscure. The retention of an ancient Māori name is, however, most appropriate for an area which was densely populated at the time of the arrival of the first Europeans. There are only a few street names reflecting the Māori connection. Ngatai Road is named for Hori Taiaho Ngatai, who owned the land extending south from the Cherrywood area. As a young man Hori Ngatai took part in the Battle of Gate Pā. His experiences in the battles are retold by Captain Gilbert Mair in his booklet “The Story of Gate Pā”. Ngatai was well respected by soldiers and settlers as well as his own people. He received many parcels of land on behalf of his iwi during the reallocation of confiscated land in the late 1860s. When Ngatai died in 1912 his body was rowed over the harbour from his settlement at Whareroa for burial in the Mission Cemetery.

Tupaea Place is named for Hori Tupaea, a great Ngāi Te Rangi chief, who had connections not only with the Ōtūmoetai Pā but also with Mōtītī, Matakana, Tūhua (Mayor Island) and Bowentown. Pah Street reminds us that the great Ōtūmoetai pā covered a large area of the land along the harbour’s edge at the time of the first European visits to this district.

Both the suburb Matua and Matua Road are named for the Matua-Iwi pā which was once densely populated. As matua means father or parent, and iwi means tribe, it could be assumed that the pā was of particular significance for the Māori living in this district.

Māori Names 2 (26 December 1994)

Several of the Māori settlements around the early Mission Station were given biblical names. Amongst them are Bethlehem, often known by the Māori form of the name Peterehema, and Judea known by the local people as Hūria. In one case the Māori name has become the preferred version - Hairini is actually the Māori form of Cyrene. Another name that looks as though it is of Māori origin is Tauriko. In fact this was originally the contraction of the name of the Tauranga Rimu Company, and should more properly be spelt Taurico. The area we know as Gate Pā, after the battle which took place in 1864, was known by the Māori as Pukehinahina, and some of the early accounts refer to the battle by that name.

When the Imperial troops were in Tauranga they named some of their fortified positions for places where they had served. The redoubt at Judea was referred to as the India Redoubt, a name which has not survived, whereas Europe has passed into use as Ōropi.

Winiata Street in Judea is named for Dr Maharia Winiata, one of Tauranga's most distinguished sons. After graduating with an MA degree from Auckland University College, Winiata was awarded a Nuffield Scholarship to study anthropology at Edinburgh University. He gained his Ph. D there in 1954, the first Māori to receive this degree from an overseas university. His early death in 1960 at the age of 48 was a great loss.

Islands and the Cook Connection (2 Jan 1995)

In 1769 Captain Cook sailed up the east coast of the North Island in his ship the Endeavour. We know from his journal that the Bay of Plenty was so named because of the prosperous looking villages he saw as he passed close inshore along the eastern bay. On Friday, 3 November the Endeavour passed between Mōtītī and the mainland, but "as the weather was hazy and the wind blew fresh on the shore we hauled off for the weather-most island in sight," Cook wrote. He had no idea that a sheltered harbour lay behind what he described as a "high round head upon the main", known to Māori as Mauao, and to Pākehā as Mount Maunganui, or The Mount.

There is no truth in the story that Welcome Bay got its name because of the warm welcome given to Captain Cook when he visited there! The name Welcome Bay seems to have been used as early as 1872, for it is found in the early editions of the Bay of Plenty Times. It seems likely that the name relates to Jonathon Brown, one of the area’s earliest settlers, who was noted for his kindness and generosity.

Faced with a fresh northeasterly gale Captain Cook sought shelter behind an offshore island, Tūhua, which he renamed The Mayor, (our Mayor Island) in honour of the fact that it was Lord Mayor's Day in London. Continuing the same theme he called the small cluster of rocky islands further up the coast the Aldermen islands. Mōtītī was named Flat Island, no doubt because it was! Luckily this unimaginative name has never passed into common usage.

Maunganui - Early Residents (9 Jan 1995)

The earliest permanent residence at Maunganui was the pilot house, built for Thomas Sparrow Carmichael about 1866. He lived here for the six years he held the position of pilot. However, when, after a gap of two years, Hannibal Marks arrived, a new dwelling had to be erected. Pilot Bay owes its name to the establishment of this pilot station near the harbour entrance.

Tauranga residents favoured the Mount for holiday excursions right from the start. The Bay of Plenty Times reported that on Boxing Day 1888 250 people visited the Mount, and an amazing 400, almost half the population, made the trip on New Year’s Day 1889. There were, of course, no roads, so getting there involved a boat trip up the harbour, which must have been rather a trial for the women clad in long skirts and broad-brimmed hats. In order to make disembarking easier a group of public-minded citizens decide to build a small stone jetty. This jetty, completed in March 1887, is sign-posted near the beginning of the base track around the Mount. It served as a landing place until another wharf was opened in January 1895.

A track to the summit of Maunganui was completed in 1898. Known as the Ward track, it was formed by and named after G. Arnold Ward, a trained architect and civil engineer, one of the leading lights in the district. J. C. Adams, another of Tauranga’s public figures, is credited with planting trees on the Mount by the simple expedient of distributing seeds and shanghais to a group of youngsters, who were then encouraged to shoot the seeds off in all directions. Adams and Ward built two of the first permanent holiday homes. J. C. Adams’ cottage still stands on its original section in Adams Avenue.

Maunganui - What it might have been (16 January 1995)

When the first subdivision for holiday homes was made at Mount Maunganui in 1907, an official name had to be chosen for the settlement. When the obvious one of Maunganui was turned down by the survey Department, J. C. Adams suggested three other possibilities: Te Maire, a name given to an area of higher land almost opposite the town of Tauranga, Tamure, the Māori word for snapper and Rakataura. Rakataura was a legendary chief, who had travelled to Aotearoa on the back of a taniwha after his wife was abducted by voyagers on the Tainui canoe. J. C. Adams’ wife was of Tainui descent, which may explain this choice. The Survey Department chose Rakataura.

Mount Maunganui would have remained a holiday settlement had it not been for the decision to establish the East Coast Main Trunk railway workshops in Pilot Bay. In 1910 the first sod for the railway works was turned, and workshops and workers dwellings were erected. The railway settlement was given the name Moturiki. Neither of the official names came into common use, and Mount Maunganui has long been the accepted name for the town.

A new jetty, known from its shape as the Horseshoe wharf, was put up to service the larger ships entering port with rails and sleepers. The Salisbury Wharf is more or less on the same site now. In order to provide stone for ballast (the loose stone foundation for the rails) a quarry was established on Moturiki island, destroying evidence of ancient Māori habitation on the island. The pits thus created were later made into pools for Marineland, and reused as swimming pools for Leisure Island. These business ventures having come to an end, Moturiki is now being returned to a natural state.

