Taonui, Lombard and Campbell Streets are amongst the earlier streets settled in Palmerston North. Brian Mather, as a member of the Local History Study Group, gave a series of lectures to interested members. Later, his lecture notes on Taonui, Lombard and Campbell Streets were published, along with supplementary material provided by the Palmerston North Historical Society (the reformed Local History Study Group).
Typewritten list of the names of streets in Palmerston North and their origins, as in 1953. Includes some alterations and additions in the hand writing of A G S Bradfield. An amended version of this list was published in 'Forgotten Days' by Bradfield in 1956.
This rates register details the renumbering of street numbers in Palmerston North between 1936 and 1939. The register shows the street name, old number, owner of property and new number. The renumbering runs along the entirety of one side of the street, then the other, on an east-west and north-south axis. It also includes notes on specific properties and streets that were subsequently renumbered after the creation of the register, documenting changes made up until 1980.
Journalist Tina White's weekly "Memory Lane" article in the Manawatū Standard. The collection of shops and houses between St Mary's Church and number 89 Ruahine Street holds special memories for many citizens. In the 1950s and 1960s, there has been a dairy, a cakeshop, a coffee shop, a haberdashery, a butcher and a hairdresser on this block opposite the hospital.
Christopher's Hairstylists, owned by "Mr Christopher" Paskins occupied number 89 Ruahine Street for many years. Today, Georgies Wigs and Hair Design lease the front shop space, whilst the back is a residential home.
Journalist Tina White's weekly "Memory Lane" article in the Manawatū Standard. The 1926 land subdivision sale of RA McKenzie's Estate on Milson Line and the naming of Seaforth Avenue in a street naming competition.
Throughout Palmerston North there are numerous places named after ordinary New Zealanders who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. The New Zealand Poppy Places Trust has been established to develop, promote, and oversee a nation-wide project to commemorate and recognise as part of the heritage of New Zealanders, the participation of New Zealand in military conflicts and military operational services overseas.
Local historians weekly "Back Issues" article in the Manawatū Standard. Life story of John Tiffin Stewart (1827-1913) town planner and government surveyor. He was responsible for the planning of Manawatū's towns in the 19th century, including the Palmerston North, Feilding, Rongotea and Halcombe town squares.
Born in Scotland, he moved to Foxton in 1864. He learnt to speak te reo Māori fluently and worked closely and respectfully with local iwi. In later years, he moved to Whanganui, where he was elected to the Borough Council.
Local historians weekly "Back Issues" article in the Manawatū Standard. The story of Cuba Street and surrounding streets from Palmerston North's early days. The street was on the original Palmerston town plan. Its commercial heyday was arguably in the first half of the 20th century, when it was predicted that it could rival Te Marae o Hine/The Square in importance. However, this importance did not endure and Cuba Street is now mostly used as the main route leading to the Showgrounds.
The street is named for Andrew Young (1833-1895), the owner-driver of the first coach service between Foxton and Palmerston North. At a Palmerston Borough Council Meeting on 20 August 1884 the Mayor read a letter from Mr A Young’s agent. It advised that Mr Young wished to have a street laid facing the Masonic Hall, Main Street, running through to Cuba Street. Money to carry out the forming and metalling of said street was available at any time.
The matter of Andrew Young Street was referred to the Public Works Committee and a call for tenders made in November 1884.
The image is a derivative of this Palmerston North Borough map from 1923 by HR Farquar, Civil Engineer and Licensed Surveyor.
Mr Andrew Young, was born in Dungannon, County Tyrone, Ireland in 1833. He emigrated to Victoria, Australia, in the early 1850s on the ship, South Carolina. Mr A Young first tried his luck as a gold digger at Castlemaine and Bendigo. The Victorian goldrushes also saw the arrival of four Americans – Mr Freeman Cobb, Mr John Murray Peck, Mr James Swanton and Mr John B. Lamber, who established the original Cobb & Company line of coaches in Melbourne, in 1853. In May 1856 the partners sold-up and the business passed through a number of owners.
It was Cobb and Co., under Messrs Highett and Co., who employed Mr Young on his return to Melbourne. He drove coaches between Geelong and Ballarat, until the Ballarat to Melbourne railway was complete. It was here that Mr Young met and married his wife Miss Elizabeth Nott in 1860. She gave birth to their eldest daughter, Selina, in Geelong, in 1862.
In 1861 it was once again the discovery of gold, this time, at Gabriel’s Gully, Otago, that attracted the coaching business. Now under proprietor Mr Charles Carlos Cole, Cobb and Co service and plant (including a stagecoach, wagons, buggies, horses and saddles) travelled aboard the SS India from Melbourne to Dunedin. Operations commenced October 1861. Mr C Cole formed a partnership with brothers, Messrs Charles and Henry Hoyt, the following year, and the company sent for Mr Young around 1863. He was whip on the Tokomairiro line, travelling between Dunedin and Tokomairiro.
The successful coaching venture on Tokomairiro line enabled Mr Young to save money and start a staging line between Christchurch and Hokitika as the agent for Cobb and Co. He achieved this in partnership with fellow driver, Mr WH Shepard (also known as WH Shepperd). In time, they extended to the Wellington province.
In 1869, at the conclusion of the Titokowaru’s War, the partners started a bi-weekly service between Wellington and Whanganui. Mr Young ran the Wellington to Foxton Line, and Mr Shepard the Foxton to Whanganui Line. The partnership dissolved in March of 1871 by mutual consent, with Mr Young retaining the line between Wellington and Whanganui, and Mr Shepard taking the line from Whanganui to New Plymouth.
Mr and Mrs Young rented Flagstaff Cottage in Willis Street, Wellington, and moved in with their children; Selina Wilmot b.1862, William Andrew b.1865, James Frederick Robert b.1867 and John Henry b.1869. Albert Edward was born in February of 1872. In September of that year, architect, Ben Smith, sought tenders for the building of a two storey dwelling for Mr Andrew Young in upper Willis Street, opposite Union Bank. After moving into their home, the Young’s had three more children; Victoria May b.1875, Frank Wellington b.1877, and Ruby May b.1880. They moved to Ellice Street in 1893.
In October of 1871 Mr Shepard had a coaching accident while travelling along a beach near Patea. He was pulled from the cab box when a portion of harness broke, subsequently run over by the coach, and caught in the surf. Mrs Shepard, who was the sole passenger, managed to jump out of the coach and drag her husband from the sea. He died a few days later from his injuries. Mr Young continued the business over the whole line until able to purchase the interest of the late Mr Shepherd in 1872.
The Patea Mail, in December 1885, recounted that it was somewhere in the wilds of Otago, in 1872, that Mr Young and his coach famously faced off with visiting author, Mr Anthony Trollope and his carriage. With a cutting too narrow to pass, the author demanded that Mr Young cede the way. On refusal, Mr Trollope said:
“Sir, do you know who I am?”Mr Young stated his ignorance and the author set him straight. Mr Young responded:
“Yes, I knew it was some fool or other like that. Well Mr Trollope, my name is Andrew Young, and I give you just one second more, and if you don’t start to back out of this cutting we’ll see your name on a tombstone as soon as your relations take the trouble to put it there.”
Mr Trollope backed out and, interestingly, did not include the incident in his book of travels.
Coaching in those days meant traversing incredibly rough terrain including unformed roads, beaches, and making river crossings by ferry. You can read more on ferry life in this Back Issues article by Val Burr. Sometimes passengers had to get out and push the coach!
Mr Young continued to expand his lines into the North Island. In 1877, knowing that trains would inevitably rise as the main mode of transport, Mr Young made arrangements with the Railways Department to offer trips with a combination of train and coach connections. Customers found they could now travel between Wellington and Napier in a day. In 1877 Mr Young sold his business to Messrs Hall and Henry. He then took overseas trips in 1878 and again in 1884, visiting the United Kingdom and United States. Mr Young was a shrewd businessman. Besides the coaching business, he purchased land in early Palmerston North and had holdings in Whanganui and Wellington. As a result, he retired comfortably.
