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).
In Milson, a number of streets around the Clearview Reserve and off Clearview Drive are themed on plants found in New Zealand. This area was subdivided by Fair Investments Ltd. between 2002-2006, D.P. 91090.
Lyndhurst Street was a Mr Frederick Bryant subdivision. His wife, Mrs Mary Ann Bryant, was born near Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England, and the Bryant family moved there in 1899. This road is named after the street, Lyndhurst Gardens, in the Southborough district of Tunbridge Wells. To learn more about the Bryant's, look at Bryant Street.
The first image is a derivative of this Palmerston North Borough map from 1923 by HR Farquar, Civil Engineer and Licensed Surveyor. It shows the original road formed in 1912, by Mr Fred Bryant, D.P. 2626, section 293.
The second image is a derivative of this NZ Cadastral Map - Town Series: Palmerston North Map 4 from 1961 by the Lands and Survey Department, New Zealand. It shows Lyndhurst Street after its extension in 1925, by Mr Frederick Needham, D.P. 7316 section 312.
Lyndhurst Gardens was formed in the 1880s by Mr William Willett and his son. It was part of a subdivison that started with Eton Avenue. The street wasn't originally named Lyndhurst Gardens, it was called Dalkeith Gardens until 1911. "Gardens" is a common street suffix in the United Kingdom.
The name is likely inspired by Lyndhurst, a village in the New Forest National Park, Hampshire, England. The recorded history of Lyndhurst (Saxon for ‘lime-wood’) began in 980 when a royal manor by that name was granted to the Abbey of Amesbury, Wiltshire. King William I, William the Conqueror, made New Forest a royal hunting ground by 1075. Lyndhurst was to become the administrative capital of the area.
Hatton, S. (2023, January 31). Lyndhurst Gardens, NW3. The Underground Map Project. https://www.theundergroundmap.com/article.html?id=23254
Lyndhurst Parish Council. (Last updated 2024, July 8). Village history: a brief history of Lyndhurst. Government UK.
https://www.lyndhurst-pc.gov.uk/history/village-history/
In November of 1912 correspondence from Mr F Bryant to the council, requested takeover of Lyndhurst Street. The borough engineer reported that the street had been completed in compliance with council conditions. Councillor Seifert did not agree. In October 1914 he advised that the street metal was not properly broken, and Lyndhurst Street should not be taken over until the metal was at an appropriate size. The engineer responded that rather than have inspection at the time of metalling, it was far cheaper to break the stones later. The street was taken over by the borough council.
Sewerage works were carried out in 1916 and were extended by eighteen chains (chain = 66 feet/20.12 metres) in 1921, under a water and sewerage loan. In July 1926 services to the Lyndhurst Street extension were delayed until the summer months, due to a large influx of subsoil water making winter work impractical.
Water tables were cleared in November 1919 and several times in the years to follow. The street did have trouble with accumulated surface water in the 1930s due to the uneven settling of the concrete kerb and channel. This was remedied by lifting the channel. The replacement of one-inch mains with four-inch mains in 1929 also helped manage stormwater in the Lyndhurst Street extension.
In May 1921 Lyndhurst Street was proposed as part of the town's new bus transit route. This was confirmed and municipal bus services started in September. To learn more about the introduction of public buses, look at this history of Cuba Street, where the first municipal bus barn was built.
Within the first month of services, suggestions were made in regard to changes to timetabling, to better work around town activities; the best locations for parking of buses; and, that a bugle be sounded to indicate when a bus was approaching each pick-up point (bus stop).
Small changes in timetabling often resulted in immediate pushback. For example, in October 1922 the 5:40pm Lyndhurst Street bus was cancelled. After complaints it was reinstated the following week. Then in July 1923, at a meeting of the Central School District, it was clear that ten minutes made a difference. A motion was carried to ask the council to revert back to the 8:45am departure time in Lyndhurst Street, as the new 8:55am time was making children late for school.
By June 1925 of a total of 45,909 passengers for the month, 4,153 were recorded on the Lyndhurst Street route. Six months later the Transit Committee recommended extending the Lyndhurst Street route as far as the corner of Armstrong and Featherston Streets, with an increase in fares. The fares increase was unpopular and in February 1926, traffic manager, Mr Peter Gardener Patton, successfully recommended lowering children’s fares on all routes. He felt that existing concession tickets made adult travel reasonable.
Around 1928 the Lyndhurst Street route became known as the Takaro bus route.
In 1925 Mr Frederick Needham laid the Lyndhurst Street extension, alongside the Bryant Street extension and Burns Avenue.
While footpaths in Lyndhurst Street received regular attention from 1915, there were two notable usages that impacted these. Residents were concerned about Lyndhurst Street being used as a route for sheep and cattle on their way to sales at the showgrounds. As late as September 1940 complaints were made on the danger to children and damage to footpaths and grass verges. The second was high use due to being on the municipal bus route, although this impacted the roadway more.
The Takaro Progressive Association was active in the late 1920s and 1930s in pursuing the tar-sealing of Lyndhurst Street and Lyndhurst Street extension, particularly in the sections travelled by municipal buses. In November 1932 for example, the association particularly pointed out the dust nuisance for residents from buses. By 1936 they also highlighted the use of the street by heavy transport lorries, avoiding central city traffic. From 1935 to 1940 the street was tar-sealed in sections as borough finances permitted.
In March of 1929 electrical transformers were built at the corner of Lyndhurst and Featherson Streets and the corner of Cuba and Lyndhurst Streets. Four years later the latter, a 50 k.v.a transformer, was replaced with a 100 k.v.a. transformer. Also, in 1933, low tension distribution lines were increased in size in Lyndhurst Street to meet the growing load.
Gas mains were enlarged in Lyndhurst Street in 1936 to increase capacity to meet demand. Thirteen chains of 4-inch pipes were laid to improve gas pressure to cookers and heaters. Replacement of pipes continued in 1937.
Mr James Blake purchased section 293, allotment 53, 6 Lyndhurst Street c. 1913. He appears to have lived there with his parents Mrs Margaret and Mr Samuel Blake, and younger sister Margaret (jnr). Mr J Blake was born in Woodville in 1887. During his time in Palmerston North, he worked as a drapery assistant for Collinson and Cunninghame Ltd.
In May 1916 he signed up with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, to serve with 29th Ambulance, New Zealand Medical Corps. Mr Blake listed his mother and sister as dependents on his recruitment papers (his parents later divorced). He trained at the Awapuni training camp in 1917. To learn more about the camp, read Poppy Place for the Awapuni Medical Corps Memorial by Evan Greensides.
His sister Margaret died in June of that year at Palmerston North Hospital; she was 23 years old.
Private Blake embarked on the HMHS Marama in September of 1917. The ship was outfitted with over 500 beds for wounded soldiers. Pvt. Blake made three trips on the hospital ship, before his discharge in 1919.
