Street Stories: Generally Speaking... Roberts Road, French Street, Raglan Street The street running parallel to Kitchener Street, behind the old hospital in Totara Street, was named after the South African War general, Frederick Roberts. Roberts was Commander-in-Chief...
Street Stories: Generally Speaking... Gordon Street Churchill Avenue The last of the streets named after military leaders in 1904 was Gordon Street, named after one of Britain’s greatest generals, Charles Gordon. This Victorian hero is mainly remembered for his...
Street Stories: Generally Speaking... Montgomery Crescent, Montgomery Place and Alamein Court Montgomery Place and later Montgomery Crescent recall the revered leader of the Eighth Army in North Africa, Viscount Montgomery. When the Masterton Borough Council built a...
Street Stories: Generally Speaking... Wavell Crescent and Gort Place Further subdivision in the area in the early 1960s resulted in the creation of two new streets, Wavell Crescent and Gort Place. Earl Wavell had been Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in the...
Street Stories: Generally Speaking... Allenby Street and Kippenberger Street A further military street was added in 1969 when Allenby Street was built. Viscount Allenby served in both the South African War and in France during World War One but is best remembered for...
Street Stories: Streets of Lansdowne Rahiwi Place, Terrace End and Blair Street The street which followed the edge of the high bank above the Waipoua River was originally called The Terrace but, following the death of Mayor Thomas Jordan in 1945, the area was renamed...
Street Stories: Streets of Lansdowne Milford Downs The Maunsell family has had a long association with Lansdowne and a number of members of the family have lived in the area. In 1990, when John Maunsell developed part of his Milford Farm into an exclusive subdivision...
Street Stories: Generally Speaking... Kitchener Street The street “running eastward from the Lansdowne homestead was designated Kitchener Street. Herbert Kitchener was a popular figure in 1904, having been British Commander-in-Chief in the South African War. He was to...
Street Stories: The Streets that didn't fit anywhere else Alton Grove Alton Grove is said to have earned its name in a rather quixotic manner. Pix Hurrell is reputed to have had a strong influence over street names during his time as Borough Engineer when he and...
Street Stories: The Streets that didn't fit anywhere else Fleet Street The visit of the American Fleet in 1908 was a major occasion for New Zealand, and people flocked to the port of Auckland to catch a view of the fleet. Masterton Mayor Phillip Hollings was invited...
Street Stories: The Streets that didn't fit anywhere else Hogg Crescent New Zealand has a tradition of newspaper proprietors moving into politics, a tradition that was reflected in Masterton. Alexander Wilson Hogg was a partner in the Wairarapa Star, the newspaper...
Street Stories: The Streets that didn't fit anywhere else Mabson Terrace Mabson Terrace is a small subdivision off Cornwall Street, built in 1967. The subdivision was named in honour of Cyril Rous Mabson, the late Borough Engineer. Mabson had retired in 1960 after...
Street Stories: The Streets that didn't fit anywhere else Trustee Street and Olive Street Trustee Street, which runs from Lincoln Road to Albert Street, is named after the donors of the street, the trustees of the Masterton Trust Lands Trust. The street runs through...
Street Stories: The Streets that didn't fit anywhere else Railway Crescent In most towns that had a major railway station the Railways Department purchased land nearby and built houses to accommodate its workers. In Masterton this was done in a piece of land between...
Street Stories: The Streets that didn't fit anywhere else Rugby Street Some decisions about street names are hard to confirm. When a new street was constructed in 1957, to run into the land between Waltons Avenue and the then Short Street (Intermediate Street), the...
Street Stories: The Streets that didn't fit anywhere else Timms Place The naming of a new subdivision created off Kuripuni Street in 1994 helped lead to the creation of a street naming policy for the Council. The developer, a policeman turned real estate agent,...
Street Stories: The Streets that didn't fit anywhere else The Crossing One of Masterton's many streams flows through 'The Crossing'. When a paved footpath was constructed between Cole Street and Essex Street in the 1930s it became unofficially known as “The Crossing”....