Although it was possible to travel by train from Mount Maunganui to Te Puke in 1913, work on the railway ceased during World War I. It was not until 1924 that the bridge was completed, and Tauranga was linked to the east by rail.

Maunganui – Mayors (22 January 1995)

So small was the settlement of Mount Maunganui that when it became a dependant Town Board within the county of Tauranga in 1930, the permanent population numbered only some 200 people. In 1937, with a population of 500 it became an independent Town District, responsible for its own finances. The status of Borough was finally achieved in 1945, when a population of over 1,000 (including absentee owners) was reached.

Several of the street names at Mount Maunganui commemorate chairmen of the Town Board and early mayors. Bain Street is named for David P. Bain, who in 1930 was appointed the first chairman. He was replaced in 1933 by E. C. Banks, whose name is recalled in Banks Avenue.

The last chairman of the Town Board and the first mayor of the new Borough was S. E. Macdonald, for whom Macdonald Street is named. The second mayor, S. F. Newton, elected in 1947, also has a street named for him.

Harris Street is named after Arthur R. Harris a particularly long-serving mayor (1959-1971) who saw the town through a period of rapid growth caused by the establishment of deepwater wharves on the eastern side of the Tauranga harbour to provide facilities to export forest products from the bay of Plenty. Owens Place commemorates Mayor R. A. (Bob) Owens, who is particularly notable for holding office as mayor of both Tauranga and Mount Maunganui at the same time from 1971 to 1974, thus becoming New Zealand’s first ever double Mayor.

Maunganui – Significant Citizens (30 January 1995)

Some well known early residents of Mount Maunganui are remembered by the street names. Grove Avenue is named for Mrs Emma Grove, who used to spend her summer holidays at the Mount with her family. After her husband’s death she left Rotorua to live permanently at Mount Maunganui, where she made her mark as an indefatigable worker towards raising funds for public amenities. She established the children’s playground, and was involved with both the golf and tennis clubs.

Some well known early residents of Mount Maunganui are remembered by the street names. Grove Avenue is named for Mrs Emma Grove, who used to spend her summer holidays at the Mount with her family. After her husband’s death she left Rotorua to live permanently at Mount Maunganui, where she made her mark as an indefatigable worker towards raising funds for public amenities. She established the children’s playground, and was involved with both the golf and tennis clubs.

Some groups of street names follow a particular theme. C. P. C. Mc. Naughton chose a Scottish flavour for his subdivision, made in the late 1940s and the early 1950s. Hence we find Aberdeen, Campbell, Clyde, Dee, Tweed, Gordon, Heath, Lee, Macville and Orkney Streets.

When a subdivision was made on land previously occupied by the headquarters of the Mount Maunganui Pony club, names of famous racecourses were chosen: Aintree Place, Ascot Road and Place, and Epsom Road.

Maunganui – Nautical Flavour (6 February 1995)

Carter Street at Mount Maunganui was named after Harold (Nick) Carter, who was Chairman of the Bay of Plenty Harbour Board from 1963-1969. Hart Street commemorates Captain George Hart, who was killed in action in Italy during World War II. Wells and Sutherland Avenues are also named after residents killed during the war.

Hull Road has nothing to do with the English port of that name, nor, despite its proximity to the port, with the hull of a ship. Fred Hull lived just outside the Mount Maunganui Borough boundary on land which was taken over for the port development.

A block of land subdivided by the Williams brothers gives the Mount streets with an appropriately nautical flavour, which is, however, not immediately obvious except to those well acquainted with naval vessels. Carysfort Street, Concord Avenue, Crane Street, Lachlan Avenue, Leander Street Pūkākī Street and Taupō Avenue are all named after ships of the Royal New Zealand Navy. Hāwea Street, Inverell Place and Stawell Avenue are also named after RNZN fishing patrol vessels.

Leander Street is said to have been known originally as Horoipia Street. Residents felt, however, that those who understood the Māori name would look down on them - horoi means to wash and pia is a transliteration of beer. (An alternative translation of pia is spear, again from the English word). In accordance with public demand the name was changed.

The Williams brothers were also responsible for the name of Farm Street, for it was here that their old farmhouse stood.

Maunganui – Islands and Ships (13 February 1995)

A nautical connection was maintained by V. B. Cunningham when he chose the names for several of Mount Maunganui’s streets. Tasman Quay was named after the famous explorer, Astrolabe Street after the islands given this name by Captain Cook, and Maui after the well known figure of Māori legend, who is credited with fishing up the North Island - Te Ika a Maui. Mr Cunningham also chose the name Penrhyn Place, named after Penrhyn Island, the most northerly of the Cook Islands, where he lived for many years.

Some other street names with a Pacific Island flavour were chosen by Barry Beazley, the subdivider, after a holiday spent in Tahiti. These are Moorea, Mardi and Māhina Place, Tahara Crescent and Matavai Street. Gobray Crescent is said to be named after Mlle Gobray, whom he met in Tahiti, who was once Charles de Gaulle’s mistress.

The Minister of Works, Stan Gooseman, drove the first pile of the new wharves in 1953. During this ceremony the Northern Steam Ship Company’s vessel the Maranui steamed down the Stella Passage on her way to dock at the Tauranga wharf. Maranui Street was named after this ship. Continuing the theme, Korowai Street commemorates the name of the first ship to berth at the new wharf in 1955.

Maunganui – Changes for the better? (20 February 1995)

Some of the original street names at Mount Maunganui had to be changed to avoid confusion with streets of the same name in Tauranga. Among these are Kawaka Street, originally Kauri Street, and Prince Avenue formerly Park Avenue. Other names were changed through common usage. Golf Road and Oceanbeach Road were originally the other way round! This was changed in the 1960s, when the Ōmanu area was taken in to the borough. Another reason was that the present Golf Road was part of the Golf Lands Ltd. development, and it was more appropriate to use the name in that area.

Other names given by Golf Lands were Fairway and Links Avenues. Bogey Avenue was another name put forward by these developers. It was, however, rejected in favour of Lodge Avenue, for the Masonic Lodge situated there.

Other subdividers to give their names to streets are Don and Jim Paterson, who made a small development off Girven Road, hence Paterson Street. Reilly Place is named after John Reilly, manager of the company which owned the land on which it is located. Reilly helped arrange for the land to be taken into the borough from Tauranga County.

Valley Road between Bain Street and Tweed Street was originally called Barkers Avenue after Horace Barker, who had created the original golf course. When the land was subdivided and the road carried on through it became an extension of Valley Road, and the name was changed.