Initially he returned to his former position at Collinson and Cunninghame Ltd. However, he sold the Lyndhurst property to Mrs Bridget Mary Rose, wife of Mr William Edwin Rose of Nikau Farm, Konini, (near Pahiatua) in 1919; and by 1921 was residing in Kiritaki, Dannevirke.
There he took up farming. He married Miss Olive May Williams (b.1896, Timaru) in 1937 and the couple continued farming until retirement.
Mrs Olive May Blake died in June 1961, aged 65 Years. Mr James Blake died August 1972 at the age of 84 years. Husband and wife are interred at Mangatera Cemetery, Dannevirke.
Mr and Mrs Charles Francis Cronin lived on Lyndhurst Street, section 293, allotment 52 from c. 1913 to c.1918.
Mr CF Cronin was born in 1891 to Mrs Mary and Mr Patrick Cronin. He married Miss Lucy Winifred Bradbury, born 1892 to Mrs Eleanor Sophia and Mr Roland Keats Bradbury, in 1913. The couple had three children; Gerald Charles b.1916, Joan Winifred b.1917, and Lucy Eileen b.1921.
While living in Lyndhurst Street Mr C Cronin was a clerk in the goods office of the Palmerston North Railway Station. He was an active ratepayer enquiring about the asphalting of footpaths in 1916 and 1917. By 1919 the Cronin Family had moved to Oxford Street.
Mr Cronin was heavily involved in the performing arts as a singer and actor. He was a member of the Manawatū Savage Club, City Choir, Manawatu Scottish Society, and Operatic and Repertory Societies. He was part of the executive for the latter. The couple were also Rotarians, and Mrs Cronin was involved with the Palmerston North Townswomen’s Guild.
In October 1926 after twelve years with Palmerston North Railways, Mr Cronin was transferred to Taihape. This was short-lived, by December of 1926 Mr and Mrs Cronin set up a private company, Manawatū Loan and Discount Co., Ltd, situated in the C. Smith Buildings in Palmerston North. The business later moved to the AMP Buildings.
They lived in Hereford Street for a time before building a home at 26 Manapouri Crescent (later renumbered 36) in 1932. The Cronin’s participation in community life continued, and Mr Cronin also owned and raced several horses in the 1930s and 40s. They lived in Manapouri Crescent until c. 1946, later transferring the property to daughter, Mrs Lucy New.
The Cronin’s stayed in Palmerston North for the remainder of their lives. Mrs Lucy Winifred Cronin died in May 1972, aged 80. Mr Charles Francis Cronin died in December of 1989 at the age of 98. The couple are interred at Kelvin Grove Cemetery with their son, Gerald, who predeceased them.
Mr Leonard Original Pascoe of Elizabeth Street purchased section 297, allotment 75, Lyndhurst Street c. 1913. A house was built at 21 Lyndhurst Street in 1915 for Mr and Mrs LO Pascoe.
Born in Christchurch 1889 to Mrs Anne “Annie” Elizabeth and Mr Augustus Pascoe, Mr Pascoe was employed by the Palmerston North Railway Station in his early years in the town. He married his first wife, Miss Violet Myrtle Ehrhorn in 1914. She was born in 1894, Sanson, to Mrs Anna and Mr Henry Ehrhorn.
The couple had three children, two born while in Lyndhurst Street; Dorothy Mavis b.1915, Violet Averill b.1917, and Lorna Myrtle b.1920.
Mr L Pascoe rose to the position of engine driver for the railway, before resigning in May of 1918. By June he was employed by the Glaxo Factory in Bunnythorpe as a fireman. Mr Pascoe was balloted in mid-1918 and unsuccessfully requested an extension. He did not serve, as World War One ended in November that year.
The couple sold their Lyndhurst Street house to Mr Martin Sydney in 1919.
Mrs Violet Myrtle Pascoe died in November 1920, seven days after childbirth. Aged 26 years, she was interred at Terrace End Cemetery. Mr Pascoe remarried two years later to Miss Lily May Neilson, born 1891 in Palmerston North, to Mrs Barbara and Mr James Neilson. The Pascoes had two children; Jean Katherine b.1923, and Barry Leonard b.1932.
Mr Pascoe was elected to the Bunnythorpe School Committee in the early 1920s and served as secretary from 1921 to 1931. He was secretary of the school jubilee committee in 1933, and president of the school committee in the early 1940s. Mr Pascoe was also involved with the building of the Bunnythorpe Hall and remained part of the Hall Committee serving as secretary in 1942 and 1943.
He was a member of the Oroua Lodge of Druids, Palmerston North, becoming Vice Arch Druid from 1922 and was elected Arch Druid in 1923, after which he remained a member of the Royal Arch Chapter no.10. He had a keen interest in sport and was secretary of the Bunnythorpe Football Club from 1924.
Mr Pascoe remained employed by Glaxo Laboratories as an engineer for the remainder of his working career, retiring in the early 1940s due to ill-health.
Admitted to hospital for two months in 1943, Mr Leonard Original Pascoe died in June of 1944 after a lengthy illness. He was 55 years old. Mrs Lily May Pascoe continued to live in Bunnythorpe and died in September 1974, aged 82 years. The couple are interred at Bunnythorpe Cemetery.
Mr Frederick Crossley M.R.C.V.S., Veterinary Surgeon, began operating from the Woodfield Stables on Cuba Street in March 1918. From July 1918 until September 1926 he also operated from his residential address, 26 Lyndhurst Street. By November 1927 the Lyndhurst Street property was sold, and Mr and Mrs Fred Crossley moved to Wellington.
In 1924 Mr Herbert "Herb" Rasmus Jensen sold his farm in Karere (Awapuni) and lived in Stoney Creek (Whakarongo) for a couple of years. In 1927 Mr Herb R Jensen moved to 157 Lyndhurst Street (later renumbered 82). There he advertised his patented Mole Drain Plough. He was a contractor of heavy tractor work for excavations and fillings, specialising in mole draining.
Mr HR Jensen also operated as a farmers’ transport carrier and contractor from c. 1934 to c. 1940 carting livestock and farm produce, such as wool. By 1941 he had become the local agent for the Newport Oil Filter, working from his Cuba Street yard and residential address, 82 Lyndhurst Street. By the mid-1940s Mr H Jensen appears to have carried out mainly municipal contracting from his Cuba Street business.
The Takaro Wood and Coal Depot operated from 101 Lyndhurst Street on the corner of Featherston Street from 1924. It was operated by Mr Frank Grover until June of 1925 when it came under the management of Mr Hugh Vallance. At some stage in the early-1930s the address became 32 Featherston Street and this was renumbered 70 Featherston Street in 1936.
In November of 1927 Mr G Edwards opened a new butcher’s shop on the corner of Lyndhurst and Chelwood Street. By 1930 it was owned by Mr E Edwards, advertised as Takaro Central Butchery in local newspapers, and the following year as Takaro Butchery.
At the start of 1933 the interest in the business was sold to Mr Harold Toms, who was replaced by manager Mr Arthur William Scadden eight months later. The butchery was now named Takaro Butchery Ltd., of Chelwood Street.