Street Stories: The Streets that didn't fit anywhere else Rogers Lane and Newland Place There are some streets in Masterton that are not legal streets at all. Rogers Lane, a narrow service lane off Dixon Street, is one of these. It marks the site of the Dixon Street...
Street Stories: The Streets that didn't fit anywhere else Miller Place, Laurent Place and Ivondale Grove Miller Place was named in 1956 when the Beetham property of ‘Towsett’ was subdivided. It honours Sir J. Holmes Miller, deputy leader of the Antarctic...
Street Stories: A Miscellany of Streets, Roads and Lanes Upper Plain Road Some streets end up having a multiplicity of names. At various times their informal names change, and developers try to force more ‘up-market’ names onto perfectly serviceable common names....
Street Stories: A Miscellany of Streets, Roads and Lanes Short Street One of the mysteries in the naming of Masterton streets concerns Short Street – and it involves irony as well. The street is now literally a short street, as it runs from Harley Street to High...
Street Stories: A Miscellany of Streets, Roads and Lanes Hillcrest Street and Intermediate Street Short Street was divided into three when the reconstruction of the York Street/Short Street corner took place. Hillcrest Street was for the geographical feature that...
Street Stories: A Miscellany of Streets, Roads and Lanes South Belt It is also ironical that the town which once had two streets named Junction should now have none. The small stretch of road from Villa Street to the railway station was known as Junction Street. In...
Street Stories: A Miscellany of Streets, Roads and Lanes Park Street, Park Avenue and Memorial Drive Queen Elizabeth Park, once known as Masterton Park, has also given its name to a number of streets. The first of these, Park Avenue, which runs along the southern...
Street Stories: A Miscellany of Streets, Roads and Lanes Villa Street Villa Street was to be called Bannister Street at first. The name was changed when the road in the centre of town was called Bannister Street. The man it was named after, Henry Bannister, was a...
Street Stories: A Miscellany of Streets, Roads and Lanes River Road and College Street Some given names are strictly utilitarian. River Road, one of Masterton’s oldest roads, was named because it led down to the river, or rivers to be exact as it leads to the...
Street Stories: A Miscellany of Streets, Roads and Lanes Harlequin Street and Masonic Street Some streets are named to reflect buildings that are in the neighbourhood. Harlequin Street was so named because of the proximity of the Harlequin theatre. When the street...
Street Stories: A Miscellany of Streets, Roads and Lanes Solstone Drive Solstone Drive is a small street off Solway Crescent, and takes its name from the nearby winery. Solstone Winery was a portmanteau word, combining the name location Solway with the physical...
Street Stories: A Miscellany of Streets, Roads and Lanes Waipoua Drive Waipoua Drive has a euphonious ring as a street name. It was at one time proposed to call the post-war extension of Villa Street to Chapel Street by this name, but the proposal fell through, Villa...
Street Stories: Prime Ministers Atkinson Street Sir Harry Atkinson was a member of the Taranaki Richmond/Atkinson family that was heavily involved in both provincial and national politics. He served three terms as Premier, from 1876-77, in 1883, and 1887-91. A brusque...
Street Stories: Prime Ministers Ballance Street John Ballance was one of a number of liberal crusading newspapermen who succeeded in politics in the later years of the 19th century. He was in Parliament from 1875 until 1881, when he lost his seat because of his...
Street Stories: Prime Ministers Fraser Street Peter Eraser was Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1940, following the death of Michael Savage, until 1949. Fraser was a Scots born socialist who served as a Member of Parliament in New Zealand from 1918 until 1950....
Street Stories: Prime Ministers Massey Place Bill Massey was a deeply conservative politician, whose power base lay in the rural constituency he knew so well. He became Prime Minister in 1912, and remained in power, either alone or in coalition, until 1925. Both...
Street Stories: Prime Ministers Nash Place For a man whose major period in government was spent as Minister of Finance, Walter Nash developed a strong interest in foreign policy. Nash, who served as Finance Minister during 1935-49, was later Prime Minister in the...
