More Info →Cuba Street, Early Residents

Description: Name: Cuba

Suburb, Palmerston North Central

The image is a derivative of this NZ Cadastral Map - Town Series: Palmerston North Map 4 from 1961 by Lands and Survey Department, New Zealand.

Early residents included

Mr Alfred Thomas Box lived in Cuba Street from c. 1877 to 1881 when he sold the property to Mr George Boyd. Mr AT Box was born in Wolverhampton England in 1873. He was nine months old when his family emigrated to Aotearoa New Zealand. They arrived in Wellington on the ship Europe in 1874.

While living in Cuba Street he was the engine driver at Palmerston Mill, owned by Messrs Richter, Nannestad & Co.

He left Palmerston North to take up farming in Glen Oroua where he met Miss Frances Eliza Gibbs (b.1885) of Sanson. The couple married in 1906 and later moved to Taonui, Feilding.

Mr Alfred Thomas Box died in 1926, aged 53 years. He is interred at Terrace End Cemetery. Mrs Box remarried in 1935 to Mr Axel Kristensen. Mrs Frances Eliza Kristensen died in 1964, aged 78 years. She is interred at the Mount View Cemetery in Marton.

Mr Box sold his Cuba Street house to settler, Mr George Boyd, in 1881. Mr G Boyd (born c. 1842) lived there until his death in 1884.

In the late 1870s Mr Boyd was the Foxton ferryman for the Manawatū County Council. During his tenure he had several complaints laid with the council from coach proprietors and their passengers. These included absenteeism, delayed coach runs, poor customer service, and drunkenness on the job. Mr Boyd, in turn, pursued coach proprietors for unpaid tolls. Unfortunately, most of the problems were attributed to alcoholism, which was to shadow Mr Boyd’s life.

While the Manawatū County Council came close to discharging his services a couple of times, he completed his lease in 1880. Mr Boyd received compensation for the last two weeks due to flooding, and subsequent damage to his punt and other equipment.

After Mr Boyd moved to Palmerston North, Constable Gillespie regularly applied for orders before the resident magistrate’s court to prohibit publicans from supplying liquor to him. Notices were posted in local hotels to this effect. However, he was arrested on occasion for being drunk and disorderly. Mr Boyd also laid charges against other parties for theft of property and perjury, these were quashed or dismissed due to lack of evidence.

In 1883 Mr Boyd became the proprietor, with a lease of 12 years, of the Palmerston Brewery, which was situated on the Education Reserve, Foxton Line (later Main Street west leading into Pioneer Highway). It was managed by Mr Thomas King.

In late 1884 Mr George Boyd died in Whanganui hospital. He was 42 years of age. In 1885 the sale of his estate and the lease of the Palmerston Brewery were concluded. His former housekeeper, Emma Doige, nee Lance, was named executor.

Rate books and electoral records show that Mr and Mrs Sylvester Coleman resided on Cuba Street from c. 1877. In 1879, amongst other property purchased near the town centre, Mr S Coleman purchased five allotments of section 257, later part of Coleman Place.

Born in 1828, Mr Coleman arrived in Otago, Aotearoa New Zealand, around 1862. After two years in Alexandra as a storekeeper, Mr Coleman moved to Whanganui and leased a store on Taupo Quay.

By 1869 he had moved to Marton where he was appointed poundkeeper, ran an auction and sale mart, and later became a hotel keeper. He entered a relationship with Miss Margaret Frances Goodison, and they had a daughter, Miss Victoria Margaret, in 1871.

Illness and financial difficulties saw Mr Coleman become bankrupt in 1875. He and Miss MF Goodison married in 1876.

Miss M Goodison, was born to Mr Thomas Goodison and Mrs Elizabeth Goodison in 1849. The family originally settled in Otago c.1860, before relocating to Otaki. They also had ties to Marton. The Goodison’s were no stranger to the law, with various members arrested for stealing.

This was to affect Mr Coleman’s attempt to become licensee of the Palmerston North Hotel on first moving to the town. In January 1877, the licensing was opposed by Constable Purcell who objected on the grounds of Mrs Coleman’s history and objectionable family connections. Although strongly protested by Mr Coleman, the licensee application was refused.