By 1936 having successfully started its commercial activities with a grocery in Broadway Avenue, the Manawatū Co-operative Society Ltd., took over the Takaro Butchery, retaining Mr AW Scadden as manager. It was advertised as being situated on Lyndhurst Street. The society went on to purchase further butcheries in Terrace and West End.
In May of 1941 Mr A Scadden transferred to the West End Butchery to manage the store in his son’s absence. Mr George Arthur Scadden, manager, had left to serve in World War Two. The Manawatū Co-operative Society placed Takaro Butchery under the management of Mr Frank Trembath. The society was later known as the Consumers’ Co-operative (Manawatū) Ltd and had stores throughout Palmerston North.
To learn more about the Co-operative Society, read A small idea 50 years ago – today, a multi-million dollar business on page 2 of this jubilee edition of Co-Op Consumer Times.
Mr Alfred “Alf” Peter Jensen (late of Kairanga, Bunnythorpe) moved to 103 Lyndhurst Street (later renumbered 8) in 1928. He was a hay presser and agricultural contractor, offering hay baling, ploughing and harvesting work. He ran his business from his home in Lyndhurst Street until 1936 when he moved elsewhere in the city.
From 1937 a furniture factory operated from 133/134 Lyndhurst Street (appears to have later been renumbered 50). The cabinetmaker, Mr Pedersen, specialised in oak furnishings. This may, or may not, have been Mr Richard Andrew Pederson who ran a furniture factory in Chelwood Street from 1926 to 1930.
From 1944 the Emmanuel Congregational Church of Broadway Avenue, established a branch Sunday School at 89 Lyndhurst Street.
Prior to World War Two Mr Leslie William Ayers, a watchmaker and jeweller, operated his business from Cole’s Buildings on Te Marae o Hine the Square, and later the Library Buildings (until 1937). In 1944, after serving out World War Two within Aotearoa New Zealand and having returned to civilian life, he worked from his private residence 87 Lyndhurst Street watchmaking, repairing and engraving. He was also a member of the New Zealand Home Servicemen’s Association and president of the Manawatū Branch.
The addresses on Lyndhurst Street were renumbered in 1939. See p.161 to p.163 of the Rates Register of Street Numbers - Old and New.
The street was named for Mr Frederick Bryant, an early butcher and landowner in Palmerston North. He owned the land on which the original Bryant Street was formed. The street was extended in 1925, and Palermes Street was incorporated in 1926.
The first image is a derivative of this Palmerston North Borough map from 1923 by HR Farquar, Civil Engineer and Licensed Surveyor. It shows the original road formed by Mr Fred Bryant c. 1912, D.P. 2626, section 293.
The second image is a derivative of this NZ Cadastral Map - Town Series: Palmerston North Map 4 from 1961 by the Lands and Survey Department, New Zealand. It shows Bryant Street after its extension by Mr Frederick Needham in 1925, and the incorporation of Palermes Street in 1926.
Mr Frederick “Fred” Bryant was born 1860 in Auckland, the son of immigrants Mr and Mrs FW Bryant of Bristol, England. The children were raised in Auckland and Thames.
Mr Fred Bryant arrived in Palmerston North in 1883 and established himself in the land and butchery businesses.
He was in the string of proprietors of one of earliest known butcher stores in the township. Established by Mr James Green in 1872, the butchery was subsequently owned by Mr Sinclair George, Mr Joseph Beale, who sold it to Mr F Bryant in 1885, Mr William Reed, and Messrs Carter & Rawton. It was to become the Manawatū Meat and Cold Storage Co., and later the Manawatū Meat Co., Ltd.
After selling the above butchery to Mr W Reed in 1891, Mr Bryant opened F Bryant Wholesale and Retail Butcher in Te Marae o Hine the Square, next to the Bank of Australasia. From 1896 his store was known as City Butchery. Mr Reed purchased the butchery from Mr Bryant in 1900 and it was renamed W Reed Wholesale and Retail Butcher.
Mr Bryant married Miss Mary Ann Stevenson in Taita, Lower Hutt, in 1885. Miss MA Stevenson was born in 1864 to Mr William and Mrs Sarah Stevenson in Sussex, England. She was 13 years old when the family emigrated to Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand, on the ship Wairoa.
Mr and Mrs Bryant had four children; Frederick William b.1886, Arthur Gilbert b.1888, Ernest Horace b.1891, and Keith b.1894.
While Mr Bryant did not participate in local government, he was an active member of the community. He became a life member of the freemasons, joining the United Manawatū Lodge, No. 1721. E.C., in 1889. He was worshipful master in 1894 and 1895.
Mr Bryant was early member of the All Saints' Anglican vestry and a one-time churchwarden. Later, in 1914, he gifted a section on the corner of Featherston and Kingswood Street to the All Saints'. In August of 1926 it was decided that this section would house a Sunday school and social hall.
He was an early and prominent member of the Palmerston North Bowling Club, and president in 1898. Well known on the bowling greens, he skippered the team that won the North Island Championships in 1898.
Mr Bryant had substantial property interests in Palmerston North and Shannon. He owned business blocks in Te Marae o Hine the Square, Rangitikei and Cuba Streets and built a number of business premises (Bryant buildings) in the central business district. He also subdivided land for residential occupation in Takaro and Roslyn.
The family moved to Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England in 1899. They did not return to Aotearoa New Zealand for nine years.
Mrs Bryant felt at home in England, and Tunbridge Wells was near her birth place. Mr Bryant took longer to settle, having been born and raised in the colonies. He joined the committee of a Colonisation Society at Tunbridge Wells, which paid the half fares of emigrants to countries with prearranged work or government land inducements. Canada was a popular destination.
Continuing business interests in the Manawatū required a presence in Aotearoa New Zealand. From 1909, after the couple's first return visit, Mr Bryant was to make fifteen trips back and forth.
In 1899 Mr Bryant went into farming at Shannon on Te Maire Farm, an extensive acreage which he added to over time. He was chairman of the Buckley Drainage Board for a period. In 1929, holding 800-acres under the management of Mr AE Burling, he offered the land for sale to the government.
When the Land Purchase Board did not take up the offer, Mr Bryant sold his livestock and plant and subdivided the property himself; building three farmhouses along Cemetery Road.
After two years of ill health Mrs Mary Ann Bryant died in Tunbridge Wells in December 1929. She was 65 years of age.
After Mrs Bryant’s death, Mr Bryant continued to visit Aotearoa New Zealand. In 1936 he decided to settle, once again, in Palmerston North.
Mr Frederick Bryant died June 1939, aged 78 years, after a long illness. He is interred at Terrace End Cemetery.
By July of 1912 Mr Frederick Bryant was offering Bryant Street allotments for sale, at a price of £2 per foot.
Residents started correspondence to the council in August of 1913, by applying for a lamp in Bryant Street. It was placed at the corner of Featherston and Bryant Streets. By December the borough engineer reported that footways on both sides of the street had been tarred. Footpath maintenance continued over time, with residents occasionally asked to contribute to costs when works were especially requested outside their properties.