Street Stories: Prime Ministers Seddon Street Few characters have so dominated a Parliament as Richard Seddon did during his time as Prime Minister. Brash and assertive, Seddon represented very well the New Zealand he served. His Liberal Government is regarded as...
Street Stories: Prime Ministers Stout Street Sir Robert Stout’s first term as Prime Minister lasted only a week, but must have whetted his appetite for a longer term as 10 days after his first term ended (16 August 18 84-23 August 1884) he started his second. The...
Street Stories: Prime Ministers Vogel Crescent New Zealand has had few more charismatic leaders than Sir Julius Vogel. Vogel was blessed with great imagination and political skill but he was an impatient man, and careless with details of his policy. His tenures as...
Street Stories: Prime Ministers Waterhouse Street G.M. Waterhouse was only a short term Prime Minister of New Zealand (October 1872 until March 1873) but he had a strong Wairarapa connection, at one time owning both Huangarua and Castlepoint Stations. He came to New...
Street Stories: The Governors Grey Street The oldest street named after a governor is,Grey Street which runs between Lincoln Road and Perry Street. George Grey was Governor when the Small Farms Association was formed, and was supportive of the movement that led to the...
Street Stories: The Governors Bledisloe Street Bledisloe Street is named after Viscount Bledisloe, Governor-General of New Zealand from 1930-35. Bledisloe is remembered fondly for his passion for agriculture, and less fondly for his speeches, said to be laborious. In...
Street Stories: The Governors Ranfurly Street Ranfurly Street is named after another governor who had a sporting trophy named after him – Lord Ranfurly, whose Ranfurly Shield is usually regarded as the supreme domestic rugby trophy in New Zealand. Lord Ranfurly was...
Street Stories: The Governors Plunket Street Yet another governor with sporting connections is remembered in Plunket Street. Plunket is well remembered for his connection with cricket, but as an administrator he is described as being conservative, as having filled his...
Street Stories: The Governors Fergusson Street One of the streets in the ‘Governors’ block – Fergusson Street – could be taken to represent three different men as three generations of Fergussons were governors of New Zealand. The first of these was Sir James...
Street Stories: The Governors Cobham Place Lord Cobham, our ninth Governor-General, was almost left off the list of those to be commemorated in Masterton streets. When Plunket Street was formed in 1967 it was proposed that it be known as Cobham Street, but the...
Street Stories: The Governors Liverpool Street and Jellicoe Place The Earl of Liverpool was the 18th Governor of New Zealand, from 1912 to 1917, and the first Governor-General from 1917-1920. Liverpool had previously been a civil servant and a soldier. He was, just...
Street Stories: The Governors Freyberg Street One of New Zealand’s legendary military figures, who also served a term as Governor-General, is remembered in Freyberg Street. Baron Freyberg was born in England but emigrated to New Zealand with his parents in 1891. He...
Street Stories: The Governors Newall Place One of New Zealand’s more controversial Governors-General is recalled in Newall Place. Sir Cyril Newall came from a military background, having served as Chief of Air Staff in Britain. He is chiefly remembered today for the...
Street Stories: The Governors Hobson Place New Zealand’s second Governor, whose actions were to have a major part in shaping the future of the country, is recalled in Hobson Place. William Hobson was an Irishman, who had spent most of his life from the age of nine at...
Street Stories: Of Kings and Queens... Victoria Street, Albert Street and Mary Street James Wrigley formed the streets now called Victoria and Albert Streets when he broke up his small suburban farm for housing in 1878 – but he was not the only person who wanted to...
Street Stories: Of Kings and Queens... William Street The name William Street was used for a small street in central Masterton, now officially closed. This street ran from Queen Street to Dixon Street, just south of Bannister Street. For many years it has been thought...
Street Stories: Of Kings and Queens... Queen Street, Crown Street and Princes Street Queen Street was very nearly called Princes Street. When the 1878 street naming committee met to discuss the proposed street names for the town they were a little disturbed to see...