He was prominent in Wellington municipal affairs as a councillor for both the Te Aro and Lambton Wards between 1880 and 1890. He was a mayoral candidate in 1881 and 1882, missing out in the vote. Mr Young was also involved in a number of community groups. He was First Lieutenant of the Wellington Guards, Vestryman of St. Peter’s parish, and a shareholder in the Te Aro Theatre and Opera House Company. As a keen sportsman and steward of the Wellington Racing Club, he owned and raced several horses. Mr Young was a member of Pacific Lodge of Freemasons until his death.
In 1882 he re-entered the business world, however this time it was unsuccessful. He lost a great deal of money on a line of coaches between Tauranga and Thames, when a road washed out. He unsuccessfully petitioned the Public Petitions Committee for compensation for loss of the mail contract in 1883. Within a decade this particular line was to flourish with the rising mining industry. In 1888 he backed his son, William, in an omnibus business (in opposition to the trams) in Wellington. This failed within two years. Mr A Young narrowly escaped bankruptcy due to negotiating an annulment in 1894.
In 1895 Mr Andrew Young became ill and was diagnosed with cancer of the gullet. He died on the 17th of September 1895, surrounded by his wife and children at their home in Ellice Street. He was interred in the Karori Cemetery.
In September of 1884, councillor Sutton motioned, and councillor George seconded, that plans be made for the construction of Andrew Young Street. The resolution passed. By November 1884, Mr RN Keeling, Town Clerk, was calling for contractor tenders.
The street was registered in 1885 and considered a private street, as were Bourke, Campbell, David, Domain and Lombard streets. As such, a loan was authorised to be raised in 1886 to form and metal Andrew Young Street. Allocation of monies was based on pro rata rates paid by the residents of the Ward.
D.P.451, sections 327, 328, 333, and 334 were subdivided in 1889, and Mr A Young started selling the sections and allotments.
It wasn't until 1900 that a drainage scheme was approved for Andrew Young Street. Sewers were laid five years later. By 1906 four sewer connections had been made to residences. Repairs to the composite joining the pipes had to be carried out in 1907, before all connections were completed in 1908. Tarred water tables were then constructed in 1909.
From 1905 the road and footpaths were top-dressed regularly with tar and sand, and in 1922 wooden kerbing was replaced with concrete kerbing and channelling. In 1926 Andrew Young Street was regraded and metalled. In the early to mid-1930s tar and bitumen were applied to the footpath and road down the length of the street.
In 1913 there was talk, initiated by a special committee appointed by the Borough Council, of changing the name from Andrew Young Street to Young Street. This never eventuated.
Mr Henry Mouldey, son of Moses and Eleanor Mouldey, was born in 1833 in Berkshire, England. He emigrated as a young man to Victoria, Australia.
Miss Ellen Stapleton was born in Tiperary, County Ireland. She emigrated with her parents to Victoria, Australia, in 1856, where she met Mr Mouldey. They married in 1859 and came to New Zealand, arriving at Port Lyttelton on the ship Cressy. The couple settled in North Canterbury and farmed there some 20 years. Mr Mouldey then became a bricklayer and owned a brick yard between Rangiora and Fernside.
They had nine children; Deborah Ellen b.1860 , Mary Ann b.1863, George Henry b.1864, Catherine Matilda b.1866, John Moses b.1869, William b. 1871, Henry Edwin b.1875, Ada Selina b.1873 and Minnie Frances b.1877.
The couple moved to Palmerston North in 1889, where Mr H Mouldey was first engaged as a building contractor. They became residents of Andrew Young Street that same year when Mr Mouldey purchased section 333, allotments 5 and 6, from Mr A Young.
From 1908 the couple ran Mouldey’s Variety Store in Andrew Young Street (see Early business, organisations and clubs included, below). Mrs Ellen Mouldey died in 1915, aged 79 years. Mr Henry W Mouldey died in 1919 at the age of 86 years.
Mr George Lynch Darby Goldfinch was born in 1822 County Dover, England. He emigrated to Sydney Australia, on the ship Steadfast in 1848. He stayed for a few months before travelling to Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand, on the ship Charles Forbes. In Wellington he worked as a wheelright. On Christmas day in 1850, Mr GLD Goldfinch married Miss Mary Futter.
Miss Mary Futter arrived in Wellington in 1842 on the ship, Lady Nugent.
After a few years in Wellington Mr and Mrs GLD Goldfinch went to the gold diggings in Bendigo, Victoria. After trying their luck for six months, they settled in Melbourne for three years where Mr GL Goldfinch worked again as a wheelright.
Mr and Mrs G Goldfinch returned to Wellington in 1856, taking up a farm at Judgeford, Pahautanui. They remained there for 20 odd years and had thirteen children; John Matthew b.1852, Alice b.1853, George James b.1856, Arthur b.1858, Adolph b.1859, Lucy b.1861, Annie b.1863, Ruth b.1864, Henry b.1867, Eva b.1869, Astella b.1870, Charles James b.1873 and Susan Elsie b.1872.
In 1884, the Goldfinch family moved to Taonui, near Feilding. Later that decade they moved to Palmerston North, taking up residence in Andrew Young Street in 1892. Mr Goldfinch was involved with Oddfellow’s and the Loyal Antipodean Lodge, he been a member of the latter since his Wellington days.
On Christmas Day in 1900 it was the couple’s jubilee wedding anniversary. They celebrated with 150 guests at the Foresters’ Hall. Approximate eighty attendees were family.
Mr George Lynch Darby Goldfinch died April 1904, at 82 years of age. He is interred at Terrace End Cemetery. Mrs Mary Goldfinch died July 1908, aged 77 years.
Mrs Elizabeth Alice Smith lived in Andrew Young Street from 1901. She was born in Johnsonville, Wellington, in 1846 to Mr and Mrs John Monk. They emigrated from London in 1841, arriving in Wellington in 1842. Their home was a hut in the bush and Mr J Monk worked as a shopkeeper, pit sawyer and farmer, respectively.
Miss Elizabeth Alice Monk lived in Wellington until 1863, when she married Mr Thomas Smith. They couple farmed on Mr T Smith’s family station on the East Coast in Wairarapa for seven years. Then resided in North Makara near Wellington for fifteen years.
They had fourteen children; Martha Alice b.1867, John David b.1868, James Alfred b.1870, William Edward b.1871, Wallace Ernest b.1873, Thomas Francis Every b.1875, Jesse Herbert b.1877, Albert Arthur b.1879, Joseph Leonard b.1881, Henry Bertram b.1882, Walter Charles b.1884, Lillian May b.1886, Violet Grace b.1888 and Nellie Rose b.1891.
The Smith family moved to Tiritea (later known as Turitea) Palmerston North, in 1886, where they farmed a property. In 1889 they retired to Fitzherbert Avenue, Palmerston North, in order to provide easier access to education for their younger children. Mr Thomas Smith died in 1892 aged 49 yrs.
After a few years in Napier, Mrs Smith settled in Andrew Young Street in 1901. She remained there until her death, July 1942, aged ninety-six years. Mrs Elizabeth Alice Smith is interred at Terrace End Cemetery.
In 1896, Mrs Eliza Clare (nee Osborne) purchased section 328 allotment 17 of Andrew Young Street. It is listed under her husband, Mr Samuel Charles Clare, from the following year. Mr SC Clare built a bakehouse there, A1 Bakery (later called Clare’s Bakehouse), which supplied his various businesses:
In 1908 fire damaged the northern end of the bakehouse, and it was rebuilt. Messrs S Clare and Co., then sold the business to Mr WS Dustin and it was renamed Dustin’s Bakehouse. In November of 1909 a fire broke out at Dustin’s Bakehouse. Fortunately, they were insured and the business continued. Here is the frontage of Dustin’s circa. 1914-1918, on Main Street.
From the mid to late-1890s Mr and Mrs John P Jensen leased property in Andrew Young Street where they operated a coffee palace and boarding house. The location on the street is unknown. In addition, Mr JP Jensen met incoming trains and provided transport to the boarding house.
Mrs Charles Abel Peters moved from George to Andrew Young Street in 1904. She had purchased section 333, allotment 26, from Mrs Annie Kirk.