The first hiccup came in February of 1914 when ratepayers requested an extension of sewer services to Bryant Street. It was referred to the next round of loan proposals. In September of 1915, street resident, Mr David Ernest Dustin, said that more frequent visits of sanitary carts would be preferred over sewerage via a loan scheme. He asked why the residents of Bryant Street had to pay for sewers, when residents in other parts of town had not.
Yet, by May of 1916, Mr DE Dustin convened a meeting for the purpose of furthering the loan proposal.
In May 1916 loan proposals for civic works were approved and sewer works commenced in Bryant Street in September. Councillor Crabb, asked about reducing costs by making house connections as the sewer was laid, as opposed to piecemeal, later. In the Manawatū Times, 20 September 1916, it was reported that the Public Works Committee had met and made the recommendation:
“… that the residents of Bryant Street be informed that the Council is of opinion that the sewer connections in the public streets should be put in by the Council’s responsible employees and that the price fixed is the average cost of the work and cannot be reduced.”
That was the final word and by November 1916, the sewer, with house connections, was complete. In July 1918 Mr D Dustin advised the council that the water supply in Bryant Street was unsatisfactory. Four-inch water mains followed in 1919, when both pipes and funds were available.
In 1916 Mr Dustin requested that the borough council number houses in Bryant Street. The borough engineer was concerned about this undertaking in a street with so many vacant sections. Purchasers often bought two sections to build one house, or, alternatively, one section to build two houses. Councillor Seifert suggested this posed no problem, a number could be dropped in the case of a single dwelling over two sections and an “a” added in the case of two dwellings on one section. The motion was carried, with several councillors dissenting.
A second issue was that there were no enamel number plates left. As a result, the numbering of houses and vacant sections were stencilled on to gate posts. In October of 1934, it was pointed out that there was, in fact, an anomaly in Bryant Street. Numbering started at 102 instead of 1 (likely due to both a street extension and incorporation of another street).
In January of 1918, an unusual sighting was reported in Palmerston North – a hedgehog. The local newspaper noted that another was seen in Bryant Street some time ago.
In 1925 Mr Frederick Needham laid the Bryant Street extension, alongside the Lyndhurst Street extension and Burns Avenue. Bryant Street now met Palermes Street which had been formed by the Pascal Bros. in 1913.
In February of 1926, the Borough Council proposed renaming streets where a continuation had been made to a street that effectively joined two existing streets into one. The resolution was passed in March. Town clerk, Mr James Robert Hardie, gave public notice throughout March and April that Palermes would become Bryant. From July 1926 the street was known as Bryant Street.
With the extension came increased traffic volume. Bryant Street was metalled in 1928, however by 1932 ratepayers wrote to the council regarding dust nuisance. They asked that the surface be coated in bitumen. After being deferred in the works estimates for some years, the road was tar-sealed between Cuba and Main Streets in April of 1938. The Takaro Progressive Association immediately requested that the rest of the street also be tar-sealed, given that it was one of the oldest settled streets, having been opened in 1912. The street was tar-sealed in sections and completed by April 1940.
The extension also came with new electrical poles, electrical mains, and improved gas service. In July 1930 gas mains with a greater width were extended into Bryant Street to the railway crossing. This increased capacity improved the operation of cookers and heating units. In October 1936, to improve gas pressure, 2&1/2 chains of four-inch mains were laid in Bryant Street.
Mr and Mrs David Ernest Dustin lived in Bryant Street from c.1913 to 1920.
Mr DE Dustin was born in Whanganui, in 1883, to Mr William Samuel and Mrs Celia Prideaux Dustin. His father a baker and caterer, was the founder of Dustin’s Ltd. As a youth Mr D Dustin was a keen rugby player and rower. He also played quoits, which may have led to a later interest in bowling.
In 1906 Mr WS Dustin purchased the business of Mr J Simpson, Baker and Confectioner of Gladstone Road, Gisborne. Mr D Dustin moved to Gisborne to manage the new acquisition. In the two years he was in Gisborne he continued to pursue his rugby and rowing interests.
In July of 1908 Mr W Dustin exchanged the Gisborne business for that of Mr Samuel Charles Clare of Messrs Clare and Co., of Palmerston North. This entailed Mr D Dustin moving to Palmerston North and taking over the Clare’s Dining Rooms (formerly Youngson’s) in Te Marae o Hine the Square, and the bakehouse in Andrew Young Street.
In 1909 Mr Dustin married Miss Louisa Reid Crombie. Miss LR Crombie was born in Auckland, in 1885, to Mr William Anderson and Mrs Margaret Mary Crombie. In Palmerston North the newlyweds first took up residence in Ferguson Street.
Mr and Mrs Dustin had four children, all born in Palmerston North; David Lewis b.1909, William Henry b.1909, Albert Claude b.1915, and Margaret Madeleine b.1919.
During their time in Palmerston North Mr Dustin was keenly interested in civic affairs, as evidenced by his activity as a ratepayer in Bryant Street. As president of the Palmerston North Progressive League, Mr Dustin took a view of advancing the town. He was chairman of the Tram Committee and, in April of 1917, convened a meeting of voters seeking a candidate favourable to trams in the upcoming municipal elections. Mr Arthur Woodley Sutton was nominated for councillor as a result.
Mrs Dustin was president of the Hinemoa Social Club. The couple owned several residential properties around town which they sold or let. Mr Dustin offered their Bryant Street home for sale in 1917, however it did not proceed.
He joined the Masonic fraternity in 1918, at Lodge Manawatu Kilwinning No.47, and was secretary of the Manawatū Master Bakers’ Association and Restaurant Proprietors. No longer playing rugby, Mr Dustin became of member of the Palmerston North Bowling Club.
As a member of the Chamber of Commerce, he took an extended business tour of Australia, America and Great Britain.
In 1920, the Dustin’s had a clearing sale of their Bryant Street house, sold property in Ada Street, retained property in Fitzherbert Avenue, and moved to Wellington. There he ran Dustins’ next to the Royal Theatre on Cuba Street, as well as cake businesses and outdoor catering.
He was a founding member of the Te Aro Betterment Association, later becoming president of the renamed Te Aro Advancement Association. Mr Dustin was also a member of the Wellington Bowling Club, and continued his interest in municipal life.
In 1930 Mr Dustin returned to his hometown, Whanganui, to become the senior director at the head office of Dustin’s Ltd. Besides continued involvement in associations such as the Whanganui and Manawatū Master Bakers’ and Pastrycooks’ Association, Chamber of Commerce, Employers’ Association Whanganui, and Whanganui and District Development League – Mr Dustin gave a lot of energy (including partaking in wheelbarrow derbies) to launch and maintain the Youths’ Afforestation Camp at Kaitoke. His aim was a planting scheme along the local sand dunes.
