Street Stories: Remembering Developers Edith Street and Grierson Street Edith, Oak, Grierson, Paul, Colville and Carverthen Streets were named in a very unusual manner. They were formed in the early years of the 20th century when the Chamberlain farm called ‘The...
Street Stories: Remembering Developers Paul Street and Colville Street Many of the streets in the Upper Plain area are named after the second names of the developers. The Hoffeins member of the syndicate that built the subdivision turned out to be an Akura Road dairy...
Street Stories: Remembering Developers Carverthen Street It seemed obvious at first that this street was named after a Welsh village, and it appeared that all we would have to do was take a look at a world gazetteer. The supposed Welsh connection seemed to be...
Street Stories: Remembering Developers Bunny Street and McKenna Street Arthur Bunny was a well-known Masterton lawyer, and son of a prominent early politician Henry Bunny. Arthur Bunny was born in England and came to New Zealand as a child. He trained as a lawyer in...
Street Stories: Remembering Developers Wright Street and Buchanan Place Wright Street, which was formed in the early years of the 20th century, ran north from Bennington Street, now called Cornwall Street. It is named after George Wright, a Wellington civil servant...
Street Stories: Remembering Developers Joan Allen Lane Joan Allen was the daughter of Isaac Allen and his wife Susan Russell. She was six weeks old when her parents bought this land in Upper Plain. Following their deaths she farmed it on her own account for 50 years....
Street Stories: Remembering Developers Norris Way, Elmwood Grove, Ashwood Grove and Rosewood Grove Norris Way was named in 2004 to commemorate the family of developer George Norris. His grandfather Frederick Norris was born in Kent, England, and came to Masterton...
Street Stories: Remembering Developers Gimson Street When Wycliffe “Wick” and Estelle Gimson started a large subdivision in the bare land between Solway Crescent and South Belt they named the first street after Wick’s family. Pic: Wyck Gimson with his daughter...
Street Stories: Remembering Developers Mervyn Brown Place This new street which runs off the end of William Donald Drive has been named after the developer and long-term Masterton businessman Mervyn Brown. He has been a builder for all his adult life and been active...
Street Stories: Remembering Developers Cashmere Oaks, McDonald Way and Roger Renall Avenue Roger Southey developed this subdivision on the Opaki Plains, just on the left as you leave Masterton. The subdivision streets are lined with oak trees, and the main road looks...
Street Stories: Early Settlers Masters Crescent Joseph Masters, regarded as the founder of Masterton, is remembered not only in the name of the town but also in Masters Crescent. Joseph Masters was born in Derby, England and worked as a cooper, soldier, policeman and...
Street Stories: Early Settlers Michael Street Michael Dixon was born in Coventry, England, and spent his youth working in the ribbon-making trade. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1841, with his wife Sarah and their daughter Emma. He worked for a time as warder in the...
Street Stories: Early Settlers Hessey Street, Herbert Street and Kirton Street After Charles Dixon died in 1876, and his widow Mary in 1878, their children split up the Worksop Farm, naming the streets in the area. Hessey Street was named after relatives, Mary Dixon’s...
Street Stories: Early Settlers Miriam Street Miriam Street was developed by Thomas Wrigley in 1886. His first suggested name, Charter Street, was declined by the Council, and Wrigley then named the street after his daughter. Wrigley was a prominent amateur entertainer...
Street Stories: Early Settlers Cole Street Cole Street is named after a member of the first settlement party, John Cole. He built one of the first houses in Masterton, in Queen Street near the Regent Theatre, Cole died of blood poisoning following an accident and his...
Street Stories: Early Settlers Iorns Street Richard Iorns, who married Joseph and Sarah Masters’ daughter Sarah, is recalled in the two Iorns Streets, North and South, which are divided by a small paddock. These streets run through Richard Iorns’ original Small Farm...
Street Stories: Early Settlers Bannister Street and Bannister Court Henry Bannister was born in Sedgley, a small town in Staffordshire, England. He was married in England, but his wife died within a year and Bannister decided to migrate to the colonies, going first to...