Street Stories: Of Kings and Queens... Windsor Street, Philip Street, Margaret Street and George Street The area to the south of Judds Road was developed and named after the British royal family, the first street being given their family name of Windsor. As further...
Street Stories: Of Kings and Queens... Queen Alexander Street and King Edward Street Lansdowne’s two regal streets, Queen Alexandra and King Edward Streets were made during the early years of the 20th century and commemorate the newly crowned King Edward VII and his...
Street Stories: Mayoral Honours McGregor Crescent Masterton’s second mayor, Duncan McGregor, mayor from 1878-1879, was the first to have a street named after him. McGregor was one of three brothers who settled in the Masterton area, James and Duncan joining their...
Street Stories: Mayoral Honours Edwin Feist Place During the early years of the Masterton Borough there were a number of short term mayors, each of the first three serving only one term. The third mayor was the businessman Edwin Feist from 1879-80. Feist, who was born...
Street Stories: Mayoral Honours Renall Street Masterton’s fourth mayor was the colourful A.W. Renall -miller and politician. Renall was born in Heybridge, Essex and came to Wellington in 1840. A trained carpenter, He served as coffin maker to the fledgling town,...
Street Stories: Mayoral Honours Lowes Place The sixth person to hold the Masterton mayoralty was William Lowes, partner in the auctioneering firm of Lowes and lorns. Lowes was born in Northumberland and came to New Zealand in 1865, setting up in business in Wellington...
Street Stories: Mayoral Honours Casel Street In 1884, William Lowes was succeeded in the mayoralty by one of the town’s most successful businessmen, Myer Caselberg. Caselberg had an unusual background. His parents were Polish Jews who had been forced to flee their own...
Street Stories: Mayoral Honours George Heron Place The cautious, conservative and taciturn George Heron served three terms as mayor, 1889-90, 1893-96, and 1898-99. Heron was born in Scotland in 1840, and arrived in New Zealand at Nelson in 1863. He settled in...
Street Stories: Mayoral Honours Pownall Street One of Masterton’s most charismatic mayors, lawyer C.A. Pownall, began his first term as mayor in 1890. The first New Zealander to be Masterton mayor, Pownall had been born in Auckland in 1865 and was only 25 when first...
Street Stories: Mayoral Honours Coradine Street J.M. Coradine was Masterton mayor for the periods 1903-04, 1907-08, and 1910-19. Coradine was a builder with a keen interest in religion and education. One of many Methodist mayors, Coradine was a partner in a...
Street Stories: Mayoral Honours Jackson Street Joseph Renall served a term as Masterton mayor after J.M. Coradine’s first mayoralty. The long-term Masterton School headmaster W.H. Jackson followed him. Jackson served at the Masterton School for 34 years, and also...
Street Stories: Mayoral Honours Pragnell Street Orlando Pragnell was mayor of Masterton from 1921-25. Pragnell was a self-made man, coming to Masterton in the early 1890s with his English parents who established themselves as wood and coal merchants. Pragnell opened a...
Street Stories: Mayoral Honours Jordan Terrace Thomas Jordan, another of Masterton’s lawyer mayors, held office from 1925-44. Jordan, who had served overseas during World War One, was a prominent leader in the town, and in the New Zealand-wide Municipal Association....
Street Stories: Mayoral Honours William Kemp Place The Devonshire born William Kemp, a public minded landscape gardener who served the town on many public bodies, succeeded Jordan, serving as mayor from 1944-53. He arrived in Masterton in 1906, and was first a member...
Street Stories: Mayoral Honours Keir Crescent A.J. Keir, manager of the local Wairarapa Farmers Cooperative Association garage, completed Kemp’s term as mayor, but lost to Ted Coddington in the 1953 election. The Council proposed to name one of the streets in the...