Mrs CA Peters opened a two-storeyed boarding house, of twenty-nine rooms. It also housed Peters Coffee Palace. The family resided on the ground floor at the rear of the café, with approximately fifteen boarders upstairs. The boarding house was managed by Mr Ernest Albert Fearnley.
A fire occurred in February of 1906, damaging the boarding house and contents. In September of the same year Mrs C Peters rebuilt, this time in brick, with fire escapes.
In 1908 Mr Charles Abel Peters died, aged 44 years. It is unclear whether he and Mrs Peters were together, after the 1904 move to Andrew Young Street. Later in 1908, Mrs Peters married Mr EA Fearnley. The business name changed to Fearnley’s Coffee Palace and private hotel. Mr and Mrs E Fearnley purchased further allotments on section 333 over the next fifteen years.
Fearnley's was rebuilt and refurbished in 1924. The upper storey was extensively fire damaged in 1943, and the Fearnley's again rebuilt. Mrs Esther Fearnley died in 1954, aged 91 years and Mr Ernest Albert Fearnley died in 1955 aged 81 years.
After the couple’s deaths the hotel was owned by the Fearnley family estate. It finally closed in 1968, when sold to Mr DF Huggett. In its sixty-four years of operation, except for five years when the hotel was run by Mr Robinson, there was always a Peters or Fearnley at the helm. Mr T Fearnley, Mr EA Fearnley’s nephew, was proprietor at the time of closing. However, that was not the end of its story.
In 1989, Mr George Ionas purchased the building from the Palmerston North Power Board, who had used it as a training facility. In 2002, 21-25 Andrew Street was leased to Shepherd's Rest a non-profit charitable trust, as a home for the homeless. It could accommodate up to 58 people. Shepherd’s Rest represented multiple churches of multiple denominations and helped people overcome drug and alcohol addiction. In January of 2012 the trust had to give up the home due to financial constraints. The building that was once Fearnley's Hotel was demolished in March of 2012.
In 1905, the Palmerston North branch of the Young Mens’ Christian Association (YMCA) commenced with the acquisition of a property in Andrew Young Street. Founding members Mr TR Hodder, Mr H Tolley, Mr DW Low and Mr JE Vernon established clubrooms and a gymnasium. In collaboration with the YMCA, the Manawatū Camera Club attached a darkroom to the building. The gymnasium was the venue of a various lectures and public debates.
Mouldey’s Variety Store (later known as Variety Hall) was a second-hand dealership and variety store at 3 Andrew Young Street. Mr and Mrs Henry Mouldey, proprietors, advertised its wares from 1908 until his death in 1919. It was situated near Central Hotel.
In 1914, one of Palmerston North’s first motorised taxi cab businesses was established by Mr John Jarvie Gillies at 13 Andrew Young Street. Mr JJ Gillies had worked in the Manawatū saw-milling and dairy industries previously. He originally drove a cab that could accommodate five passengers, and by 1924 Mr J Gillies had a 7-seater Buick Limousine on offer. He lived in Andrew Young Street at several different addresses during this time and died at his wife, Elizabeth’s, boarding house at 22 Andrew Young Street on Christmas day of 1940, aged 74 years.
From 1917, Plumbers, Beattie and Proctor Ltd., were located on the corner Andrew Young and Cuba Streets. By 1930 their business had grown significantly, and a new business premises was built in Cuba Street.
Mr Fritz Holland a well-known pugilist, opened Fritz Holland’s Boxing school in the Variety Hall (formerly Mouldey's) opposite Fearnley’s Coffee Palace in July 1920. Thirty students originally signed up and by August the roll numbered fifty-seven. However, the school was short-lived, lasting less than a year. In time, Mr F Holland was to return to Palmerston North. In 1930 he opened a gymnasium for his boxing classes in the old Central Fire Station in Cuba Street.
Fortunately for boxing enthusiasts, Mr Jim “Kid” Harris, bantam-weight ex-champion of England, under the patronage of the Manawatū Boxing Association, re-opened the school of boxing, physical culture and massage in January 1921. By March, “Kid” Harris had indicated he was settling in Palmerston North permanently. He and his students feature frequently in the local sports news until 1926. In 1925 the boxing gymnasium re-opened in the Produce Hall of the Palmerston North Showgrounds.
The addresses on Andrew Young were renumbered in 1939. See p.16 of the Rates Register of Street Numbers - Old and New.
The drive is named in honour of Te Hirawanui Kaimokopuna (c. 1808-1883). Te Hirawanui Kaimokopuna was ariki (hereditary high chief) of the hapū (kinship group) Ngāti Mutuahi, Te Rangiaranaki and Ngāti Hauiti of Rangitāne. December 2022.
The aerial image is a derivative of the Palmerston North City Council online mapping Geographic Information System (GIS).
Te Hirawanui Kaimokopuna is variously associated with the Pā of Te Motu a Poutua, Raukawa, Mokomoko and Ruahine in Manawatū, and, Tahoraiti and Otawhao in Tamaki nui-ā-Rua (Tararua District).
He coordinated and signed the deed of sale of Te Ahu a Tūranga land block, in which Whakarongo is located. To learn more about Whakarongo, read this Back Issues article by Karla Karaitiana.
When his sister Whakarongo was abducted, he took her children Te Paea and Wirihana Kaimokopuna as whāngai (to foster and nurture) and raised them as his own.
Te Hirawanui Kaimokopuna lived through tumultuous times in his later life, with the invasions lead by Te Rauparaha, and the first European contact in the Manawatū.
He is recorded as having fought in the battle at Waiorua, on Kāpiti Island in 1824, where an alliance of some nine iwi (extended kinship group) were defeated by Te Rauparaha’s forces. This led to Ngāti Toa and their allied iwi to fully establish themselves in the lower North Island.
Te Hirawanui was residing at Te Motu a Poutua and Raukawa at the time of early European contact. He is recorded as hosting the adventurer Jack Duff there in 1840, when he paddled up the Manawatū River from Foxton and through Te Āpiti (Manawatū Gorge). This visit was soon followed by Frederick Hunt, from the New Zealand Company, who was prospecting land sales around Foxton.
Te Hirawanui also hosted William Colenso in 1846, while living at Otawhao. It is believed that he may have been baptised on this visit and took the name Te Hirawanui Karaitiana.
In the 1850’s, land sales between government agents and iwi took place in the province, and there were a series of disputes around ownership between iwi and hapu.
In 1858 Te Hirawanui attended a hui of seven iwi hosted by Nepia Taratoa and Ihakara Tukumaru, debating the ownership of the Manawatū. This ended in Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Tehihi and Ngāti Makatere formally acknowledging Rangitāne as holding the mana of the Manawatū, specifically the block of land known as Te Ahu a Tūranga. Further, they recognised Te Hirawanui as the only rangatira of Rangitāne with the status to negotiate its long-term future.
Governor Thomas Gore Browne was keen to pursue a purchase of Te Ahu a Tūranga. Rangatira Nepia Taratoa urged Te Hirawanui to enter into negotiations with Donald McLean, the Land Purchase Commissioner, who had commenced purchase of the Rangitikei Block.
Te Ahu a Tūranga block extended from just north of present day Tokomaru to the head-waters of the Oroua River, bounded to the east by the Tararua and Ruahine Ranges, and to the west by the Oroua River to just above Feilding, then cutting a line just west of the Taonui Stream and across the Manawatū River.
McLean wanted to negotiate using a rough sketch of the block as a guide to the area under discussion. However, Te Hirawanui told the Crown agent that:
“... before the land could be sold that it must be surveyed all around the Boundaries and then paid for at the rate of 30/- per acre - that [the] land was of immense extent and that it should not be sold in the dark.”
Te Hirawanui understood that the Crown had already promised to have the land surveyed before sale.
Te Hirawanui having signalled the willingness to enter a sale agreement, once surveyed, met with surveyor John Tiffin Stewart in October 1858 and hosted him at Ruahine/Te Motu a Poutua Pā. Te Hirawanui took Stewart to the clearing called Papaiōea and recommended it as the site for a township. Te Hirawanui and Stewart had a friendly relationship and Te Hirawanui accompanied the survey party on many excursions.