Instead, Mr Coleman pursued a career as a certified bankruptcy accountant, auctioneer and commission merchant. In 1878 he became a borough councillor and in November of 1879, Mr Coleman was nominated for mayor, losing out to Mr James Linton. Mr Alexander McMinn attributed Mr Coleman with his decision to set-up his newspaper in Palmerston North.

Mr A McMinn first intended to start a thrice weekly newspaper in Feilding. However, with the encouragement of several residents of Palmerston North, including Mr Coleman, he altered his plans and commenced operations in Palmerston North. The first copy of the Manawatu Daily Standard was presented to Mr Coleman by Mr McMinn’s pressman, Mr Edward Roe. The second copy went to Mr George Mathew Snelson.

In December 1881, after a protracted illness, Mr Sylvester Coleman died, aged 53 years. He was still a serving borough councillor.

After her husband’s death, Mrs M Coleman sold most of their holdings. She retained three properties in the township and continued residing in Cuba Street. In April of 1884 a fire destroyed her eight-roomed home, with only some furniture saved. By 1887 she had moved to George Street.

Mrs Margaret Frances Coleman died in May of 1893; she was 43 years old. The couple are interred at Terrace End Cemetery.

The Palmerston North Borough Council was formed in 1877 and records reflect that Mr Christian Lindgren was living in Cuba Street in the 1877-78 rates year, and a couple of years following.

A native of Sweden, M C Lindgren was among the first Scandinavian settlers to arrive in the early 1870s. A merchant seaman in Sweden, he was highly educated. By 1880 he owned properties on Alexandra and Te Awe Awe Streets. After some years in Palmerston North, Mr Lindgren moved to Dannevirke where he worked as a bush contractor. He remained unmarried.

Mr Christian Lindgren died in October 1911 at 77 years of age. He is interred at the Dannevirke Settlers Cemetery.

Mr and Mrs Edward Verdon Dixon lived in Cuba Street, in a home built by Mr EV Dixon, from 1881 to c. 1884.

Mr Edward Verdon Dixon was born in 1841 in Sydney, Australia, and is recorded as Edward Rider Dixon on birth records. His parents, Mr Peter Russell Dixon and Mrs Frances Charlotte Dixon, nee Verdon, had emigrated from England in 1837. The family moved to Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand, in the early 1840s.

Miss Eliza Touzel, born 1849, was from Jersey, Channel Islands. She and her 2-year-old daughter, Miss Edith Blanche, emigrated in 1874. They arrived in Napier in 1875 on the ship Clarence. She is recorded as a housemaid on the passenger list.

Mr EV Dixon met Miss E Touzel and the couple married in 1876, both she and her daughter took the Dixon family name.

The Dixon’s arrived in Palmerston North in the 1880s. Mr E Dixon operated as a licensed Native Land Agent and Interpreter from their Cuba Street home. He’d worked in this occupation most of his adult years, dealing in land transactions and mining claims. A millwright and mechanical engineer, he also provided plans and specifications and contracted on buildings and bridges.

Mr Dixon custom-built items to order, a buggy for Mr Wī Mahuri (Wī Mataitaua Apiata) in 1881, for example. Mr W Mahuri’s buggy had his son’s name painted in gold on one side, and his daughter’s on the other. All materials had been sourced locally except for the springs. By 1883 Mr Dixon had erected a working model of an Archimedean windmill on his Cuba Street property with a view to build-on-demand. Depending on client requirements, the finished product would range from one to twelve horsepower.

Around 1884 the Dixon family moved to Dannevirke, where his father now resided. Apart from a brief stint as a storekeeper, he continued in business as an interpreter, contractor and draughtsman. After losing his wife and father in July and December of 1888, respectively, he and his daughter moved around the central and upper north island. Miss Edith Blanche Dixon married Mr Helwin John Ashby in 1896.

Mr Dixon worked well into his seventies. He appointed his daughter as sales agent for shares in the Waimona Gold Claim in 1920. He remained active, inventing and patenting as a mechanical engineer in his retirement. Mr Edward Verdon Dixon is believed to have died in his early eighties, c. 1923. However, an accurate record of his death is unavailable as his name is likely mis-transcribed.

Mr and Mrs George Key lived in Cuba Street from 1882 to 1891, where they owned a home and tinsmith shop.