Street Stories: Mayoral Honours Coddington Crescent Ted Coddington, who beat A.J. Keir in the 1953 election, was renowned as a good meeting organiser, his years of teaching at Central School no doubt helping him in controlling the rowdy elements on the Council. His...
Street Stories: Mayoral Honours Marchbank Place Deputy mayor W.L. “Bill” Marchbank was appointed to replace Coddington, and went on to win the next election, serving as mayor from 1955-62. The owner of the Masterton Knitting Mills, Marchbank was to have a strained...
Street Stories: Mayoral Honours Tankersley Street N.R. Tankersley, “Norm” to all his constituents, was a descendant of some of Masterton’s first European families. Educated in Masterton he left school to study agriculture. After teaching at Feilding Agricultural High...
Street Stories: Mayoral Honours Cody Crescent Frank Cody was mayor from 1974 until his retirement in 1986. He had been involved in local body politics from 1968, having previously taken leadership roles in the Methodist Church. During the local government...
Street Stories: Mayoral Honours R.G. Williams Five of MAsterton's mayors do not have streets named after them. Masterton’s first mayor was the local saddler R.G. Williams who was returned unopposed in 1877. Williams was an energetic and charismatic Irishman, said to...
Street Stories: Mayoral Honours Alfred Bish Masterton’s fifth mayor Alfred Bish is also forgotten so far as streets go. Bish was a jeweller in Masterton when elected mayor in 1881. He served the town until 1883. He was involved in other public bodies in the town, but...
Street Stories: Mayoral Honours P.L. Hollings Phillip Luscombe Hollings succeeded fellow lawyer C.A. Pownall into office in 1902. Hollings was born in London in 1871, and came to New Zealand in 1893 where he worked in the Masterton office of A.R. Bunny. As soon as he...
Street Stories: Mayoral Honours Bob Francis Masterton’s longest serving mayor, and the man who oversaw the unification of the Masterton Borough and County Councils, has no street named after him.. His 21 years of service to the district, his many years of service in...
Street Stories: Mayoral Honours Garry Daniell Garry Daniell served as mayor of Masterton from 2007 until 2013. A Masterton businessman, Daniell had a keen interest in the economic development of the town, and the retention of the districts heritage was a high...
Street Stories: Mayoral Honours Lyn Patterson First elected in 2013, Lyn Patterson was returned unopposed in the 2016 elections. She has proven to be a popular mayor and successful advocate for all sections of the community. Pic: Lyn Patterson was returned unopposed...
Street Stories: Te Reo Maori Herewini Street and Papawai Place When the Government purchased the land for the township of Masterton a block near the town was reserved from sale, the owners instead donating the land to the Church of England. It was intended that it be...
Street Stories: Te Reo Maori Akura Road and Ngaumutawa Road Akura Road and Ngaumutawa Road bound the area of the Bishops Reserve. Akura is named after an ancestress of the people from the area, known as Kura. A story recorded in the minute books of the Maori Land...
Street Stories: Te Reo Maori Makora Road The Makoura Stream rises to the west of Masterton, the main tributary being the Makakaweka, named after weka birds made tapu by a tohunga. Various other streams (Waimateatea, Waipokaka, and Ngaumutawa) join it before they take...
Street Stories: Te Reo Maori Manaia Road and Mahunga Drive One of the first stations in the Masterton area owned by W.H. Donald was called Manaia. According to local Maori the name derives from a Wairarapa name given to a medicinal shrub, similar to a koromiko,...
Street Stories: Te Reo Maori Te Ore Ore Road Te Ore Ore Road takes its name from the district it leads to, although in the past it has had a number of other names - Taueru Road and Castlepoint Road being just two of them. Te Ore Ore is said to have obtained its name...
Street Stories: Te Reo Maori Opaki Road The main road north (or the Great North Eastern Highway as it was sometimes referred to) is called Opaki Road as it crosses Lansdowne. This is clearly because it leads to the district of Opaki. The word “paki” normally means...