The friendly relationship did not continue into the negotiations with Donald McLean. The relationship quickly became rancorous and Te Hirawanui was concerned about the outcomes for iwi in other concluded sale processes.
The Crown refused to negotiate a per acre price for the land, seeking instead to negotiate on a lump sum basis. Negotiations for the sale broke down by late 1859, after Te Hirawanui rejected Crown offers of first £5,000 and then £6,000 for the block.
In April 1862, the Governor authorised the superintendent of the Wellington Provincial Council to purchase land on behalf of the Crown. In 1863, the Crown resumed negotiations. Te Hirawanui’s son, Wirihana Kaimokopuna, and Hoani Meihana Te Rangiotū joined Te Hirawanui to negotiate and, despite reservations, the deed of sale was signed on 23 July 1864, transferring approximately 250,000 acres to the Crown. More than 150 Rangitāne signed the deed.
The purchase price of £12,000 was paid to Rangitāne on 19 August 1864.
To learn more about the sale read these Back Issues articles, An anniversary with meaning for Manawatū by Toi Warbrick, and The trio who oversaw a momentous land sale by Virginia and Warren Warbrick.
Within Te Ahu a Tūranga block, the Ruahine pā site and surrounding land was excluded from the sale. The Ruahine pā was located directly across the Manawatū River from Te Motu o Poutoa. Te Hirawanui intended the Hokowhitu site to be reserved under the care of all Rangitāne. To learn more about the Ruahine Reserve, read this Back Issues article by Karla Karaitiana.
Also excluded from sale within Te Ahu a Tūranga block, was Parahaki Island. Approximately ten hectares, it is a significant tūpuna (ancestral) site for Rangitāne. To learn more about Parahaki Island, read this Back Issues article by Virginia and Warren Warbrick.
Te Hirawanui was later asked to negotiate in the sale of the Tapere nui a Whatonga block in Tamaki nui-ā-Rua/Wairarapa, also known as ‘Seventy Mile Bush’. However, soured by his experience, he refused and offered his son, Wirihana Kaimokopuna, in his stead.
Wirihana’s battles with MacLean continued and are recorded in multiple letters from him to MacLean and to Parliament. However, in 1871 along with multiple kaumatua (including his cousins, Karaitiana Takamoana and Karaitiana Te Korou) Wirihana signed the deed of sale.
In 1878, when Christianity largely saw a more settled Aotearoa, and at the age of 70, Te Hirawanui set his energies on a different matter. In the early 1820s Te Hirawanui Kaimokopuna’s sister, Whakarongo, was captured by Te Amio-Whenua expedition at Te Ruru Pā near Ngāwapūrua.
Whakarongo was a niece and whāngai of Te Aokautere. She was daughter of Te Aokautere’s sister, Koa, and her husband Pakahuruhuru (the great-grand-son of Rangiaranaki).
Te Aokautere raised her as whāngai at Te Kuripaka pā and is said to have doted on her. He was generally blamed for cultivating her feisty, independent nature. She was also noted as being a great beauty. Whakarongo is believed to have fought in battle alongside Te Aokautere and her brothers, Te Wharepuni and Te Hirawanui Kaimokopuna, at least once.
Whakarongo and a party, including Tukere, her second husband, were returning to Manawatū from the battle at Te Horehore Pā in Takapau. Most of the pā in Tamaki nui-ā-Rua had been abandoned and the people retreated to Te Ahu Tūranga. It was believed that Tukere had been badly injured at Te Horehore and was unable to travel any further, so they made a stand at Te Ruru on the Manawatū river near Kumeroa and Ngāwapūrua.
A taua of Ngāti Kahungunu, allied to Ngāti Whatua and led by Puhara and Te Hapuku, ran them down. It is understood that Whakarongo fought in both battles (at Te Horehore and Te Ruru). Everyone in the group at Te Ruru were killed except a woman called Wiramina, and Whakarongo. Because of her rank, moko kauae and demeanor, Whakarongo was not killed, but captured, and taken to Kaipara where she married a chief of Te Uri-o-Hau branch of Ngāti Whatua and had another family.
And so, in the late 1870s, Te Hirawanui made an epic journey cross country to Kaipara and sucessfully negotiated for his sister's return.
He brought her back to Manawatū and she spent most of her remaining years at Raukawakawa Pā.
For someone with such a tumultuous life, Whakarongo lived to old age spending her last years at Tahoraiti Pā in Tamaki nui-ā-Rua being cared for by her son, Wirihana Kaimokopuna, and his wife Rora. She is buried at Tahoraiti urupā with her son.
Te Hirawanui Kaimokopuna died in 1883 after living a somewhat reclusive and disillusioned lifestyle at Raukawakawa. The pā was noted at that time to be lightly occupied and being largely eroded by the Manawatū River.
In August 1969 it was reported in The Tribune, Central City Review, page 5, that Bourke Street, interchangeably called Burke Street, was named after roading contractor, Mr Bourke, who put the street through in 1875.
The image is a derivative of this Palmerston North Borough map from 1923 by HR Farquar, Civil Engineer and Licensed Surveyor.
Papers Past show that there was a Mr D Burke operating as a roading contractor in the Manawatū in the 1880s and 1890s.
Deposited 24 March 1875, D.P.22 (the Cuba Street end) was subdivided in 1875. The sections were owned by Mr Arthur William Follett Halcombe, an early settler of Feilding, and the surveyor was Mr Thomas McKay Drummond. D.P.1195 was subdivided in 1901 and the sections owned by Mr Charles E Waldegrave.
In 1876, the Clausen brothers, Messrs Christian Nicolai and Johan Frederick, first laid eyes on Palmerston (later Palmerston North) as children of early Scandinavian settlers. They recalled the Bourke and Waldegrave street blocks being great paddocks of oat crops.
October 23, 1880, a special meeting of the Palmerston Borough Council was held to consider reports from the Reserves Committee and sub-committee. The latter presented a “Report of the Division of the Town.” This was a recommendation of general allocation of costs for street clearing and formation, based on the town map.
Councillor Coleman said he would have preferred a breakdown by street in which outlay was expected. His Worship, Mayor James Linton, could not see the necessity, as per the report all the town streets would either be cleared or formed. Councillor Coleman pointed out that there may be streets the sub-committee members were unaware of – Bourke and Campbell Streets for example. The sub-committee affirmed it was unaware of Bourke Street and hadn’t counted Campbell Street, a private street on a piece of land cut up by Mr AWF Halcombe, leading to a large paddock. Councillor Coleman asserted that the latter was on the map and residents on both contributed revenue to the town.
There was discussion around the concern that if the council were to take over and spend money on private streets, they would be springing up all over the place. Councillor Ferguson stated that if Campbell Street was on the map as a public street, then its development was in fact covered by the report. If not, the Council would not be justified in spending money on the street. The report was received and adopted.
In January of 1886 a loan was authorised for the forming and metalling of private streets. Monies were dispersed on a pro rata basis in each ward. Bourke Street, situated in the no.4 ward, was valued at £112 in April. In May of 1904 residents asked for the old portion of Bourke Street to be improved.
By September 1900 a drainage scheme was under consideration for the densely populated western end of town. This was followed in March of 1901 with a council proposal to raise a loan for drainage works. Residents in Bourke Street also had drainage in mind. In December 1902, residents petitioned the council to take over the newly formed portion of Bourke street, and extend water services.
However, by January 1907, Bourke Street did not have the requested services. The Sanitary Inspector’s strongly worded report, calling the street a cesspit bed, urged that drainage sewers be extended to Bourke Street immediately. In April 1907, the borough engineer was instructed to proceed with sewer works in Bourke Street, which was completed in May. By October 1908, all residences had been connected.
March, 1904, councillor Essex drew attention to overhanging trees and overgrown thorn hedges in Bourke Street. He highlighted the danger to pedestrians, especially unprotected eyes. The council decided to compel owners to cut back foliage as per by-laws. These by-laws were enforced again in January 1907.
In October of 1904 the arc lamp at the corner of Bourke and Cuba Streets was moved halfway down Bourke street on the west side. All lamps were changed to incandescent.