Street Stories: Early Settlers Perry Street Bennett Pascoe Perry was a son-in-law of Joseph Masters, marrying his second daughter Mary Anne He was the son of John Perry and his wife and Frances Pascoe, Cornish migrants to the New Plymouth settlement who were involved...
Street Stories: The First Streets Bridge Street First known simply as Main Street, the road running from Kuripuni to the Waipoua River came to be called Bridge Street, as a reflection of the number of bridges spanning creeks and depressions in the road. Cabman...
Queen Street Despite the appropriateness of the name Bridge Street the new Masterton Borough Councillors obviously thought it did not have the dignity required for the main street of their burgeoning town. The name Princes Street was at first proposed, the name Queen...
Street Stories: The First Streets Queen Street Despite the appropriateness of the old name Bridge Street, in 1878 the new Masterton Borough Councillors obviously thought it did not have the dignity required for the main street of their burgeoning town. The name...
Street Stories: The First Streets Russell Street In the plan put forward to the meeting of 1878 the western end of the street now called Russell Street was to be known as Crown Street, but the section from Chapel to Queen Street was changed to Russell Street, named...
Street Stories: The First Streets Hope Street The name of Hope Street was also planned to undergo changes in the 1878 proposals. This short street ran along the banks of the southern arm of the Waipoua River before the river was diverted, and contained the...
Street Stories: The First Streets Renall Street Alfred Renall wanted a street to be named after him. Alfred Renall wanted a street to be named after him. The 1878 street naming meeting changed the use of the name of Columba Road. This name, which commemorates the...
Street Stories: The First Streets Church Street and Chapel Street Church Street was named in recognition of the Church of England’s St Matthew’s Church, which at that time stood on the south-eastern corner of Queen and Church Streets. Chapel Street was named after the...
Street Stories: The First Streets South Road and High Street The original road into Masterton from the south was along the line that the surveyor John Hughes cut, through the Three Mile Bush and, literally, through the Waingawa River near the current site of the...
Street Stories: The First Streets Lincoln Road What we now call Lincoln Road once had two different names. The western portion of the street was named after the American President Abraham Lincoln, but the eastern end was named Hall Street after the town's first Town...
Street Stories: The First Streets Cricket Street and Park Street Cricket Street was one of the first streets named in Masterton, being given its official name in 1878. It earned ithis name from being the area of town where cricket was first played – in the 1860s, on...
Street Stories: Other Early Families Solway Street, William Donald Drive and Solway Crescent Before Masterton was settled it was part of the leaseholding of William Hodgson. Donald, whose Manaia Station stretched as far north as the Waipoua River. The Donald family...
Street Stories: Other Early Families Harley Street and Vivian Street The Donald family of 'Manaia' subdivided land between High street and South Road. The main street through the block was called Donald’s Road, after Donald Donald, W.H.’s son. This name was changed...
Street Stories: Other Early Families Judds Road and Bentley Street The original Donald family homestead, Manaia, was built on land that is now part of the Copthorne Solway Park complex. The Judd brothers, John and George, sons of the early Greytown settler John Judd...
Street Stories: Other Early Families Bennington Street A early settling family is recalled in Bennington Street. This is a small street that runs from College Street to Masters Crescent, but the name was originally used for part of what is now Cornwall Street. The...
Street Stories: Other Early Families Jeans Street, Elizabeth Street, Hacker Street and Keaton Street Miss Emma Jeans and Mrs Elizabeth Hacker were sisters who lived in close proximity to each other in Church Street. They successfully subdivided much of their land,...
Street Stories: Other Early Families Crayne Street The name of Masterton’s first schoolmaster is recalled in a street in Kuripuni. Holmes Crayne was the first master at the school held in a multi-purpose building in Queen Street, a building which served as...
Street Stories: Other Early Families Waltons Avenue Crayne’s nephew Daniel Walton, took over from his uncle as registrar. Walton spent most of his life in Masterton, where he married a daughter of another early settler, Richard Kibblewhite. He was a deeply religious...
Street Stories: Other Early Families Smith Street It is difficult to determine just exactly whom one Masterton street – Smith Street – is named for. As might be expected from such a common name, there are a number of different candidates. The favourite is John...