Katikati – Irish Settlement (27 February 1995)

In the 1870s an Ulsterman named George Vesey Stewart travelled the length of New Zealand looking for a suitable district to which to bring a group of his fellow countrymen as special settlers. He chose the western Bay of Plenty, and in 1875 the ship the Carisbrooke Castle brought his first group. The first site for a township at Kauri Point, was never popular and in 1879 another was laid out where the main Tauranga-Thames road crossed the Uretara River. It was referred to as both Uretara and Waterford (after the town of that name in Ireland). A rival township was laid out where the main road met the track from Te Aroha. Known both as Katikati and Smith’s village it also failed to flourish. The name Waterford was soon changed to Katikati, a change precipitated, it is said, by the extra charges incurred on telegrams by having to add New Zealand to the address to ensure delivery to the correct country.

Naturally enough many of the streets in Katikati are named for early settlers, with Stewart Street after George Vesey Stewart himself. Crossley Street is named for Rev John Crossley, a widower with three daughters, who died not long after his arrival in this country. Another clergyman, Rev W. E. Mulgan, is remembered in Mulgan Street. His abilities were recognised outside Katikati, and in 1879-80 he was invited to sit on the Commission which reorganised the New Zealand University. His son, Edward, moved high in the education service, and his grandson, Alan is a well known author, whose poem “The Golden Wedding” is supposed to depict old Katikati.

Katikati – Early Settlers (6 March 1995)

Katikati’s Gray Street is named after William John Gray, a member of the second party of special settlers, who arrived on board the Lady Jocelyn in 1878. Gray built the police station and St Peter’s Anglican Church, which is, of course, still in use today. He also ran a flour mill for a short time. His grandson, Arthur J. Gray wrote The Ulster Plantation, a very interesting account of the establishment of Katikati.

Johnston Street could commemorate two different families of Johnstons. Canon Walter Johnston was also one of the second party of settlers. Noble Johnston and his family arrived in 1875 with the first group. His son, also Noble Johnston, ran a store in the township, and was, reputedly, the first to make it pay.

Major Road commemorates Henry Major, who came out with the second party, and became a vocal critic of Vesey Stewart. One of his sons, Dr Harold Major, left Katikati for Oxford, England as a young man. There he became Principal of Ripon College, and was an outstanding figure in the Church of England.

Macmillan Road is named after the Macmillan family, who arrived in New Zealand in 1881 with yet another group of Vesey Stewart Settlers, destined this time for Te Puke. The Macmillans, who had been sugar planters in the Caribbean, became an integral part of the Katikati community. Charles Macmillan was secretary of the Katikati Dairy Company. He also served on the Highways Board and the Bay of Plenty Harbour Board. Moving between his properties in Tauranga and Katikati he became Mayor of Tauranga, and eventually Member of Parliament for the Bay of Plenty.

Katikati - Ships (13 March 1995)

Two streets in Katikati commemorate the ships which brought the first two groups of settlers out in 1875 and 1878. The first ship, the Carisbrooke Castle, sailed from Belfast in June 1875 with 34 families of special settlers. The number was important - had there been fewer than 30 families the New Zealand Government would not have recognised the agreement with Vesey Stewart. In the end, however, only 28 of the families actually took up land in Katikati. Some 125 government immigrants were also on board. The ship arrived in Auckland on 8 September, the happiness of the passengers marred only by the fact that a companion ship, the Dover Castle, which had left at the same time with a shipload of government immigrants, had beaten them by two weeks.

Two small vessels, the Rowena and the Pretty Jane brought the travellers to Tauranga, where they received a hearty welcome from the townsfolk. It must have been a source of some discomfort to the new arrivals to find that roads were non-existent, and that a third waterborne journey had to be undertaken before they arrived on their chosen land.

The Lady Jocelyn, after whom Jocelyn Street is named, left Belfast in May 1878 and anchored in Auckland harbour in August. The government steamer Hinemoa transported the settlers to Tauranga, where they received a warm welcome not only from Taurangaites, but also from the settlers of the first party. The new arrivals were reported to have been upset to find not the civilised settlement promised by Stewart, but rough land needing hard labour to break it into farmland.

Katikati – Founding Families (20 March 1995)

Stewart managed to attract members of his own family out to his new settlement. His aging parents came out in 1878, building a home known as Martray. Sewart’s brother, Hugh, also came out with his wife, Adela, and son, Mervyn. Adela has left one of the most captivating chronicles of life in the early days of settlement in her book My Simple Life in New Zealand. Hugh and Adela took up land at the extreme north western end of the harbour, naming it Athenree after Stewart family lands in Ireland.

Gledstanes Road is named after Stewart’s sister-in-law’s family. Cecil Gledstanes, Stewart’s nephew, joined the first party as a cadet, a special category of settler sent out to board with families in order to learn agricultural skills in return for their labour in breaking in the new farms. Mrs Gledstanes came out separately in 1879, a tribute to the confidence Stewart’s family had in him.

Henry Road commemorates a later settler, Thomas Henry, who came to Katikati in the 1880s, at a time when many were leaving.

In 1886 a permanent vicar was obtained for Katikati, the Rev. W. Katterns, for whom a road is named. Apparently finding that he needed to supplement his stipend he set up an ostrich farm, which proved very successful. The farm remained in existence until World War I, when it is said that dogs chased the last surviving ostrich to the Waitekohe River, where it drowned. This farm features in one of the town’s murals.

Katikati – Farming Families (27 March 1995)

As would be expected, many of the roads in the Tauranga County are named after the early settlers who farmed in the district. Richard V. Surtees, after whom Surtees Road is named, was an unmarried man who came out in 1878. Although not eligible for land in the 1878 allocation, he married the eldest of Vesey Stewart’s daughters, thus, presumably, gaining a wife and a farm at the same time.

Opposite Surtees Road was the farm belonging to Thomas Tanner. Thomas arrived with the first group of settlers to Katikati, and was allocated 226 acres of land. He must have found breaking in this virgin land an acceptable challenge, for he received an additional 100 acres in 1878 when the second party arrived. He married a Miss Wylie, whose father (Joseph Snr) and two brothers are listed as receiving land grants in 1875. The land now known as Tanner’s Point was originally a Native Reserve. It was called Frazer’s Point before it became known as Tanner’s Point. The Tanners had left the district by 1940.

Willoughby Road was named for the family of that name, who followed the Purvis and Beattie families in that area. Likewise Lindemann Road is named not for an original settler family, but for later arrivals, who came after the Kellys, Mc. Clymonts, Mc. Kays, Grants and Hopkins’. The house named Larkspur, the original home of Vesey Stewart’s widowed sister, Mrs Gledstanes, and Claremont, built by Major General T. H. Stoddard were on Lindemann Road.