In 1907 footpaths were formed on both sides of Bourke Street, and in April 1909, tarring and sanding of the footpath on western side of the street was completed, with residents sharing the cost. In October 1914, the paths were treated with sanding and tarring on both sides. Residents were active in submitting petitions to ensure attention to the upkeep of their street.
In Jun 1926, plans were made to improve the surface of the roadway in Bourke Street. By November the full length of Bourke was treated with crushed pit metal. Eight years later, residents complained of dust from passing vehicles, and requested tar-sealing. Two years on, in 1936, the street was scarified, metalled, rolled and tar-sealed. A second tar-sealing was completed in March of 1939.
Mr Ulisse “Louis” Carlo Francesco Giorgi (b.1870) and his brother, Mr Arturo “Arthur” Giorgi (b.1873) were born in Livorno, Italy. Their parents emigrated to Aotearoa New Zealand in 1874, and the family settled in Whanganui.
The brothers came to Palmerston North as young men. In 1896 Mr UCF Giorgi married Miss Alice Hill, a lifelong resident of a settler family. They had three children; Ida Anna b.1897, Dario Lanchoto b.1899 and Myrtle Alice b.1903.
Both Mr UC Giorgi and Mr A Giorgi purchased properties in Bourke Street in 1897.
Mr U Giorgi ran a hairdresser & tobacconist store in Te Marae o Hine the Square. Later he branched out into fishing tackle supply. He was prominent in the Palmerston North hockey scene, and was involved in whippet racing.
From 1900 to 1902, Mr A Giorgi served in the Remington’s Guides during the South African War. Those in the guides had to have a knowledge of Dutch and African languages, and supply their own mount.
On his return Mr A Giorgi went into partnership with Mr Maurice Millar, to establish the menswear firm of Millar & Giorgi in Te Marae o Hine the Square. They opened a Hastings branch of the same in December of 1905.
In October of 1904 Mr A Giorgi married Miss Beatrice Cecilia Humphreys. Miss BC Humphreys was born in 1878 in Waipawa, Hawkes Bay. The couple had three children; Norma b.1905, Ronald Victor b.1907 and Zenda Beatrice b.1909.
Mr A Giorgi, a keen sportsman, was also in the Volunteer Corps and a member of the Linton Rifle Club during the couple’s time in Palmerston North.
Mr and Mrs A Giorgi lived at 7b Bourke Street (owning the properties at no. 7) until 1918, when they moved to the Hawkes Bay to manage the Hastings branch.
Mr Arthur Giorgi died in Hastings in December 1940, aged 67 years. Mrs Beatrice Cecilia Giorgi died in Hastings in August of 1950, aged 71 years.
Mrs Alice Giorgi died, aged 36 years, in December 1913. Mr U Giorgi remarried in 1920 to Mrs Evangelina May Tremewan, nee O’Connell. The couple resided at 4 Kairanga Road.
Mr Ulisse “Lou” Carlo Francesco Giorgi died in May 1959, aged 89 years, and is interred at Terrace End Cemetery. Evangeline May Giorgi died in Whanganui in May of 1961, at the age of 81 years. She is interred at Aramoho Cemetery.
Many short-term businesses, such as chimney sweeping, clairvoyant healing, eye specialist, landau cabs, and dressmaking, were operated from residents' homes. There was also a healthy trade in poultry.
Ward Bros., Painters and Paperhangers, operated from 22 Bourke Street from 1911 to 1919. At that stage the business had outgrown the site and they moved to a new premises in Cuba Street.
The Carow Ladies’ College, also known as Carow Girls Collegiate School, moved a number of times from its inception in 1891. From 1912 to 1914 the Carow School of music and painting ran at 47 Bourke Street. This was the residence of principal, Mrs Elizabeth von Blaramberg, and her husband Mr Cecil Augustus Victor Hortezzi de Cortando von Blaramberg.
From 1924 to 1928, Miss Ulu Hancock, provided tuition in elocution and dramatic art, from her parents’ house at 7b Bourke street. Her father, Mr Allen Hancock, was a motorcycle dealer. The property was sold in 1936. Miss Ulu Hancock then recommenced tuition in 1938 from 72 Bourke Street.
In 1929, the Boniface brothers, John and Amos, modernised their bakery and confectionery business (established 1916) with a purpose-built bakehouse near the corner of Cuba and Bourke Street. It had a frontage of 66 feet. Circa. 1936, the Boniface Brothers Bakery extended their business into Bourke Street, 70 feet, with the establishment of a small goods manufacturing department.
The addresses on Bourke Street were renumbered in 1937. See p.34 and p.35 of the Rates Register of Street Numbers - Old and New.
Oakley Street is named in honour of Mrs Sarah Oakley (1854-1938), nee Hanlon, one of the town's earliest residents and land owners.
The image is a derivative of this Palmerston North Borough map from 1923 by HR Farquar, Civil Engineer and Licensed Surveyor.
Mrs S Oakley's parents, Sarah and John Hanlon, emigrated from Warwickshire, England, in 1874 with their children Caroline, Sarah (then around 20 years old), Lawrence, Agnes and William; on the ship Euterpe. Mr John Hanlon is recorded as a mason on the passenger list. The family settled in Terrace End Palmerston North and Mr Hanlon took up work as a builder and mason.
Here their daughter, Miss Sarah Hanlon, met Mr Frederick Oakley, one of the first carpenters in Palmerston North. Mr F Oakley was born May 6 1846, in Walsall, England. He arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand with his parents in 1857, aboard the Indian Queen. He apprenticed into the building trade in Wellington, working for Mr Lockie.
After seven years’ experience he went to Foxton and built the first post office with Mr John Edmund Perrin. On moving to Palmerston North in May of 1871, he and Mr JE Perrin built the first store in the township – belonging to Mr George Mathew Snelson.
Later they partnered with Mr J Perrin's brother-in-law, carpenter and undertaker, Mr Frederick Meyrick. Advertising as carpenters, builders and undertakers, the firm Meyrick, Perrin and Oakley, built most of the early houses in Palmerston North.
A letter Mr J Hanlon wrote to the Manawatū Times was referenced, January 6th, 1877:
“… his daughter laid the “foundation brick” of the first brick cottage ever erected in Palmerston, on 28th December last.”
Mr Hanlon didn't actually specify which daughter.
Miss S Hanlon married Mr F Oakley on the 13th of June 1877, at Saint Patrick’s Church. In doing so they joined two of the earliest building families in Palmerston North.
The Oakley’s had nine children; Helen Agnes b.1878, Rachel Sarah b.1880, Mary Elizabeth Josephina b.1882, Frederick William John b.1884, Mabel Gertrude b.1886, Harold Sylvester b.1888, Francis Claud b.1891, Joseph Mary Francis Xavier b.1898 and Raymond Reginald Louis b.1895. They were predeceased by their youngest son, Raymond, in 1925.
The couple moved to 169 Church Street (later renumbered 457) in 1904, and remained there the rest of their lives. Mr Frederick Oakley died in December of 1930, aged 84 years, and Mrs Sarah Oakley died in July 1938, also aged 84 years. Both are interred at Terrace End Cemetery.
Oakley Street, then unnamed, was drawn into James Mitchell’s plan of 1866. It was surveyed all the way through to Cuba Street. However, the location of the Palmerston North Showgrounds, decided in 1886, altered the earlier plan. Once Oakley Street was formed, it ran from Featherston Street and ended a short way into, and adjoining, sections 295 and 296 of the showgrounds.
Water services were extended to Oakley Street in 1904, and concrete stormwater culverts were completed in 1907. The laying of the main sewer was completed in 1909. In 1910, the Manawatu and West Coast Agricultural and Pastoral Association (A&P) requested that water mains and a fire plug be added to eastern end of Oakley Street. This was a fire precaution, given its vicinity to the showgrounds. The Borough Council approved the plan, providing the Association paid the full cost. After the A&P Association explored options with the Fire Board, a four-inch water main was constructed in Oakley Street in 1911.