Street Stories: Te Reo Maori Kuripuni Street Kuripuni was the personal name of a Ngati Kahungunu ancestor. It is unclear how the name came about, however, as it has a number of potential meanings. ‘Kuri’ means dog, and ‘puni’ can mean camp, so some claim the name...
Street Stories: Te Reo Maori Taranaki Street, Okato Place and Patea Place When a new street was constructed off South Road in 1978 the Masterton Borough Council approached “a local group” to find a number of Maori names suitable for use in the area. After receiving no...
Street Stories: Te Reo Maori Tararua Street Tararua Street was named in honour of the Tararua Mountains, supposedly because there was a good view of the mountains from the area. The view is diminished today by tree growth. There are a number of explanations of the...
Street Stories: Te Reo Maori Kokiri Place The Waipoua River, near the site of the old Kaikokirikiri pa. In 2006, the street previously known as Cornwall Place was renamed Kokiri Place at the suggestion of Rangitaane of Wairarapa, whose offices are situated there. The...
Street Stories: Early Settlers Dixon Street and Worksop Road Charles and Mary Dixon and their children, were destined to play a large part in both the naming of Masterton’s streets, and in the future of the town. Charles Dixon was born in Worksop, England, in 1819 and...
Street Stories: Home thoughts from abroad Worksop Road The early settling family of Charles and Mary Dixon came from the Nottinghamshire village of Worksop, a name which lived on in the title of their farm, and eventually in Worksop Road, which bisected their land....
Street Stories: Home thoughts from abroad York Street York Street is sometimes said to have been named in honour of the Duke of York following a visit to New Zealand in the early years of this century, but that does not seem to be the case. Drummond’s 1885 map of...
Street Stories: Home thoughts from abroad Cornwall Street The Perry family clearly loved Cornwall, their county of origin. B .P. Perry named the road to his Taratahi farm Cornwall Road, and his brother Walter named one of Masterton’s suburban streets Cornwall Street....
Street Stories: Home thoughts from abroad Devon Street and Derby Street James Bulpitt was an early hotelier in Masterton, building and operating Devonshire House (now known as Victoria House) in Victoria Street. When Mr W. Cruickshank laid out land in the south end of...
Street Stories: Home thoughts from abroad Sussex Street and Surrey Street Sussex was the home county of long-time Masterton Borough Council member and one time Mayor, Edwin Feist, who was born in Framfield in Sussex. Sussex was one of the original old kingdoms of...
Street Stories: Home thoughts from abroad Oxford Street and Cambridge Terrace Oxford and Cambridge are England’s two most famous centres of learning, and are commemorated in two Masterton streets. Oxford Street was the first of these streets to be formed and named....
Street Stories: Home thoughts from abroad Dover Place, Durham Street and Hereford Place Dover Place is named after the English seaport, principal sea link with France and the largest of the Cinque Ports. The town, situated in Kent, has ancient Roman connections, and...
Street Stories: Home thoughts from abroad Leeds Place and Manchester Street Leeds and Manchester are two English cities, best known in New Zealand for their soccer teams. Leeds was a Middle Ages wool centre, and the Yorkshire moors still provide wool for spinning and...
Street Stories: Home thoughts from abroad Essex Street When early settler and Masterton mayor A.W. Renall died his family subdivided some of the land he owned and formed a new street just to the north of the street that bears his name. As Renall was born in Heybridge,...
Street Stories: Home thoughts from abroad Stamford Place Perhaps the most unusually named street to commemorate an English town is Stamford Place. In the period immediately following World War II the citizens of Masterton sent food and clothing parcels to the English...
Street Stories: Remembering Developers Betts Avenue and Madden Place When the Betts estate in South Road was subdivided to form two new streets in 1960 it was only natural that one of the streets should be named after the owner, prominent local body politician and...
Street Stories: Remembering Developers Millard Avenue and Andrew Street The second-name principle for naming streets seems to have also been followed when two streets in the Cockburn Block were laid out in 1905. The streets, which formed a loop from the bottom end of...