Katikati - Stayers (4 April 1995)

Some of the original families were still well known in the Katikati community in 1937 when A. J. Gray wrote The Ulster Plantation. Among these were the Busbys, who lived at the furthest end of Busby Road, the Reas of Rea Road, the Lockingtons of Lockington Road and the Turners of Turner Road.

Sandy Turner is described by Gray as “an outspoken, argumentative man, whose blunt manner concealed a kindly heart”. He also had the gift of making up rhymes and limericks, with which he used to entertain the children. Perhaps his most lasting memorial, apart from his many descendants who remain in the area, was his gift of two acres of land for the Anglican Church. The Turners married into the Stewart family and today are proud to claim their connection with the founder of Katikati.

Rea was a “typical Ulsterman”, dour and thorough, who had previously been employed on the Stewart estates in Ireland; James Lockington was a “peppery, hard-headed, hard-working Ulsterman. ” He was not one of the special settlers, but was put in charge of the development of Thomas Sanford’s farm. Sanford never took up his land, which was later bought by Lockington.

At least two of the roads are named after homesteads, Martray Road, after Stewart’s parents’ home, and Woodlands, built by William Shaw at the entrance to a narrow wooded valley. Shaw is said to have had 26 men working at one time clearing the farm. Tawhiao, the Māori king, once stayed at Woodlands for several days.

Katikati – Significant Settlers (10 April 1995)

Not all the long-term settlers at Katikati were recruited by Vesey Stewart. Among those non. Stewart settlers who made their mark were the Mortons, the Humes and the Earls, all families living at Aongatete.

Mortons Road commemorates not Captain Berkeley Morton, who with his family came out in Stewart’s second party in 1878, but his younger brother, Kenneth. As a single man he did not qualify for the scheme, but nevertheless took a paid passage that year in the Halcione for Hawkes Bay, where he worked for some time near Napier. He bought a farm at Ōropi, then moved to Aongatete in 1883. Although Berkeley had moved on from the settlement by the 1890s, Kenneth stayed on, becoming a very successful farmer, who contributed greatly to the young settlement.

Hume Road, also at Aongatete, commemorates the Hume family, who have taken a full part in the life of the Katikati community.

Nearby Thompson’s Track is named not for a European settler or surveyor, but for one of the better known Māori chiefs of the Waikato district. Wiremu Tamehana, or William Thompson, a chief from the Matamata district, had close connections with the coastal tribes. He often used this track to cross the ranges, and for over a century now consideration has been given to forming a trans-Kaimai highway on this alignment. Traces of gold were found in the hills near Thompson’s Track in the 1890s, but attempts to work the reef were short-lived.

Ōmokoroa – Success and Tragedy (17 April 1995)

Rev Joseph Tice Gellibrand bought Ōmokoroa, then known as the Tawhitinui Block, from its Māori owners in 1877. The Gellibrands, who had previously lived in Tasmania, moved to New Zealand in 1876. Although they arrived in Dunedin it was only a short time before the cold of winter chased them north. After a brief stay in Auckland they decided to make Tauranga their permanent home.

Rev Gellibrand invested in several blocks of land in the township of Tauranga, but his dream was to make an attractive farm out in the countryside. The Ōmokoroa peninsula, comparatively close to Tauranga, and easily accessible by boat, took his eye, and this he purchased piece by piece. A homestead was built on the point, on the area now know as the Gellibrand Reserve. In 1878 the Gellibrands adopted daughter, Elizabeth, married Arthur Crapp, a member of the Armed Constabulary.

Selina accompanied Elizabeth and Arthur to Auckland for the wedding, poor health preventing Tice himself from going. On her return journey, tragedy struck. The small sailing boat in which she was returning capsized off Matakana Island, and Selina was drowned.

The Crapps moved out to live at Omokora with Tice, who died in 1887. His daughter survived him by a mere seven years. Her youngest child, Gerald Vivian Crapp, was then just two months old. Two of the roads in Ōmokoroa are named for him: Gerald Place and Vivian Drive. He was responsible for creating the Gellibrand Historic Reserve at the end of Ōmokoroa Point.

Ōmokoroa – Farming Families (24 April 1995)

Roads in the countryside around the Ōmokoroa peninsula are generally named for the families who farmed in the district. In contrast to the families around Katikati, many of these settlers arrived only in the early years of the twentieth century.

Anderson Lane at Te Puna Point leads to the land farmed by Andrew Anderson who ran a launch into Tauranga. His two daughters, Effie and Vera ran the Post Office for many years.

The Prole family, after whom Proles Road is named, had a dairy farm on the Ōmokoroa peninsula. They were among the first to sign up to provide cream to the Tauranga Dairy factory. Music lessons in Tauranga for Ethel Prole involved a launch trip up the harbour. The opening of the railway line from Tauranga to Waihī in 1928 proved a great boon, making the journey into town much easier.

Many emigrants came to the western Bay of Plenty from Ireland even after George Vesey Stewart had stopped advertising the attractions of the area. Robert and Margaret Francis came from Ireland in 1900, and settled at Te Puna Point. Francis Road is named after them. With great determination Robert worked out a way of transporting the cream from Ōmokoroa to the Tauranga Dairy factory over 15 miles of unmade road. He built sledges, known by the Māori word, konaki, which were hauled into the factory at Eleventh Avenue by two horses. By the 1920s enough progress had been made to allow of the purchase of a truck, which must have been a great relief.

Plummers Point & Te Puna Point (1 May 1995)

The Plummers, after whom Plummers Point is named, arrived in Tauranga from the Wairarapa in 1907. Apparently Thomas was offered land at Mount Maunganui for five shillings per acre, but he chose more fertile land at Te Puna Point. There was already a house on the farm, built in 1892 by the Freeth family, but a new home made from heart kauri was completed in 1910. Luckily the Plummers recognised the importance of an ancient Māori pā, Ongarahu, which was on their land, and which they were careful to preserve. Plummers Point is now associated with the hot pools, a favourite spot for local people and tourists alike.

The cluster of shops situated on the main Waihī highway opposite the turn off to Plummers point had their beginnings in the Ōmokoroa Store. It was taken over in 1949 by the Barrett family, for whom the side road was named. When the main road was realigned in 1954, a new, modern store was built. There is still a successful small shopping centre on the site.

Another early settler at Te Puna Point was William Merrick, who left England in 1902. He married Maggie Francis, who had emigrated from Ireland to live with her brother and sister already farming at Ōmokoroa. In order to help pay for the farm, William cropped and sold red clover seed. The importance of the crop to him is clear - he named his house Cloverlea. The family moved to Auckland because of Maggie’s ill health, but later returned to the district, settling at Pyes Pā, which is why a road there bears the family name, instead of one at Te Puna.