Around 1896 the A&P Association rented land from Mr Christensen on, what was then, allotments 1 and 2 of section 295, Oakley Street. This property, described as a sort of island territory in the A&P Association grounds, was successfully claimed by Mrs Catherine C Peters. The Supreme Court allowed that she was the widow of the original grantee, Mr Carl Peters. She was an absentee owner and the land was used intermittently for grazing. The A&P Association repeatedly tried to purchase or lease the Oakley Street land from Mrs Peters.
In 1920 the government authorised taking possession of the land for public purposes, under the Public Works Amendment Act, 1910, and clause 50 of the Reserves and Other Lands Disposal and Public Bodies Empowering Act, 1919. As a result, the A&P Association publicly gazetted their intention to acquire the land and made payment based on government valuation. In 1922 this move was nationally criticised and became known as the "Peters Case" when Mrs Peter's son protested the actions – over twelve months after the fact. A detailed overview was provided in the Dominion, volume 16, issue 62, 6 December 1922, page 7.
The sale was finalised in April of 1921 and the A&P Association asked the council to close that portion of Oakley Street; 800 links, being lots 2, 3, 4 and 5 of section 295 southwest Oakley Street, and 100 links on the northwest. A meeting of local electors was called to make the decision in March of 1922. The citizens voted in favour of increasing the A&P Association grounds via this method. A special order was passed by the council in April 1922 and that portion of Oakley Street was closed for A&P Association use.
In May of 1922, Oakley Street residents requested that the footpath be tarred, sanded, kerbed and channelled. They were prepared to pay half the expense. The work was approved in June and completed in November. A second request to have the gas main extended was referred to the Gas Committee and Engineer. By July 1924, residents requested the installation of an electric street lamp to replace the gas lamp recently removed. This was referred to Electric Committee.
In November of 1926 a petition was received from Oakley Street ratepayers highlighting the deteriorating condition of street. The council responded with tidying and improvements. In 1933 the footpaths were reconditioned and top-dressed with tar and sand.
Mrs Thomasina Leigh, nee Collins, lived in Oakley Street from c. 1904. Miss Thomasina Collins was born in Cornwall, England, c. 1838. She came to Aotearoa New Zealand in 1874 on the ship Douglas, arriving in Wellington. Miss T Collins made Palmerston North her home, apart from three years spent in Marton.
Miss Collins had a daughter, Miss Elizabeth Catherine Collins, in 1879.
Mr John James Leigh was born in Somerset, England in 1820. He emigrated to Aotearoa New Zealand in 1876 with his wife, Mrs Rebecca Leigh, nee Hayward, and one of their sons. They arrived in 1877 on the ship Marlborough. Mr J Leigh is recorded as a lawyer on the passenger list. Mrs R Leigh died in 1884, at 65 years of age.
Miss Collins married Mr Leigh in 1885. They spent their married life in Palmerston North, where Mr Leigh was caretaker of the Palmerston North Cemetery. Mr John James Leigh died at 76 years of age in 1895.
Mrs Leigh took in boarders and ran livestock for sale from her property. Mrs Thomasina Leigh died in 1924, aged 86 years. She is interred with her husband at Terrace End Cemetery.
Mr and Mrs H Rowland lived in the Manawatū for many years. Mr Herbert Rowland was born in 1853, Worcestershire, England. He followed his older brother, Mr David Rowland, to Aotearoa New Zealand in 1877. His brother was an early settler of Tiakitahuna (also known as Jackey Town). Arriving on the ship Wairoa, Mr H Rowland is recorded as a platelayer on the passenger list.
He moved to the Manawatū and took up land in Pohangina.
Miss Mary Demler (alternatively, Damler and Dammler) was born in 1867 in Rheinland-Palatinate, Germany. She emigrated with her parents and siblings to Aotearoa New Zealand in 1875, on the ship Terpsichore. They arrived in Wellington in 1876.
Mr H Rowland and Miss M Demler married in 1885. They had six children; John b.1886, William Herbert b.1888, Mary Sarah b.1890, Mabel Maria b.1892, Arthur August b.1894 and Grace Eileen b.1906.
In 1889 Mr Rowland sold his Pohangina property to Mr Vallley Calleson, and purchased land from the estate of Mrs Mary Elizabeth Hughey, in Motuiti, Foxton. The family farmed this land until moving to Palmerston North in 1900.
Mr Herbert Rowland died at the family’s Oakley Street residence in September 1911. He was 59 years old and is interred at Terrace End Cemetery. After his death, Mrs Mary Rowland moved to Upper Hutt, where she resided until her death in March of 1963. She was 95 years of age, and is interred at Akatārawa Cemetery.
Mr and Mrs J Hansen lived in Oakley Street from the time of their marriage in 1905. Mr Jorgen Hansen was born in 1878, in Denmark, and Miss Laura Marie Jensen Frost in 1879. Both were immigrants to Aotearoa New Zealand from Scandinavia.
The couple had six children; Paul Carlos b.1906, Carlos Jonathan b.1908, Viggo Daniel b.1910, Axel Josva b.1911, Jens Jorgen Ezra b.1914 and Andreas Frost b.1916.
Mr Hansen sold gravel and dairy livestock, predominantly jersey cows, from their residence on Oakley Street.
Mrs Laura Marie Jensen Hansen died in July of 1943, aged 64 years, and is interred at the Terrace End Cemetery. Mr Jorgen Hansen died in August of 1951, at the age of 73, and is interred at Kelvin Grove Cemetery.
Oakley was predominantly a residential street with some small businesses operating from homes. Mrs Leigh of 4 Oakley Street sold dairy livestock, for example, or Mr J Hansen of 12 Oakley Street sold gravel and dairy livestock. There was also a poultry farm at 6 Oakley Street.
There was a steady trade in the let and sale of property and renting of rooms. In 1905, Mr Ludolph Georg West designed two cottages for Mrs McCartney on the street.
The grove is named to honour the contribution of the Macpherson family to commerce in Palmerston North. April 2018.
From the late 1890s, Macpherson family businesses have included: grocery, apparel, hospitality and a garden centre. The grove is adjacent to the former retail garden centre, Macphersons Bulk Bins.
The aerial image is a derivative of the Palmerston North City Council online mapping Geographic Information System (GIS).
Mr David Macpherson was born in Londonderry, Northern Ireland c. 1855. He emigrated to Aotearoa New Zealand in October 1877 on the ship Oamaru. Disembarking at Bluff in January of 1878, he pursued business and community interests in Ashburton for 20 years.
In 1880 Mr D Macpherson married Miss Margaret Jane McNutt. Miss MJ McNutt emigrated with her parents to Aotearoa New Zealand c. 1877. She was 21 years of age. Her family settled in Drury, Waikato and she stayed there until her marriage. The couple had six children, Andrew David b.1881, John Norman b.1883, William Leslie b.1886, Joseph Alexander b.1890, Vida Rebecca b.1895 and Fanny Mary b.1904.
In the late 1890s the family came to Palmerston North. Mr D Macpherson managed a grocery department in the United Farmers Co-operative Association, before starting his own business. In 1901, Macpherson the Cash Grocer, opened in premises formerly occupied by Messrs R&E Tingey, next to Mr GH Bennett on the Square. He sold his store in October 1903 to Messrs S Clare and Co., to become secretary to the Licensed Victuallers’ Association.
In 1912 Mr D Macpherson purchased Mr E Anstis’ interest in the Princess Hotel, which provided public accommodation of fifteen rooms. He transferred the publican’s license to Mr Michael O’Reilly in 1914.
Mr D Macpherson remained secretary of the Licensed Victuallers’ Association until his retirement at Manawatū Heads, Foxton Beach, c. 1921.
Mr David Macpherson died May 1927 aged 72 years. Mrs Margaret Jane Macpherson died almost a year later, in April of 1928, aged 72.
Mr and Mrs D Macpherson’s son, Mr William Leslie Macpherson, married Miss Hilda Mary Godwin in 1908. They had four children, Irene Hilda b.1912, Leslie Norman James b.1914, Margaret Betty b.1915 and Lucy Mabel b.1920.
Mr WL Macpherson started out his professional career working for the Premier Drapery Company (PDC), which he left in 1915. He then took a position with Collinson & Cunninghame as Head of Department – Furnishings, and remained there for a decade.