Mr George Key was born 1830 in Middlesex, England. He married Miss Jane Andrews and they had eight children; Jane b.1853, George b.1855 and Harriet b.1858, James David b.1860, Anne “Annie” Eliza b.1862, Louisa Annie b.1863, Lavinia Sara b.1866 and Emily Alberta b.1866.

Mrs Jane Key died in 1869 and Mr G Key remarried. In 1874, he and his wife Mrs Elizabeth Key emigrated to Aotearoa New Zealand with the five younger children. They arrived in Napier on the ship Halcione. Mr Key is recorded as a tin smith on the passenger list.

They appear to have come to Palmerston North in 1881, with a brief stay in Lombard Street. At first business was rocky and, unable to pay creditors, Mr Key filed for insolvency in 1882. However, by 1883 he was making ten to fifteen-gallon cans for settlers. The intended use was for supplying milk to cheese and butter factories, including Mr Skerman’s Cheese Factory. He also custom-made items to order.

In 1886 Mr Key unsuccessfully tendered for the borough lamp lighting contract.

Mr George Key died in June 1894, at the age of 66 years. He was accorded a funeral with full military honours, due to his membership in the Palmerston North Rifles and Volunteer Fire Brigade. Mr Key is interred at Terrace End Cemetery.

Mr and Mrs Alexander McMinn lived at 92 Cuba Street (corner of Bourke Street) from 1885.

Mr Alexander McMinn was born in 1842, County Down, Northern Ireland. He emigrated to Aotearoa New Zealand as a young man, arriving in Auckland c. 1862. He spent time in Wellington before entering a short career in Whanganui as headmaster of a grammar school.

Miss Helen O’Reilly was born Dublin, Ireland, in 1845. Her father, Mr Francis Farrell O’Reilly, enlisted for service in the New Zealand Wars. He, his wife Mrs Catherine “Kitty” O’Reilly, and three children, travelled from Gravesend in 1845 with the 65th Regiment. Miss H O’Reilly was only a few weeks old on emigration. The family arrived in the Bay of Islands on the ship Sir Robert Peel in 1846.

After serving in Whanganui, Mr O’Reilly bought discharge from the army and took up land at Turakina. He opened the town’s first store and was a volunteer when the second war broke out. After the war the family went to Sydney, Australia, and worked an orange grove. Disliking the heat, they returned to Aotearoa New Zealand and took up farming at Silverstream near Wellington.

While Mr A McMinn was in his role as headmaster, he met Miss O’Reilly and the couple married in 1874. They had seven children; Amelia Helen b.1872, Stanley Livingstone b.1876, Francis Alexander b.1875, Kate Aubrey b.1879, Archibald Forbes b.1880, Garnett Wolseley b.1882 and Gordon Earl Stewart b.1884.

Mr McMinn, a war correspondent for London newspapers on first arriving in the country, returned to the trade, working for the Wanganui Herald. He then joined the Rangitikei Advocate in Marton. The McMinn’s arrived in Palmerston North in 1880, where Mr McMinn, founded the Manawatu Daily Standard and the Woodville Examiner. The first issue of what was later the Manawatū Standard was published on the 29th of November 1880.

He sold the papers to Mr Frederick Pirani in 1891. To learn more about the Manawatū Standard, look at this Back Issues article by Tracey Armstrong. Mr McMinn became sub-editor on the Wairarapa Daily Times in Masterton for a few years, before returning to Palmerston North.

Mr McMinn was an accomplished piano player and he and his orchestra regularly provided the musical entertainment for dances at Oddfellows’ Hall. Architect Mr Ludolph Georg West planned alterations to the McMinn’s house in 1904, and they lived in their refurbished home until 1912, when they moved to Auckland. Tina White covers a 1909 interview with Mr McMinn in this Memory Lane article.

Mr Alexander McMinn was on the literary staff at the Auckland Star from 1912 until his death in Devonport, Auckland, October 1919, aged 77 years. Mrs Helen McMinn died in Devonport, Auckland, December 1924, at the age of 79 years. The couple are interred at O’Neill’s Point Cemetery.

Further information

Cuba Street, Name and Municipal History

Cuba Street, Early Businesses, Organisations and Clubs