Te Puna – Public Figures (8 May 1995)

Thomas Lochhead, a Scot, came north from Canterbury to Te Puna in 1893. He bought 600 acres of land, and helped by his sons turned it into a productive farm. He took an active part in community life, serving on the Te Puna School committee, the Hospital Board, the Power Board, of which he was first chairman, and as a Justice of the Peace. Lochhead Road runs through the land which he farmed. Many of his descendants still live in this district.

The Snodgrass family arrived in Tauranga in 1871. The family lived at first on the site of an ancient pā on what is now known as the Matua peninsula. Snodgrass Road is, however, named for Archie Snodgrass, who returned to New Zealand from South Africa in 1910, and took up land at Te Puna. So popular was he that on his return a complimentary dinner was put on for him in the Star Hotel in Tauranga.

A staunch conservationist, Keith I’Anson has both a road and a nature reserve to his name. I’Anson, who began farming in Te Puna in 1938, represented the Te Puna riding on the Tauranga County Council from 1971 to 1977. In 1987 he gifted a block of land to the Queen Elizabeth Trust. Earlier he had donated land at Ōmokoroa for use a golf course.

Te Puna – The French Connection (15 May 1995)

From the 1840s onwards the Te Puna peninsula was the home of several Frenchmen, who married into Māori families there. Some of the French names are still common among local families. Louis Bidois, for example, left many descendants who bear his name. The Potier name, however, has virtually died out in this district.

The only Frenchman to be commemorated in a road name is Emile Joseph Borel (1814-1885). Borell Road leads off Te Puna Road near the Paparoa Marae, which is the home marae of the Borell family. Paparoa Road gets its name from the marae. One of the great rugby personalities of the district was David Borell, who was a Māori All Black in the 1920s. He played against the first Springbok team to tour New Zealand.

Tu and Ike Tangitu were also Māori All Blacks, and members of the Tangitu family after which Tangitu Road is named. Kuka Road and Te Mete Road are also named for Māori families living in the district. Te Mete is the Māori form of the name Smith. It is unclear just who the first Smith was, but Te Mete Raukawa, the first to bear the Māori version of the name, was a well respected chief in the late 1800s and early 1900s, whose descendants still contribute to the district. For many year the best known of these was Vic Smith, a Tauranga Borough Councillor who ran a bus service from Bethlehem into Tauranga.

Bethlehem (22 May 1995)

Correctly spelt with double t, Moffatt Road in Bethlehem was named for Clarence Moffatt, a local carrier and member of the Tauranga Borough Council. Apparently he preferred to be known as Charlie, because he thought the name Clarence was “too posh”. Moffatt moved to Tauranga from the Waikato in 1919 and bought the Tauranga Carrying Company which was based in Grey Street.

In the early 1920s Moffatt bought some land at Bethlehem. The access road to the farm was a quagmire during wet weather, and he put pressure on the Tauranga County Council to upgrade the road. A compromise was reached: the County Council would provide the metal from the Te Puna Quarry if Charlie could organise a workforce to spread it. He was successful in this, and as a joke a sign saying Moffatt’s Road was erected. The name stuck, and was later adopted officially.

The farm was sold, eventually becoming the property of Tauranga District Councillor Eleanor Elder, after whom Elder Lane, which leads to Bethlehem College, is named.

The Minden, now a desirable residential area with superb views, acquired its name in 1865. It is noted in the Tauranga Argus, a short-lived newspaper of that period, that Captain Marcom of the 12th Regiment, also known as the Suffolks, named the hill as a reminder of one of the regiment’s battle honours. The battle of Minden was fought in 1759 during the Seven Years War, when a combined force of 43,000 British and Hanoverian soldiers routed a force of 60,000 French troops to win back the town of Minden in northern Germany.

Tauriko (29 May 1995)

The Armstrongs, after whom Armstrong Road, Te Puna is named, were related to the Rev Charles Jordan, who came out to Tauranga from Ireland in 1873 to be the first vicar at Holy Trinity Anglican church.

Moving towards the east along Cambridge Road, so named because it led to the town of that name, we come to Tauriko. This now looks as if it is a Māori name, but it is more correctly spelled Taurico, the abbreviated form of the Tauranga Rimu Company which was based there. Belk Road is named after a farming family who took up land there early this century.

In this area we find the Ōmanawa Falls Power Station, which went into operation in 1915. Even before the Ōmanawa station was commissioned Tauranga Borough Council Engineer Lloyd Mandeno had opened an electrical show room in Devonport Road. The display included a coffee percolator, toasters, immersion heaters and even a vacuum cleaner. Mr Ready’s house on 4th Avenue became the first all electric home in New Zealand, with a hot water system specially designed for him by Lloyd Mandeno. The demand for electric power grew so fast that by 1921 Mandeno put forward a proposal for a second power station. There are two possible reasons for the name Mc. Larens Falls: one story is that the couple farmed in the area on which the power station was erected. It is also said, however, that Lloyd Mandeno himself named the scheme after the couple who ran the cook house while construction was taking place.

Pyes Pā (5 June 1995)

Pye’s Pā Road, which leads to Pye’s Pā settlement, is a curious mixture of English and Māori words. There is still some mystery about the name. As far as can be ascertained Captain Charles Pye V. C. was with the Flying Column of troops at the time of the land wars. Pye won his Victoria Cross in what seems a curious way. During the Indian Mutiny his regiment fought so valiantly that the soldiers were allowed to choose by ballot a representative from each of four ranks to receive the award on behalf of his colleagues. So Pye won the V. C. not through an individual act of bravery, but by the popular choice of his comrades in arms.

After the battles of Gate Pā and Te Ranga troops under the command of Captain Pye fortified an old pā site, which perhaps because of the alliteration became known as Pye’s Pā. Pye, who had arrived in New Zealand with his wife and daughter in 1863, did not remain in the Tauranga district. Just what happened to the family subsequently is the mystery. A published list of V. C. holders gives Pye’s place of death as Enfield, Middlesex, England, but it seems certain from an application for a war medal, that he was alive and in New Zealand at that time. I have not yet, however, been successful in tracing his death, either here or in Australia. A descendant is now living in Tauranga, but even she has not got that information.