In May 1925, Messers Donald & Macpherson bought out Garner’s on the Square. Mr RC Donald also had had ten-years’ experience at Messrs Collinson and Cunninghame. They sold clothes and Manchester.
One of Mr W Macpherson's sisters, Miss Vida or Miss Fanny, may have also been in the clothing business. From July of 1923 Tres Bon, millinery and lingerie, was advertised in local newspapers by Misses Macpherson and Randle. The store was located in the Union Buildings in Coleman Place. In January of 1924 the partnership was dissolved, and Miss Macpherson continued the business until June of 1924, when the closing down sale was advertised.
By August of 1932 Mr W Macpherson went out on his own, becoming an incorporated company. He opened a clothier and mercer store, WL Macpherson Ltd., at 4 Rangitikei Street (two doors down from the Bank of New Zealand). Within two years WL Macpherson Ltd., men’s outfitters, was relocated to 126 the Square, late Mr ED Wycherley’s premises next to McKenzies, where it operated for many years.
Macpherson's Menswear was sold to the Millers Group. It remained a registered company until 1987. Millers Fashion eventually moved into the Plaza, until closing in 2017.
Mr W Macpherson was also well-known for his commitment and service to education, like his father Mr D Macpherson, who was elected to the Ashburton School Committee in 1893 and served as chairman from 1896 to 1898. Mr W Macpherson served on the Terrace End School Committee for ten years from 1924. He became treasurer in 1926 and took over as chairman in 1933.
He was an Instructor in Salesmanship at the Palmerston North Technical College from 1929, and a staff member of the Commercial Department for some years following.
Mr W Macpherson was also involved in the Palmerston North Girls’ High School Parents Association in the 1930s. He served on the Intermediate School Committee from 1943 to 1944.
From the 1940s Mr W Macpherson was president of the Manawatu Wairarapa Drapers’, Clothiers’ and Boot Retailers’ Association. He was also vice-president of the Manawatu-Wairarapa Employers’ Association and president of the Palmerston North Retailer’s Association. It is in the latter role that this image appeared in the Manawatū Times of November 1944, and is accessed on Papers Past.
Mr William Leslie Macpherson died in June 1963 at 77 years of age. Mrs Hilda Mary Macpherson died a month later, aged 78.
Mr and Mrs WL Macpherson’s son, Mr Leslie Norman James Macpherson, married Miss Amy Adelaide Saunders in 1937. They they had four children, David William b.1937, Neal Ivan b.1943, Ruth Ellen b.1945 and Peter Leslie.
Mr Peter Leslie Macpherson was to return to the hospitality business first entered by his great grandfather, Mr D Macpherson, almost sixty years earlier. The Coachman Motel was built at 134, 136 and 138 Fitzherbert Avenue by PL Macpherson Holdings Ltd., in 1971.
In the Manawatū Standard, 2nd June 1984, Mr PL Macpherson announced the extension of the motel over the following twelve months, with a three storey 42-room hotel complex at 140, 142 and 144 Fitzherbert Avenue. Once completed, the strikingly stone-clad Coachman comprised 80 rooms with 220 beds, conference rooms, lecture rooms, a library, restaurant, lounge and bar, gymnasium, sauna, spa and swimming pools. The basement carpark could accommodate over 60 vehicles. The architect was Jack Canlon.
PL Macpherson Holdings Ltd., owned the hotel until 2006, when it was sold to Mr Brendan Hapeta, Mrs Leonie Hapeta and Mrs Ali McLean. At the present time it is in the hands of Distinction Hotels, who took ownership in 2018.
Mr and Mrs LNJ Macpherson’s son, Mr Peter Leslie Macpherson, was married to Mrs Cynthia Anne Macpherson. Mr Colin Peter Macpherson is their son, and he is married to Mrs Wendy Macpherson.
Mr CP Macpherson is a Palmerston North native, who attended Awatapu College in his youth.
Colin Macpherson’s Garden Centre was established at 261 Napier Road in 1993. It expanded into the retail trade in 1994 with the addition of a shop on site. The gift shop was updated in 2001. As well as the nursery, Mr C Macpherson specialised in bulk mixes such as vegetable or lawn mix. From 2020 this became the sole focus of the business, Macphersons Bulk Bins. Customers also commented on the excellent selection of succulents in the gift store.
Macphersons Bulk Bins closed in 2024. Combined with Colin Macpherson’s Garden Centre – a business endeavour of over thirty years.
The Macpherson family have been contributing to commerce and community in Palmerston North for over 125 years.
The origin of the name, Campbell, is unknown. The street went through in two sections at the same time as Bourke Street, 1875. There is speculation that Mr Campbell may have been a partner of Mr Bourke, a roading contractor. This is not yet substantiated.
There was a Wellington based partnership, Messrs. Alexander Campbell and Daniel Burke, builders, joiners and contractors who worked around the lower North Island from the early 1900s. However, the timing does not match.
The image is a derivative of this Palmerston North Borough map from 1923 by HR Farquar, Civil Engineer and Licensed Surveyor.
The Cuba Street end of Campbell Street, section 304 (a third of the street) was put through in 1875. The Featherston Street end, section 299, followed in 1890. Both sections appear to have been purchased by Mr Arthur William Follett Halcombe, an early settler of Feilding. By 1877-78 Mr John James Waldegrave owned one property on section 299, while there were seven houses and a stable on the Cuba Street end. By 1883-84 the Featherston Street end, section 299, was owned by Mr Benjamin Manson.
October 23, 1880, a special meeting of the Palmerston Borough Council was held to consider reports from the Reserves Committee and sub-committee. The latter presented a “Report of the Division of the Town.” This was a recommendation of general allocation of costs for street clearing and formation, based on the town map.
Councillor Coleman said he would have preferred a breakdown by street in which outlay was expected. His Worship, Mayor James Linton, could not see the necessity, as per the report all the town streets would either be cleared or formed. Councillor Coleman pointed out that there may be streets the sub-committee members were unaware of – Bourke and Campbell Streets for example. The sub-committee affirmed it was unaware of Bourke Street and hadn’t counted Campbell Street, a private street on a piece of land cut up by Mr AWF Halcombe, leading to a large paddock. Councillor Coleman asserted that the latter was on the map and residents on both contributed revenue to the town.
There was discussion around the concern that if the council were to take over and spend money on private streets, they would be springing up all over the place. Councillor Ferguson stated that if Campbell Street was on the map as a public street, then its development was in fact covered by the report. If not, the Council would not be justified in spending money on the street. The report was received and adopted.
In September of 1900, the drainage scheme extended to Campbell Street. The Sanitary Inspector’s report of 1904 concluded that, of fifty-two homes inspected, many sinks and baths were not trapped and did not discharge over gullies. Between December of 1906 and April of 1907, sewerage pipes were laid. From January of 1907 the Sanitary Inspector encouraged residents to connect with the sewerage system and eliminate cesspits. By October 1908 all premises were connected.
In June of 1905, the footpaths on Campbell street were included in the borough improvements programme. Of particular concern, was the path traversed by Campbell Street School students. Due to high use, it became a muddy track in wet weather. In October 1906, the footpath was formed and kerbed on the westside of the street. Further top-dressing of pathways always took precedence directly in front of the school.
In March of 1925 the borough engineer was asked to inspect and report on the condition of Campbell Street. It was in a state of disrepair, with stagnant water accumulating at the Cuba Street End. There was little metal of the old roadway left. As the street was on a bus route, the engineer recommended that the road be scarified, re-metalled and rolled. The reforming and regrading of Campbell Street was completed in November.
Three years later, in December 1928, the residents petitioned that Campbell Street be treated with bitumen. The road was full of potholes and a challenge to vehicles, including buses. A year earlier the cycle track had been eliminated. The work was carried out late 1929.
In July of 1924, the council purchased the old Campbell Street School site. It was sold to them by the Education Department, who reduced the price from £4000 to £2000, due to its planned use as a playground for future generations. It was a popular move with Campbell Street residents and many congratulated the council. Called the Campbell Street Reserve, the belief was that the area just needed levelling to be fit for play.