Mr David Ernest Dustin became ill and died in December of 1937. He was 54 years of age. He is interred at Head’s Road Cemetery, Whanganui. One of his twin sons, Flying Officer David Lewis Dustin, formerly of the RAF, was to follow in 1938, victim of an airplane crash at Land’s End in England.
Mrs Louisa Reid Dustin died in April 1941, at the age of 55 or 56 years. She is interred at Karori Cemetery, Wellington.
Mr and Mrs Charles Horace Usmar purchased allotments 40 and 42 on the corner of Bryant and Chelwood Streets. While Mrs Usmar appears the owner on rate books from the time the street was opened, it is unclear if they were living there before 1919. That is when a brick residence, designed by architect, Mr Reginald Thorrold-Jaggard was built for the Usmar’s.
Mr CH Usmar was born in London, in 1870, to Mr Alfred and Mrs Mary Usmar. The family emigrated to Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand on the ship Douglas when Mr C Usmar was 5 years of age.
As a young adult, Mr Usmar entered the tailoring business and was a member of Operative Tailor’s Union in Wellington in the early 1890s. Mr Usmar met Miss Christina Stoddart and they married in 1894 and took up a residence in Goring Street, Thorndon.
Miss Christina Stoddart was born in Wellington, in 1869, to Mr John Charles and Mrs Eliza Stoddart. Mr and Mrs Usmar did not have children.
Mr Usmar worked for Messrs Kirkcaldie and Stains for some years, before leaving in 1896 to manage the new tailoring department at Messrs Warnock & Adkins. From there the couple spent a short time in Nelson before moving to Dunedin in August 1900, where Mr Usmar worked for TF Feltham & Co. They left Dunedin in January of 1903 for London, England. There Mr Usmar spent just over a year cutting for Messrs Bendick, one of the leading houses in Regent Street and The Strand.
In March of 1904 the Usmar’s travelled to Palmerston North where Bradford Woollen Co., Merchant Tailors, had secured the Mr Usmar’s services. Two months later he purchased the business and advertised high class tailoring for gentlemen on Main Street west. You can see his store Tailor, C.H. Usmar, here on the left next to Child’s Commercial Hotel.
In August 1905 Mr Usmar purchased Mr Nelson’s tailoring business in Broad Street (later Broadway Avenue) and opened a short-lived ladies tailoring department managed by Mr Edwards of Ellis and Co., Ladies Tailoring, Wellington.
Outside of work Mr Usmar was a member of the Manawatū Camera Club, and won several local photography awards. He was an elected member of the A&P Association until his resignation in May 1909. A member of the Palmerston North Club Inc., and in June of 1928, he was elected a member of the Palmerston North Bowling Club. Inside of work he was vice president of the Manawatū Master Tailors’ Union, formed May 1908.
In April of 1910 Mr Usmar changed his business to the London Cash Tailoring Company in order to manufacture on a larger scale and meet demands for lower priced suits.
In November of 1910 he closed his store in Main Street and joined the tailoring business of Mr Thomas Tozer Kerslake on Cuba Street. It became the partnership of Kerslake & Usmar six months later, allowing Mr TT Kerslake to retire. The store ran until 1918, when Mr Usmar left to pursue other interests, eventually becoming an accountant.
Mrs Usmar was a congregant of the Cuba Street Methodist Church. As a croquet enthusiast she was a founding member of the Takaro Bowling, Croquet and Tennis Club, and was elected a life member in September of 1933. She served as secretary of the Takaro Croquet Club for some time. In September of 1933, Mrs Usmar retired from her beloved sport due to ill health. She was admitted to hospital early in 1934.
Mrs Christina Usmar died in November of 1934 at the age of 67 years. She is interred at Terrace End Cemetery. Mr Usmar continued to live in their home at 130 Bryant Street.
Mr Usmar remarried in 1943 to Miss Eva Cornelia Davison. Miss EC Davison was born in Palmerston North in 1883 to Mr George and Mrs Charlotte Davison.
The couple lived at 40 Bryant Street (renumbered from 130) until Mr Charles Horace Usmar’s death in November of 1960. He was 90 years of age. Mrs Eva Cornelia Usmar died April 1965, aged 82 years. She is interred at Piako Cemetery, Morrinsville.
Mr and Mrs Albert Cooksley purchased allotment 20 shortly after the street opened and lived at 23 Bryant Street until 1920.
Mr A Cooksley was born 1888, in Lyttleton, to Mr George Elijah and Mrs Susan Blanch Cooksley. The following year the family moved to Longburn. Miss Ethel May Wiles was born in Auckland, in 1892, to Mr William and Mrs Minnie Wiles.
The couple married in 1911 and Mr and Mrs Cooksley had eight children; Mavis Dick b.1913, Ivan Lancelot b.1914, Lawrence Beulon b.1915, Betty “Bette” May b.1917, Nancie b.1919, Albert Gordon b.1923, Beryl Minnie b.1927, and Edwin Leigh b.1930.
Mr Cooksley was the manager of Mr John Harold Watt’s cycling business at 3 Rangitikei Street from 1913. He purchased Watt’s Cycle Depot in 1919, waiting until 1921 to change the name to A Cooksley. “Swift Cycle Depot” was added in 1922. The store became became A Cooksley and Son in March of 1938, when Mr LB Cooksley joined the business. In November of 1944, the pair reopened at 123 Rangitikei Street (opposite Grey Street).
Mr A Cooksley was a member of the Oroua Lodge of Druids, no. 5, and the first secretary of the Royal Arch Chapter, no. 10. He subscribed to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and, on one occasion, renovated the society bicycle and donated the cost to the cause. He was also part of the Takaro Progressive Association.
Mr Cooksley was involved with a number of sporting clubs such as; Palmerston North Rifle Volunteers, Palmerston North Cycling and Athletic Club, Palmerston North Professional Cycling Club, and Central Old Boys Hockey Club. He often officiated at cycle races and donated prizes.
Bowling was his favoured sport, and he was part of the 1922 executive committee that formed the Takaro Bowling, Croquet and Tennis Club. Mr Cooksley then served as president from 1925 to 1930, becoming treasurer on relinquishing his office. He enjoyed several bowling tours to Suva, Fiji, speaking highly of the experience. Despite having moved from Palmerston North by the time of his death, Mr Cooksley left the Takaro club some money in his will.
Mrs Cooksley was also active in the community. A singer with an ATCL diploma from Trinity College, London, she performed at patriotic concerts; and was later part of the World War Two Polish Army League. Mrs Cooksley was a member of the Manawatū Women’s Club and vice-president of the Business Girls’ Club. She was also involved with the Townswomen’s Guild. In these roles Mrs Cooksley often arranged and hosted events.
On retiring the couple moved to Cambridge. Mr Albert Cooksley died October 1963, at the age of 75 years. Mrs Ethel May Cooksley moved to Auckland. She died December 1976, aged 84 years. Both are interred at Hautapu Cemetery, Waipā District.