Maungatapu (12 June 1995)

The Maungatapu peninsula has a greater concentration of Māori street names than any other part of the city. When the first mission station was established in Tauranga both Ōtūmoetai and Maungatapu were prosperous pā with considerable populations. The Ōtūmoetai pā did not survive the opening up of lands to European settlers, lying as it did within the confiscation boundaries. Land at Maungatapu, on the other hand, was not taken from its Māori owners. The pā, now referred to as the Maungatapu marae, is still flourishing today, although the urban sprawl has confined it to the tip of the peninsula, and the peace of the setting is often disrupted by power boats towing water skiers.

A famous chief, Nuka Taipari, who was one of the few in the district to sign the Treaty of Waitangi, lived at the pā in the mid 1800s. His sister, Wikitōria, (Victoria) had a son, Hone Taipari Mc. Leod. Both Wikitōria and Taipari are used as street names. Te Mutu is another famous ancestor commemorated in this way. The Heke and Ririnui families also have streets named for them.

One name, Vine Street, reminds us that Tauranga’s first commercial vineyard was established on the Maungatapu peninsula by Air Commodore F. Hewlett, who emigrated from England in the 1930s.

Turret Road, which links Maungatapu with Tauranga city across the Waimapū Estuary, got its name from a tall tower erected in the 1880s to carry the telegraph wires over the water. Long since pulled down, there exists a rather poor quality sketch showing this structure, but no photograph of it has yet come to light.

Welcome Bay – Thematic Naming (19 June 1995)

Welcome Bay is a comparatively recent residential development, so many of the street names follow themes suggested by the developers or by the Tauranga City Council. Ryegrass Dell, Cloverlea Walk, Lucerne Place and Pampas Grove need no explanation, and seem appropriate for an area that once was farmland.

Some of the earlier housing developments featured ships well known in New Zealand history. Endeavour Avenue and Resolution Road, named for Cook’s ships, lead off James Cook Drive.

Continuing in chronological order, we find Herald Place named for the Mission schooner which sailed into Tauranga harbour in 1826, carrying missionaries from the Bay of Islands who wanted to trade for pigs and potatoes. Anchoring near the harbour entrance, in what came to be known as Pilot Bay after the Pilot House built there in 1864, the Herald received a warm welcome from local Māori.

D’Urville Way reminds us that in 1827 the French explorer Dumont D’Urville anchored off Tauranga and sent men ashore to barter for food. An officer also went ashore to take astronomical observations and to make a chart of the harbour. Strangely enough there is no street named for Captain Thomas Wing, who in his 47 ft schooner, the Fanny, made the earliest surviving chart of the Tauranga harbour in 1835.

The first published chart of the Tauranga harbour was prepared by Captain Byron Drury, after whom Mount Drury is named, in 1852. Drury’s ship was the brig HMS Pandora, commemorated by Pandora Place.

Welcome Bay – Ships and Shipping (23 June 1995)

The theme of ship’s names used for streets in Welcome Bay mentioned last week was continued up to more recent times by the use the names of many of New Zealand’s war ships.

The British ship Ajax and the New Zealand warship Achilles took part in the battle of the River Plate. Another street is named for the sailing ship Pamir, once used to carry grain from Australia to Europe. Pamir sailed under the New Zealand flag for a short time during world war II, plying from Auckland to Vancouver. . A globe of the world which used to belong to the captain of the Pamir was presented to the New Zealand Room of the Tauranga Library by Captain Don Munro, who had met the captain in Wellington.

Holmburn Street is named after one of the vessels of the Holm shipping line, all of which began with Holm. Captain Munro sailed on many of this company’s ships, including the Holmglen, Holmdale and Holmlea. Captain Ferdinand Holm had an unfortunate connection with Tauranga: he was chief officer of the Union Company’s Taranaki when it was wrecked off Karewa Island in 1878.

Some of the names sound odd to people who do not recognise them as ships. We still have Dingadee Street, but nearby Boojum Street was changed to Dunton Drive in 1977 after a petition was presented to the Tauranga City Council by residents. George Dunton bought land in the area in 1919.

Welcome Bay – Early Families (3 July 1995)

Only a few streets in Welcome Bay are named after early families. Among them are Johnston Place, named for a family who bought land in Welcome Bay in 1908. The Johnstons farmed there until the subdivision of farm land for housing. Hammond Street is on the old Hammond farm, and Keam Way also commemorates one of the well known early families. Ron Keam, who wrote a fascinating account of the Tarawera eruption, was born and brought up in Welcome Bay.

Nearer to Pāpāmoa, Asher Road is a reminder of the Jewish-Māori Asher family. Asher was the first fire chief in Auckland from 1865 to 1874. When he shifted to Tauranga he took an active role in the fire service here. In 1881 he, along with 152 others, signed a petition to the Governor requesting that Tauranga be made a Borough. and stood unsuccessfully for the first Tauranga Borough Council in 1882. His son David, who married Kataraina, was proprietor of the Tauranga Hotel from 1891 to 1906. He later owned the Wharepai Boarding House on the corner of Cameron Road and Hamilton Street, after which the Wharepai Domain is named.

Welcome Bay Road was the original route to Te Puke, formed by the Armed Constabulary in 1880 in preparation for the arrival of George Vesey Stewart’s Te Puke settlers in 1881. It was very difficult work, the swamps almost defeating all attempts to lay firm foundations across them. This route to the eastern side of the harbour was the only alternative to a ride on one of Faulkner’s Ferries until the Maungatapu bridge was completed in 1959.

Te Puke – Early Families (10 July 1995)

Te Puke, like Katikati was the result of George Vesey Stewart's colonising zeal, and therefore also has a road named after him - Stewart Road. The Lady Jocelyn, carrying the first of the settlers destined for Te Puke, was the first ship to sail directly from the United Kingdom to Tauranga. Great must have been the frustration of the passengers when she had to stand on and off the harbour entrance for 24 hours, waiting for the SS Waitaki to tow her into port. Jocelyn Street is, of course, named after the ship.

Few of the original party have been commemorated in the street names. King Street may, however, be named for Robert King who owned the general store- unless it goes with Queen Street! (See 17 July 1995 Article below for correction of this information). Boucher Avenue is a reminder of Ernest Woodward Boucher, who came out in 1881.

Malyon Road is named after a family which came out not to Te Puke, but to Katikati in 1878. They lived at Athenree in Tinpot Castle until 1881, when they saw more opportunity in the Te Puke settlement, and moved there. Sarah Malyon ran a nursing home, and was a well loved member of the community. The Macmillan family came out on the Lady Jocelyn to take up land at Te Puke, but moved in the opposite direction to the Malyons and became well known Katikati settlers.

Sarah Malyon's daughter, Florence, married a Scot, Robert Dunlop, after whom Dunlop Road is named. Dunlop had tried his luck in the goldfields of Southland and Waihī before becoming Te Puke's first blacksmith about 1900. His smithy was on the section of Dunlop Road later renamed Mc. Loughlin Drive.