In December of 1929, however, the council sold the Campbell Street Reserve site to raise money for borough works. Fierce opposition ensued. Ratepayers had not been consulted and the move contradicted the terms of the original sale. As a result, the sale was cancelled, and the deposit refunded. In April of 1930, residents requested that improvements be made to the site, towards construction of a play area. In June the council provided £50 for laying out the play area.
There was a second proposal to expend £650 as part of a scheme to relieve unemployment. Dispersal of monies was a hot topic among councillors, with many opposing expenditures on a playground over much needed borough works. In June, six unemployed men, of two hundred and thirty on the Palmerston North Unemployment Register, commenced work on the Campbell Street Reserve. By December it was largely cleared and fenced and was used by neighbourhood children as a playground. The following year a part-time caretaker was appointed to look after the Campbell Street play area.
It was also in 1930 that the width of gas mains were increased to improve capacity to cookers and heating units.
In October of 1943 there was discussion on the impact to Campbell Street when the Oroua River was in flood. The following month it was decided that a larger concrete culvert would be constructed to help control surface water.
For a comprehensive history of the street's development, businesses, and who lived there, plus the Community Housing Improvement Scheme of the early 1980s, take a look at the lecture notes of historian, Brian Mather, and supplementary material from the Palmerston North Historical Society, circa. 2006.
The notes include a history of Campbell Street School, 1890-1922.
The Church of Christ was first established in Palmerston North in 1905. Meetings were originally held in private residences. In 1913, they established a central meeting place at 100 Campbell Street. Congregation members commenced work on the site of a new church in Botanical Road in 1959.
The former Church of Christ became home to the Savage Club. Beginning as a London gentlemen’s club in 1857, the Savage Club spread throughout the colonies. The Manawatū chapter was founded in 1908 as a literary society and entertainment club. In 2020, it was rebranded as OnStage Manawatū.
The addresses on Campbell Street were renumbered in 1937. See p.45 and p.46 of the Rates Register of Street Numbers - Old and New.
The origin of the name, Lombard, is unknown.
The image is a derivative of this Palmerston North Borough map from 1923 by HR Farquar, Civil Engineer and Licensed Surveyor.
As one of the city’s oldest, Lombard Street was constructed in two parts. The southern Cuba Street end, D.P.35, section 300, was surveyed in 1875 (although there may have been dwellings there as early as 1872). The northern Featherston Street end, D.P.206, section 303, was surveyed in in 1881.
On January 22, 1881, the first official horse race meeting was held. The course ran from Lombard Street, along Featherston Street, through the Showgrounds, and then Cuba Street. At that stage it was all open ground. Boxing Day race meetings had been occurring in the general area since 1871, on barely cleared bush land.
Section 303 was owned by Mr Joseph Edward Nathan, of Joseph Nathan and Co., owners of the agricultural supply firm that evolved into Glaxo. Sections 300 and 303 were of equal length, and the Borough Council commenced subdivision in 1883.
In 1930, pioneer Mr WM Anderson, wrote a letter to the editor of Manawatū Standard including past reflections of his time as a tenant on Lombard Street, c. 1883-5. With the street belonging to two parties there was some tension between the subdivisions. A high fence was built, blocking those with houses at the northern end from entering town.
As a result, delivery services from butchers, bakers and milkmen, had to forgo the more direct southern route (from Cuba Street) and access their northern customers via Featherston Street.
When a hole was struck through the fence, yet another barrier was raised, a padlocked gate. The padlock was leased to a man who asked sixpence a week from each householder for the privilege of its use. Eventually the fence was cut down on the condition that northern end owners buy a quarter acre section on the southern end as well.
In 1885 Lombard Street was completely formed and metalled. Channels were then made, using a plough and the borough horses. In 1886 a loan was authorised to be raised for the improvement of private streets, Lombard Street being one. Monies were dispersed on a pro rata basis in each ward. Lombard Street was valued at £271.
It was from 1900 to 1910 that the street saw the most progress in a municipal sense. Footpaths were formed, kerbed and gravelled; with regular top-dressing of sand and tar. The drainage scheme was extended to Lombard Street in 1900. Reports of houses with overflowing cesspits in 1904, eventually led to the excavation of sewer pipes in 1906. In 1908, a streetlamp was moved from Featherstone Street (later Featherston Street) to the Lombard Street junction. The following year, residents planted trees along the street.
The next decade was one of up-keep and repairs as required.
In July of 1930, the width of gas mains were increased to improve capacity to cookers and heating units.
Orange Lodge Trustees (a Protestant organisation) purchased property in Lombard Street in 1883-4. The Orange Hall was constructed and became a meeting hub for many groups, organisations, and clubs thereafter. Here is an image of the Promoters and First Officers of Loyal Orange Lodge No. 65, Star of Freedom. The hall was gutted by a fire in 1915 and rebuilt as the Orange Lodge Hall. In 1931 Orange Lodge temporarily housed 54 students from Central School.
A bowling club was established in Palmerston North in 1890. The Lombard Street site was purchased in 1890 by Mr J Walkley and the green established. Play began the following year and Mr Walkley reigned as club president for 12 years. With the club owning property in Lombard and Taonui Streets. The Taonui Street side was developed into a bowling green from 1907. Combined with Lombard Street it amounted to two full sized greens. Mr JA Nash (here bowling with his wife, Elizabeth), was president of the club from 1910 to 1912. By 1925, due to financial restraints, the Lombard Street frontage was sold and a new pavilion built on the Taonui Street side.
For a comprehensive history of the street's development, businesses, and who lived there, take a look at the lecture notes of Brian Mather and supplementary material from the Palmerston North Historical Society, circa. 2006.
The addresses on Lombard Street were renumbered in 1937. See p.159 and p.160 of the Rates Register of Street Numbers - Old and New.
From 1871, Sir James Prendergast owned a large holding directly across the Manawatū River from Palmerston North. The lane is named for the three paddocks, that comprised the homestead block of this Tiritea estate (later known asTuritea). Three Paddock Lane is a private right-of-way accessed off Springdale Grove. April 2019.
The aerial image is a derivative of the Palmerston North City Council online mapping Geographic Information System (GIS).
In January 1900 Sir James Prendergast sold his Fitzherbert property at public auction. The autioneers were Messrs Abraham and Williams. This plan of the property was released to the public prior to sale. The orginal homestead block was on sections 186 and 209, and the auction information reads,
“Sections 209 & 186.–Together containing 129 acres 3 roods 25 perches, and fenced on three sides ; fronts a good metalled road, and contains the Manager’s cottage, stable, whare, and dip out-houses, with three small home paddocks, also shearers’ whare on the Southerh [sic] boundary, a small clump of shelter bush, and watered by the Turitea Stream.”
At the time of development in 2019, it was noted that the homestead garden was surrounded by an established macrocarpa hedge. Adjacent to the garden was the 'first paddock’, containing the outline of a barn. Next, was the enclosed ‘second paddock’, with the outline of a structure believed to be a whare for farm staff. Beyond the second paddock was the ‘third paddock’, which extended to, what is now, Springdale Grove.
Three Paddock Lane therefore runs from Springdale Grove to Barber’s Bush Reserve and is situated in the ‘third paddock’.
The name Greenwich acknowledges the importance of the Greenwich meridian which was used for worldwide time keeping and navigation from 1884 to 1974. This geographic reference line (0° longitude) passes through the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, London.
Greenwich Way, for the Palmerston North community, suggests a base or grounding in time. December 2022.
The aerial image is a derivative of the Palmerston North City Council online mapping Geographic Information System (GIS).
The close is named for kōtare, the kingfisher. A native bird of Aotearoa New Zealand, seen often on their elevated perches in this area. April 2023.
The aerial image is a derivative of the Palmerston North City Council online mapping Geographic Information System (GIS).
The way is named for the cabbage tree, tī kōuka. A native plant of Aotearoa New Zealand. March 2017.
The aerial image is a derivative of the Palmerston North City Council online mapping Geographic Information System (GIS).
The drive is named to acknowledge and highlight the view of the Ruahine and Tararua Ranges from the development. February 2020.
The aerial image is a derivative of the Palmerston North City Council online mapping Geographic Information System (GIS).