Street Stories: Other Early Families Hosking Place and Archer Street Doctor William Hosking was the first superintendent at the Masterton Hospital when it opened in 1879. Born in Cornwall in 1843, Hosking trained in London before making his way to New Zealand in 1863....
Street Stories: Politicians and Others Beetham Street George Beetham was a member of the famous Wairarapa farming family whose business interests centred on Brancepeth Station. After the initial breaking in period at Brancepeth, George was not much involved with the...
Street Stories: Politicians and Others Wrigley Street One of Masterton’s most successful early businessmen is remembered in Wrigley Street. James Wrigley was born in Yorkshire in 1825, and learnt the shoemaking trade from his uncle. He immigrated to New Zealand in...
Street Stories: Politicians and Others Jones Place Many of the first settlers in Masterton were Methodists, and the denomination was to have a profound effect on the shape of Masterton’s progress. A small street off Colombo Road is named after the man who was once...
Street Stories: Politicians and Others Johnstone Street The road now known as Johnstone Street was first recorded as the Makora Road, as it led to that area. The name came to be displaced and is now applied to another street. It was also sometimes known as Mangaakuta...
Street Stories: Politicians and Others Kibblewhite Road Richard Kibblewhite was a farmer in the Upper Plain area, having brought his family to Masterton in 1855. He decided, in 1878, to sell up much of his land for subdivision, and produced a plan showing a number of...
Street Stories: Politicians and Others Bruce Street and King Street In the north end of Queen Street there are two streets commemorating early settlers. The first of these, Bruce Street, is one of a number of streets that the Masterton Trust Lands Trust donated to the...
Street Stories: Politicians and Others Macara Street James Macara was the district’s most famous coach driver and operator. For a time he was in partnership with William Hastwell of Greytown, their stopping place in the bush north of Masterton being known as...
Street Stories: Politicians and Others Chamberlain Road and Oak Street The Chamberlain family came to New Zealand in 1842, settling in Wellington and farming in Karori. They were among the first families to take up land in the Upper Plain area of Masterton where they...
Street Stories: Politicians and Others Kummer Crescent The Kummer family is remembered in Kummer Crescent, which was formed from land owned by F.W.H. Kummer. Mr Kummer was a noted athlete in his younger days, representing Wairarapa at rugby, but also being well known...
Street Stories: Politicians and Others Cockburn Street South of Kuripuni Street two brothers, Alexander and Robert Cockburn owned some 500 hectares of land, which they decided to subdivide in the 1880s. The land was swampy, so they dug a large drain that headed...
Street Stories: Politicians and Others Daniell Street It was rather unusual that one family whose members have made a long term and significant contribution to Masterton should have had to wait until 1968 to have a street named after them. Charles and Emily Daniell...
Street Stories: Streets of Lansdowne Miro Street and Ngaio Place Miro Street is named after another of New Zealand's native coniferous plants. The miro, Prumnopitys taxifolia, is renowned for its hard timber and for the berries it bears in profusion. The ngaio,...
Street Stories: Streets of Lansdowne The numbered streets First Street, Second Street, Third Street, Fourth Street and Fifth Street The road north from Masterton was called the Opaki Road, and the Masterton County Council decided that the streets leading off it were...
Street Stories: Streets of Lansdowne Lansdowne Crescent Although the name Lansdowne has both English and Irish connections it seems the house and farm were actually named after an Australian locality. John Valentine Smith married Mary Wild, the daughter of an...
Street Stories: Streets of Lansdowne Totara Street, Matai Street and Rimu Street The first Masterton Hospital was situated on the banks of the Opaki Stream in Te Ore Ore Road, set well off the road and opposite its current position. The road to the west of the...
Street Stories: Streets of Lansdowne Manuka Street and Titoki Street The streets leading up Ouwaka, Lansdowne Hill, were named in the early 20th century. The road described as leading from Lansdowne homestead to Mr Maunsell’s house (Eridge) was named Titoki Street...
Street Stories: Streets of Lansdowne Kauri Grove Over the years, as different streets in the Lansdowne area have been constructed, tree names have been applied to them, although sometimes this has been a contentious issue. When a section on Titoki Street was...