Te Puke – notable names (17 July 1995)

Firstly, I must make two corrections to last week’s article, with apologies to the Malyon descendants. It was, of course, Sarah Malyon’s daughter, Florence, who married Robert Dunlop, and not Sarah herself. Secondly, a map of Sarah Malyon’s subdivision shows clearly that she chose the patriotic names King and George for the streets in it. King Street’s name was changed later to Malyon Street, to recognise the Malyon family, and the name King Street was reused. Jubilee Park was named in 1935 to mark the silver jubilee of George V.

Te Puke’s main street, once simply Main Street, is named after the Right Honourable Sir John Rushworth Jellicoe, Governor General of New Zealand from 1920 to 1924. Lord Liverpool, his predecessor, held the position of both last Governor and first Governor General. Jellicoe was a British naval officer during the 1st world war, who was promoted Admiral of the Fleet in 1919. He was very interested in yacht racing, and donated the Sanders Cup, one of the premier yachting trophies.

Another British naval officer, David Beatty, is commemorated in the name of Beatty Avenue. Beatty took part in the Battle of Jutland, and accepted the surrender of the German navy in 1918. Mountbatten Place is yet another Te Puke street named after a British naval officer. Mountbatten, the uncle of Queen Elizabeth, changed his name from the German Battenberg to a more English version when Britain was at war with Germany. He was killed in an IRA bomb attack in 1979.

Te Puke - Commercial Connections (24 July 1995)

After last week’s collection of notable names it comes as a surprise to find that Te Puke’s Seddon Street was named not after the Premier of New Zealand, Richard Seddon, but after a local farmer and auctioneer, Robert Seddon. The Te Puke Agricultural and Pastoral Association’s Seddon Shield trophy was named in his honour.

Browns Terrace is named after the Brown brothers, who also established a stock trading company. they actually took over Seddon’s business, and were later taken over themselves by the well known New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Company. Jonathon (Dick) Brown worked for NZ Loan and Merc for 35 years, becoming manager of the Te Puke branch. He was a member of the Town Board and the Borough Council and served as mayor from 1936 to 39. He was also a member of the Tauranga Acclimatisation Society and Racing Club, and the Te Puke Agricultural and Pastoral Association and Rugby Union.

Palmer Place is named after Thomas Palmer, who in 1913 was elected the first chairman of the Te Puke Town Board. Palmer came to Te Puke from Waihī in 1908, to build a hotel to replace the one destroyed by fire. He also built the Kaituna private hotel from a building shifted from the mining town of Waikino. As a member of the town board he had a hand in planting the trees in Jellicoe Street, and worked hard towards the establishment of a water supply for Te Puke from the Kirikiri Dam.

Te Puke – Farming Folk (7 August 1995)

As Te Puke relied mainly on agriculture for its early prosperity, it is not surprising that many of the streets are named after prominent farmers. Harris Street is named for John Leonard Harris and his wife Mary (nee Hingston). The Harris family came out to Te Puke in 1882 on the Oxford, a ship chartered by George Vesey Stewart for his special settlers to the Bay of Plenty. John Harris served on the Te Puke Town Board, the school committee and the vestry of the Anglican church. His wife’s family, the Hingstons, arrived in Te Puke one year earlier, but also on board the Oxford. After farming on No One Road for some seven years Mr and Mrs Harris bought a farm on Cameron Road in 1916. Harris Street lies on land which was formerly part of this farm.

Gordon Street is named after James Paterson Gordon, who was 30 years old when he arrived in Te Puke in 1907 from his native Aberdeen. At first he worked on the roads, then in the flax milling industry. Later he bought a farm on Te Matai Road, where he lived until 1945. The town property he purchased includes Harris Street, Gordon Street and Lee Street.

Lee Street is named after the Lee brothers, who owned a farm to the north of Te Puke. The Lees were also Stewart settlers. One of the brothers, John, was chairman of Te Puke Dairy Produce Ltd. in 1884.

Te Puke – Obvious or misleading? (14 August 1995)

Station Road Te Puke, like other Station Roads, refers to the presence of the railway station. The line from Mount Maunganui to Te Puke was completed in 1913. The intervention of World War I caused work on the railway to stop for the duration. Work recommenced in the 1920s, and the line was finally completed as far as Tāneatua.

Bramble Bridge over the railway line is not named for wild brambles growing beside the line, but for someone who made a great contribution to Te Puke. Harold Edward Bramble was born in Morrinsville, coming to Te Puke as relieving manager for Farmers Trading Company. However, in Te Puke he stayed, serving on the Borough Council for 18 years, during which time, as chairman of the Works committee, he worked to renew the bridge later named after him. Bramble also represented Te Puke on the Tauranga Power Board, and was on the committee of the Te Puke Club, the RSA and the Citizens’ Club. An astute business man, he set up the first drycleaners in the town, and was a partner with W. J. Barrow as a Bookseller and Stationer.

Jamieson Oval is named after John Andrew Jamieson, born in Te Puke in 1901, who gifted the land now known as the Jamieson Oval to the people of Te Puke. He was a solicitor in partnership with the well known H. O. Cooney. Andy Jamieson served on the Borough Council from 1922 to 1926 and 1934 to 1940. He was killed on Crete during World War II.

Te Puke – Significant Citizens (21 August 1995)

For outsiders, the name Ben Keys Street. seems most unusual. It is, however, simply a personal name, commemorating Dunedin born Ben Keys, Mayor of Te Puke from 1936 to 1939. Keys was also on the school committee and the vestry of the Anglican church.

Another park bearing witness to a notable citizen is Mc. Loughlin Park. Born in Auckland in 1910, Henry Joseph Mc. Loughlin trained as a chemist before he came to Te Puke in 1936 to open his own business. He found time to serve on the Borough Council, from 1943-53, and again 1956-65. During the later term he was Deputy Mayor. Mc. Loughlin was a keen sportsman, interested in tennis, athletics, badminton and golf.

Queen Street was originally known by a far less impressive name. Because it was the route taken by drovers taking stock through the town it was referred to as Stock Road. It was only after World War II, when the Hookeys subdivided their land, and houses began to spring up along the route, that it ceased to be used as a stock route, and the name Queen Street began to be used more widely.

Chaytor Street is named for William Tunstill (Brian) Chaytor, who owned land from Boucher Avenue across to No 1 Road. Chaytor married Tahuri, and had two children Violet and Brian. Violet married William Henry Newdick, from the well known Maketū family. Chaytor ran a store, and for a while operated a weekly mail service on horse back between Te Puke and Maketū.