From June 1916 Messrs Cruickshank and Vott, concrete moulders – building blocks , posts and piles, were situated on Bryant Street. In November the partnership dissolved and the business was continued in Mr Charles Murray Cruickshank’s name, CM Cruickshank, Builder, Bryant Street. Business advertisements continued in local newspapers until February of 1917.
In 1919, having been invalided in World War One, Mr Howard Morley Phillips purchased the piano tuning practice of Mr TP Henderson who was retiring to Nelson. Mr HM Phillips had managed the West Coast branch of Webley Sons and Gofton, expert piano tuners and repairers of Christchurch, prior to the war, and had sixteen years of experience in the industry.
From 1920 to 1927 Mr H Phillips ran his business from his family residence at 15 Bryant Street, and then 120 Bryant Street (later renumbered to 28) from 1927 to 1937. He tuned and repaired pianos and pianoforte’s often selling repaired instruments; gave advice on the best purchase to meet needs, and, from 1925, made monthly service visits to Foxton. After Mr Phillips’ retirement, Mr and Mrs Phillips continued to live in Bryant Street.
In August of 1921 F. A. Orr Builder and Contractor became established at 27 Bryant Street, and then operated from 19 Bryant Street from January of 1922. Unfortunately, Mr Francis Alexander Orr became bankrupt in 1925 despite a clearing sale of house and plant. He had been unable to secure further contracts.
From October of 1921 Hosking Engineering Co., operated from 33 Bryant Street. In 1922 Mr Arthur Hosking purpose built an engineering and foundry works in Lombard Street. The move to the new premises was made by the end of that year.
Mr Herbert Avery, the Palmerston North agent for Kissel Cars, operated his business from 32 Bryant Street in 1924 and 1925. In 1926 he leased Mr Herbert John Woodfield’s premises in Cuba Street and was proprietor of Woodfield’s Motor Garage until 1928.
In 1938 Mr R Alexander Hay moved his joinery and shop fittings factory to 181 Bryant Street (later renumbered to 81). He provided manufacturing services there until mid-1945.
The addresses on Bryant Street were renumbered in 1939. See p.42 and p.43 of the Rates Register of Street Numbers - Old and New.
The image is a derivative of this City of Palmerston North District Planning Map from 1971 by Palmerston North City Corporation.
In the early 1880s, the mayor and other interested parties pursued the formation of an agricultural and pastoral society. In February 1881, their application to the government for approximately five-acres near the old Cuba Street Cemetery was granted for the purpose of a showground. The next step, to form and incorporate the society, was quickly underway.
In 1886 the Borough Council determined that the old cemetery plot in Cuba Street would become part of the showground. The now established Manawatū and West Coast Agricultural and Pastoral Association, hosted the first A&P Show that same year. By 1893 the popular and anticipated annual event had come to be known as ‘show week’ and local businesses enjoyed extra patronage over that time. Here is a panorama of the A&P Show in 1915.
The showgrounds also hosted: sports clubs and events, military troops, celebrations, relief and transit camps, parades and more. For a brief history, read Palmerston North Showgrounds History, by Leanne Croon Hickman.
The military history of Palmerston North intersects significantly with the Awapuni Racecourse and Palmerston North Showgrounds. Listen to this presentation (PowerPoint slides link available) by Leanne Croon Hickman to find out more.
In 1960 the Palmerston North Industries Fair at the Showgrounds attracted 93,000 visitors, you can read more in this Back Issues article by Ralph Body.
From 1881 WT Wood Blacksmith, Wheelwright, and Veterinary Shoeing Smith, ran his business on the corner of Rangitikei and Cuba Streets (between the Royal and Clarendon Hotels). When the building was destroyed by fire in September of 1894, it was rebuilt next door in Cuba Street, behind the Clarendon Hotel. William Thomas Wood was mayor of Palmerston North from 1895-1899 and 1901-1903. After over 30 years of business and community service, the Wood’s left Palmerston North in 1913. Mr E Walders, Veterinary Shoer & General Blacksmith took over Mr Wood’s business.
In 1885, the English and American Coach Factory, Robert Parr proprietor, adjoined WT Woods. This was taken over by Browning and Tory Coachbuilders. Like its neighbour it was destroyed by fire. It reopened in 1896 as WA Browning Coachbuilder. By 1914, adjusting to changing times and technology, the business became WA Browning Carriage and Motor Works, with Mr CH Mundy as the motor engineer. In 1919 the business was sold to Messrs GP Adler and Co.
In 1889 the Miller's opened the Post Office Store on the corner of Cuba and Taonui Streets, a business and residence, it was to become a family endeavour. Mrs George Miller was the first proprietor – general storekeeper and produce dealer, house and land agent, and trader of grains. In 1901 Mr George Miller sold the business lease to Mr Joshua Cull, a Bunnythorpe settler. He continued the grocery business with Mr George H Miller Jr., who had worked in the store since childhood. In 1903, Hawera businessman, Mr J Butler took over the lease. Mr G Miller Sr. died in 1906.
In 1907 the Post Office Store became Messrs Miller and Vinall, grocers and provision merchants, until Mr Holbrook purchased Mr Vinall’s interest. With Mr George H Miller the senior partner, they changed the name to Miller & Holbrook Family Grocers & Provision Merchants. The partnership was dissolved in 1911 and the business was carried on by Mr GH Miller as GH Miller Grocer and Provision Merchant, before returning to the original moniker, the Post Office Store. Mr Miller continued in the business, also called Miller’s, until 1937. It finally passed out of the Miller family when sold to Mr EJ Westwood.
Methodist services began in Palmerston North in 1871, with the first church built in Broad Street (later Broadway Avenue) in 1872. Due to congregational growth, a second church was established in Cuba Street (corner of Domain Street) in 1890, with services commencing in 1891.
Once complete, it was discovered that the church building was actually encroaching on adjoining Cuba Street sections. With removal unpractical, congregants had the unexpected expense of purchasing more property. The church was identified by several names, Wesleyan Church, Methodist Church, and Cuba Street Church. It underwent renovations in 1903, and in 1910, bursting at the seams, a kindergarten was built at the rear of the church, on the adjoining Domain Street section, to accommodate a roll of 120 infants.
With their building fund containing enough money in 1922, planning began for a new church on the site of the present structure. The architect, Mr Oscar Albert Jorgensen, designed a building that would seat 430 people. In 1924 the old church was completely remodelled, and the new brick church built. The foundation stone of, the Trinity Methodist Church was laid in March and the opening was celebrated in July.
From 1895 the Oddfellows’ Hall operated at 188 Cuba Street, between David and Andrew Young Streets. The Manchester Unity Order of Oddfellows was a mutual aid organisation. Their lodge rooms were used by various Manawatū groups such as: Oroua Lodge, UAOD; Palmerston Dramatic Society; Loyal Manawatū Lodge IOOF, MU; and Lodge of Druids. Alterations and additions were made in 1905 and dances began occurring regularly in the hall. Further alterations were made five years later. This was the interior in the 1920s.