Street Stories: Streets of Lansdowne Hinau Place and Kowhai Place The theme of streets named after trees continued in 1957 when Hinau Place and Kowhai Place were named in the Walker subdivision. These are both small trees, the kowhai being well-known for its yellow...
Street Stories: Streets of Lansdowne Konini Street and Matipo Street Many subdivisions in the Lansdowne area have been named on a native tree theme. Konini Street is named after the berry of the kotukutuku, Fuchsia excorticata, the New Zealand tree fuchsia. The berry...
Street Stories: Streets of Lansdowne Nikau Heights and Puriri Crescent There was some discussion in 1993 about the naming of the old stock route from Gordon Street up to the end of Manuka Street as Nikau Heights. Some members of the Masterton District Council thought...
Street Stories: Streets of Lansdowne Rata Place, Rewa Place and Tawa Street It is arguable that the northern rata Metrosideros robusta is New Zealand’s most colourful tree. When the flowers appear at Christmas this near relative of the pohutukawa gives a spectacular...
Street Stories: Streets of Lansdowne Tarata Grove, Ardsley Lane and Opaki Meadows Drive A recent subdivision of the old Totara Drive School site, a circular road entered from Rimu Street, has been named after the tree known to pakeha New Zealanders as the lemonwood,...
Street Stories: Streets of Lansdowne Lett Street and Boltons Road Lett Street is one of Lansdowne’s older streets, having been constructed in the early years of the 20th century. The Lett brothers who were well known as builders and contractors in Lansdowne and...
Street Stories: Streets of Lansdowne Cooper Street Cooper Street was formed in 1920, and named after the developer, Alexander Cooper, a Masterton stock agent and auctioneer. When the Cooper Street extension was added in the late 1960s it was at first intended to call...
Gordon Street Churchill Avenue GORDON STREET 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 defence of Khartoum during a...
Street Stories: The Scottish Connection Colombo Road The area to the east of Colombo Road between Johnstone Street and the Waipoua River formed part of the original holdings of the Masterton identity George Woodroofe. Woodroofe, who was a lapidarian in his native...
Street Stories: The Scottish Connection Cameron Crescent In 1886 George Woodroofe’s second daughter Robina married D.J. Cameron, the son of Donald Cameron, and stepson of Masterton mayor William Lowes. The Cameron family came to New Zealand from the Highlands on the...
Street Stories: The Scottish Connection Clyde Street and Dee Street Clyde Street is named after the river that flows through Glasgow and through the most important industrial area of Scotland. The Clyde rises in Strathclyde and flows down to the Firth of Clyde, a...
Street Stories: The Scottish Connection Tay Street and Oban Place The Tay, which at 192 kms in length is Scotland’s longest river, is commemorated in Tay Place. Another noted salmon river, it meets the sea at Dundee, where it is crossed by the famous Tay Bridge. Oban...
Street Stories: The Scottish Connection Grant Crescent and Stuart Crescent Two streets have been named after famous Scottish families – Grant and Stuart Crescents. The Grants are a widespread family, although they seem to trace their ancestry back to a Norman invader...
Street Stories: The Bird Reserve Kaka Street One of the first of the “bird” streets was built very near to the original road into Masterton. A.G. Wallis, a local builder, created a subdivision leading from Worksop Road through to the Makoura Stream, close to the site...
Street Stories: The Bird Reserve Kiwi Street and Huia Street Kiwi Street is named after New Zealand’s national bird and the emblem New Zealanders have chosen to represent their country. The first Maori settlers named the ground dwelling bird after the cry of the male...
Street Stories: The Bird Reserve Takahe Street and Tui Street The story of the discovery of the takahe, a close relative of the ubiquitous pukeko, is one of New Zealand’s conservation success stories. The bird, at one time relatively common in both main islands, was...
Street Stories: The Bird Reserve Weka Place and Kotuku Place There can be few cheekier birds in New Zealand than the inquisitive weka. This omnivorous bird, sometimes called the woodhen, will take possession of almost anything left unguarded, especially if bright and...
Street Stories: The Bird Reserve Kereru Place The kereru (also known as the kukupa in some parts of the country) is better known as the wood pigeon. This was once a very common bird and a much-loved delicacy of Maori and pakeha alike. Bird numbers were declining so...