Te Puke – Family Connections (28 August 1995)

The Gilmore family, after whom Gilmore Street is named, were important in both Tauranga and Te Puke. Gilmore Street is named for Eric William Gilmore, who was born in Te Puke in 1917. He was responsible for subdividing land in Boucher Avenue, near the street which now bears his name. His father William John, had purchased land off Te Puke’s Cameron Road which he subdivided. A street laid out in the subdivision was planted with kōwhai trees and named after them. Going back yet another generation, William John’s father, John, owned land on the corner of Elizabeth Street and Cameron Road Tauranga, where he ran a small general store. The building is now in the Tauranga Historic Village.

The name of H. Owen Cooney is well known in the western Bay of Plenty, from Te Puna to Te Puke. Cooney, who was born in Tuakau in 1892 was a school teacher in Te Puna. He trained as a barrister and solicitor, commencing practice in Te Puke in 1918. He was chairman of the Te Puke Town Board from 1922-315, and served as the first Mayor, when Te Puke became a Borough in 1935. In 1936 he resigned and moved to Tauranga, where he became well known as a partner of the law firm now called Cooney, Lees and Morgan.

Wiltshire Place is named after the English county where Mrs Dinah Judd was born. When the subdivision was made Mrs Judd’s family sought permission to name the street after the county of her birth.

Te Puke – Local Identities 1 (4 September 1995)

Norrie Street is named after a Presbyterian minister, Arnold Hector Norrie, who served the Te Puke district as a Home Missionary from1908-1912, before the erection of the Presbyterian Church. When he retired in 1943 Norrie returned to Te Puke, and served again as a Home Missionary to rural areas as far afield as Manawahē and Matatā.

Glen Terrace is shortened from Bostock’s property, Glencoe. Frank Bostock was a member of the Town Board. Oroua Street was named at the request of Mr Hine after the river near Feilding, which flowed through a property he had previously owned. Mr Hine was responsible for the subdivision.

Milsom Place is named after Australian-born Leslie William Milsom. Milsom farmed in the Pongakawa district, where he took an active part in local affairs. He was an active supporter of the Te Puke War Memorial Hall, and remained on the committee from the beginning until the project was completed.

Doctor Leonard Randell, born in Wellington in 1903, came to Te Puke as a general practitioner in 1930, and remained there until his death 30 years later. He is commemorated by a street named after him, and also in the Leonard Randell Memorial Scholarship. He and his wife were both very involved with the Te Puke Plunket Society. A keen sportsman, Randell was captain and handicapper for the Te Puke golf club. He captained the Taranaki cricket XI in 1928 and played for Waikato-Bay of Plenty against England in 1936. He was also president of the Bay of Plenty Racing Club from 1952-60.

Te Puke – Local Identities 2 (11 September 1995)
Herbert Street, Te Puke is named after the Herbert Beazley, who purchased land shortly after World War I and built houses for sale. Barrow Place got its name from Angus Barrow, born in Ōpunake in 1886, who came to Te Puke in 1902. He farmed the area around the road named after him. Barrow’s wife was Ethel Bird, grand daughter of very early Te Puke settlers, William and Sarah Bird.

Bishoprick Crescent was named not after the school teacher Charles Bishoprick, but after his son George Herbert. Born in Waimate North in 1892, George was brought to Te Puke by his parents at the age of four. He farmed in the Cameron Road area from 1914 until 1974, when he sold some of his land to the Bay of Plenty Dairy Company. The company was responsible for naming Bishoprick Crescent when the land was subdivided.

Nearby Nettlingham Place boasts a very long name for a short street. Bert Nettlingham took up land at Pongakawa in 1930. He was a member of the South Auckland Education Board, and served on the Te Puke High School Board of Governors. He was also a director of the bay of Plenty Dairy Coop Association from 1955-73.

Another name with Dairy Company associations is Bayly Place. Lewis Frank Bayly came much later to Te Puke than many other people mentioned so far in this column. Born in Te Awamutu in 1915 he started in dairying in India, Australia and Kenya before coming to Te Puke in 1960 as Assistant Production Manager for the Bay of Plenty Dairy Association in 1960.

Te Puke – Local Identities 3 (18 September 1995)
Mac. Loughlin Drive, is named after Eugene James Metge Mac. Louglin, who should not be confused with H. J. Mc. Loughlin of Mc. Loughlin Park. Jim Mac. Loughlin has become very well known through his part in the development of the kiwifruit industry. Born in Rotorua the son of a doctor, he spent only five years there before the family moved to Auckland because of his father’s ill health. Mac. Loughlin Drive was previously part of Dunlop Road. It was renamed in 1975.

Hookey Drive was named after a well known Te Puke solicitor, William Elliot Hookey. Born in Auckland, he had his practice in Te Puke from 1925 to 1970. During this time he contributed fully to the community. He was a foundation member of the Masonic Lodge, the tennis club, Golf Club, Bridge Club and Te Puke Men’s Club. Although he was mayor of Te Puke for only one year (1955- 56) he was the representative on the Tauranga Power Board for 21 years.

Alfred Hawkins Washer spent most of his life in Te Puke, his parents moving there from Ōpōtiki when he was only two years old. He worked on the family farm for 20 years, before leaving the district to work as a butcher, returning to set up a business in Paengaroa. His career was interrupted by World War I, but he returned to the Paengaroa business and also opened a branch in Te Puke. When the land he had farmed on No. 2 Road was subdivided the Borough Council chose the name Washer Street.


Te Puke - Local Identities 4 (25 September 1995)
Litt Park, which is run by the Te Puke High School Board of Trustees, was named after the first principal of the Te Puke High School, when it was granted post primary status in 1954. Born in Stockport, England in 1913 Litt was active in all fields of education. He was a member of Rotary and of Te Puke Repertory Society.

Bibliography
Bellamy, A. C. ed. Tauranga 1882-1982. Tauranga, Tauranga City Council, 1982
Cunningham, Bruce & Ken Musgrave. A history of Mount Maunganui. Mount Maunganui Borough Council, 1989
Gemming, Alice. “Te Puke places”, in Johnson, R. W. & Peter Vercoe, Te Puke mow and then, Tauranga, Te Puke Lions Club, 1981
Gray, Arthur J. An Ulster plantation: the story of the Katikati settlement. Wellington, A. H. & A. W. Reed, 1938
Taylor, Selwyn. The story of Te Puke, Te Puke, printed by Te Puke Times Ltd, 1969
Woods, Jenny. Ōmokoroa, Tauranga, Don Kale Printing Co. , [1980]

Source original accessed September 2015 http://econtent. tauranga. govt. nz/data/libraries/files/local_hist/western_bay_street_names. pdf

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