It was in September of 1884 that working men of Palmerston North first met with the intention of forming a Working Men’s Club. The clubs had spread from the industrial areas of England since the mid-1800s. They were aimed at the self-improvement of working men, through education and recreation. One of the attractions was that this was an alternative to the heavy drinking pub environment.
It was almost four years later that the Colonial Secretary officially granted a charter to Palmerston Working Men’s Club. Mr HT Akers formerly of Club Hotel Church Street east, was made manager. The club officially opened in August, with subscribers of the Public Library donating seven hundred books to the endeavour. By the end of August, the club had a roll of 160 members.
This first premises on Rangitikei Street was sold in February of 1889. In March it reopened as the Christchurch Boarding House, Miss McCarthy proprietess. The Working Men’s Club moved to a two-storey building on Cuba Street. In 1900 additions and alterations were made to the building. Mr Robert Edwards, former mayor of Palmerston North (1892-1893), was the architect.
By December 1902, club members agreed on purchasing a new site in Cuba Street, almost directly opposite their current clubrooms for a new purpose-built structure. In October of 1904 the new Working Men’s Club was completed, based on plans by architect, Mr Ernest Larcomb.
In March of 1905 Mr TP Holland, of Bunnythorpe, purchased the lease of the old Working Men’s Club in Cuba Street from Mr E Stevenson. Just five months later, in August of 1905, the building was almost destroyed by fire.
By 1912 the club had a roll close to 1,000 members and was seeking sites for addition accommodation. The solution came in purchasing the land immediately adjoining the club buildings, sections belonging to Mrs Jones. That then allowed frontages on Cuba and Taonui Streets, the address being 233-239 Cuba Street. Mr OA Jorgensen, architect, designed a brick building three times as large as the present accommodations. However, the war period intervened, and the new building was delayed.
In 1927 building commenced based on the design of Mr Ernst Vilhelm West. His father, Mr Ludolph Georg West, had been a member of the club. In August of 1928, the new club, now renamed the Cosmopolitan Club, was officially opened by Mr James Alfred Nash MP. Built by Mr DP Tortonson, the two-storied brick building included a frontage of four shops on Cuba Street.
The club moved from the building in 1989 and it was sold the following year.
Cuba street was home to several long-term boarding houses.
The Canterbury Boarding house was operating at 80 Cuba Street from 1891. It was situated opposite George Street between Lombard and Taonui Streets. Mrs Rickleben was the proprietress until c. 1901 when Canterbury House passed into the hands of Mrs Bresneham. It was advertised to let in 1902, and later that year reopened as Mrs John Rea’s Avondale House. Mr and Mrs J Rea fully renovated the boarding house in 1903 and again in 1905. It then appears to have been sold to Mr or Mrs Hollis. By 1911 advertisements for Mrs Barnett’s Avondale House appeared in local newspapers. It continued running until at least 1926 and was also called Avondale Private Hotel and Avondale Boardinghouse.
When Mrs Elizabeth Rea and Mr John Rea sold Avondale House, they opened the Temperance Hotel in Cuba Street. It was newly renovated in 1907. By 1917 it had become Barnett’s Temperance Hotel.
In 1905 Mrs Williamsen was running the Premier Dining Rooms, with accommodation, on the corner of Cuba and Andrew Young Streets. It soon became known as the Premier Boarding House. In 1906 Mrs Williamsen sold the contents of the house and let the property to Mrs Wiltshire. In 1906 Mrs Wiltshire renamed the business London House. Late that year she sold the contents and Mrs Alexander appears to have briefly picked up the lease. By September 1907 the lease of London House had passed on to Mr H William. He operated London House until 1909 when Mrs Williamsen once again took over. She resumed trade as Victoria Private Hotel and continued until poor health prompted its sale in 1914.
In June of 1914 the Misses McCullough had purchased the property and renamed it Victoria Boarding House. They ran the boarding house for the next eight years, selling privately in 1922. By 1924 it was known as Victoria House. In December of 1930 Mrs L Parker was the proprietress. She advertised it for let in 1932.
By 1933 Victoria House was under the management of Mrs H Morris. Later that year it changed hands, and new proprietor Mr C Morgan, completed a repainting and refurbishment. A name change also occurred, Selwyn House. In 1934 Mrs H Morgan extended accommodation options to include furnished and unfurnished flats in Selwyn House and Grosvenor Private Hotel. By 1935 the name had reverted to Selwyn House. It appears to have remained in the ownership of the Morgan’s until May of 1942, when local newspapers reflect the property was for let or lease.
In May of 1908 Excelsior House opened on the corner of Cuba and Waldegrave Streets, adjoining the A&P grounds. Mr Charles Hogg was the proprietor. By 1910 Excelsior House had changed hands and Mrs McLean was the proprietress. It appears to have come under new management in 1924 and again in 1940. In 1940 Excelsior House, at 107 Cuba Street, was available for gentlemen boarders, and in 1941 there were vacancies for pensioners.
In February 1900, Mr Arthur Edward Clausen, a well-known Danish settler, commenced business as a grocer and ironmonger in a new premises on Cuba Street. Named the People’s Cash Store, AE Clausen Grocery, Crockery and Ironmongery, it was situated near Lombard Street. The business grew rapidly, and Mr Clausen made extensive alterations in 1901 – partly to accommodate the store’s large assortment of china, glassware and crockery. Extensive alterations were again made in 1903. In late 1904 the name was shortened to The Cash Store when it was taken over by Mr H Jackson. By March of 1905 it was also known as Mr H Jackson Cash Grocer, The Cash Store, and the Cuba Street Grocer. In April of 1907, Mr James Miller purchased the store and it became the Beehive Store. Approximately eighteen months later, Mr WJ Horn became proprietor of this general grocery business.
The Cuba Street Dairy, next door, ran from c. 1902 to c. 1911, with multiple owners and titles.
Meanwhile, Mr Clausen continued at a different site in Cuba Street as AE Clausen, Direct Importer, concentrating on the crockery and glassware side of the business. Eventually the store became known as AE Clausen Crockery and Glassware Merchant. In June 1905 he sold the lease and opened a crockery arcade in Te Marae o Hine the Square on the cusp of Coleman Place (later Coleman Mall). In November of 1908, the Manawatū Times noted that the growth of his business was prompting an extension through rear of the premises back on to Cuba Street. It is unclear whether this eventuated. Mr Arthur Edward Clausen ran the crockery arcade in the Te Marae o Hine the Square until his death in 1923.
In 1901, Messrs Brading & Ryan opened the Cuba Street Butchery and on sold to Messrs Havill Bros. later that year. By 1904 the business, on the corner of Cuba and Lombard Streets was owned by Mr George Cotton. He sold it to Mr P O’Connor in 1906. Within a year a partnership was announced – Mr P O’Connor and Mr H Couper, trading as O’Connor & Couper and providing specialty orders and delivery. In January of 1908 the partnership dissolved, and the business was carried on by Mr Henry Couper. He renamed the business, the Cuba Street Cash Butchery, and worked there for over a decade. Mr Couper sold the business in 1919 to Messers Gray and Snelling, and moved to Auckland with his wife in 1920.
In 1901 Buick & Young, Printers, commenced business from the Elizabeth Buildings, Cuba Street. In February of 1905 they started a stationers’ shop in connection with their business, also on Cuba Street. By August of 1905 Messrs Buick and Young further extended, in opening a law and commercial stationers’ shop in the Bett and Monrad buildings. In 1912 Mr Thomas Lindsay Buick left the business. Mr Henry Llewellyn Young disposed of the stationery business, concentrating on printing and bookbinding at the original plant, which had seen considerable additions. New premises were built in Broadway Avenue in 1920.
In June 1903, Mr Hugh McCarty, late of WT Wood’s, opened a general blacksmith opposite Clausen’s Grocery Store. This was taken over by his brother Mr John “Jack” William McCarty in partnership with Mr Yardley in 1906. By 1907, the partnership had dissolved. The business became known as J McCarty Horse Shoer and General Blacksmith. In 1913 Mr JW McCarty announced he would now take on horse dental work. He renamed the business JW McCarty Blacksmith and Farrier.
In 1917 Mr J McCarty was riding a motorcycle when he was hit by a train. It was a fatal accident. The following year, Mr H McCarty reopened the business of his late brother, taking on horse shoeing and general smith work.
In August of 1903 Miss Watson opened the Kia Ora Tea Rooms, also selling confectioner’s small goods. It was situated in the Beattie & Lang Building, opposite Buick & Young’s. The rooms were enlarged in 1907 to allow hot dinners to be served in a dining room downstairs and fish luncheons to be served in a grill room upstairs. Miss Watson’s tea rooms were advertised in local newspapers until 1911. Her main competition over the period appears to have been Mr Walter Cotton, who opened the Royal Café in 1905. As a pastry cook and confectioner, he also offered catering and delivery services. The Royal Café closed in 1909.
From April 1904, next door to Avondale House on Cuba Street, was a laundry run by James Quan Lee (also known as Jim Quong Lee). In November of 1904, Sam Lee & Co took over the laundry business. Fifteen years later Sam Lee’s Laundry moved to new premises, 104 Cuba Street, next to Hopwood’s and opposite the Working Men’s Club. In February of 1924, a massive fire destroyed four shops, and gutted Mr Lee’s Laundry (also his residence). The Universal Supply grocery store, next to Mr Lee’s, was extensively damaged.
In 1904, Mr Herbert John Woodfield, purchased and built on a site in Cuba Street to extend his George Street livery business. This new venue wasn’t without problems. In January 1908, he was fined for driving 26 horses loosely along Cuba Street. Just two months later he was further charged with allowing nine horses to stray without guidance. These were the types of incidences you would expect to come to the attention of the Inspector of Public Nuisances. To find out more, read this Back Issues article by Margaret Tennant. By 1922 the livery had evolved into Woodfield’s Motor Garage. The garage moved to Beresford Street in 1928.
Mr John Harold Watt intermittently owned bicycle, motorcycle and motorcar businesses between Cuba and Rangitikei Streets for over twenty years.
He opened JH Watt, Cycle Depot in Cuba Street in 1905. Mr JH Watt sold the business in February of 1907, then reopened at 24-26 Cuba Street in September that year. In April 1911 the business moved to Rangitikei Street besides the Clarendon Hotel.
In August of 1912 Mr J Watt opened Watt’s Motor Depot in Cuba Street next to Workingmen’s Club. An importer of motorcycles, bicycles and skates, he appears to have operated from both the Cuba and Rangitikei Street locations.
In May of 1913 Mr Watt advertised that the businesses were being split to avoid confusion. Cycle Depot for bicycles was in Rangitikei Street under the management of Mr A Cooksley, sold to him in 1919; the Motor Cycle Depot was in Cuba Street under the management of Mr Will Passmore.
Mr Watt sold the Cuba Street motorcycle business to Mr Alex Anderson in December 1914. Then, in November 1915, Mr Watt built a garage in Cuba Street and imported motorcars. It was made into a new company in May 1916, Watt Motor Co. Ltd, opening at 42 Rangitikei Street. Mr Watt relinquished managing directorship in 1921.
Here is an image from 1927 showing Watt Motor Co. Ltd promoting an Oldsmobile. The company went into voluntary liquidation in 1928.
From August of 1905 to April of 1927 the Manawatu Auctioneering Company operated from 1 Cuba Street (corner of Rangitikei Street). It changed hands in those early years from Mr Henry S Munro to Messrs AE Mansford and AG Wallace. However, by 1907, when the company sold to Messrs JR Graham and JS Munro, the business remained with them. The company was recognised under a number of names: M.A.C., Manawatu Auction Mart, City Auction Mart, The Exchange Rooms, Exchange Salerooms, Auction Rooms and People’s Popular Auction Mart. In April of 1927 the Manawatu Auctioneering Company moved to George Street, next to the De Luxe Theatre, and occupied premises previously owned by Central Auctioneering Co.
In 1880, Mr Thomas Tozer Kerslake opened the Temple of Fashion. It was situated where Broad Street (later Broadway Avenue) met Coleman Place. Mr TT Kerslake acquired the freehold of the property through to Cuba Street.
In 1893 he sold his store and went to work for the Manawatū Farmers’ Co-operative Association (later the United Farmers’ Co-operative Association). There he worked in their tailoring department, as cutter and manager, for some years. Around 1898 he became manager of the tailoring department at Victoria House. He resigned in 1904 to make a nine-month tour of England and the United States.
On his return Mr Kerslake set up in temporary premises, as a gentlemen’s tailor. Meanwhile a building was commissioned by Mrs Harriet Kerslake on the couple’s Cuba Street property for her husband’s business. Built in 1905 by Mr A France, it later became known as the Kerslake Building.
In January of 1906 Mr T Kerslake, Gentlemen’s Tailor, moved to the Kerslake Building, opposite the Working Men’s Club. In November of 1910, Mr Charles Horace Usmar, a tailor formerly operating from Main Street, joined the business. It became Kerslake & Usmar six months later, allowing Mr Kerslake to retire. The store ran until 1918, when Mr Kerslake advertised it for let.
While the Palmerston North Technical School was in Cuba Street for a short duration, 1907 to 1909, it is noteworthy as the first time classes operated from a single location.
A technical school had been requested as early as 1898, when Mr WH Collingwood, secretary to the combined Palmerston North School committees, asked for the support of surrounding school committees in raising money towards a technical school based in Palmerston North.
Technical classes were officially conducted in Palmerston North from 1902, under the control of the Wanganui Education Board. Teachers and students met in various places as availability allowed. Technical classes experienced a period of stasis in 1905 with a roll of only 33 students. The High School Board took oversight from 1906 and, with the help of their Technical Committee, were able to revitalise the movement.
Palmerston North Technical School, in a central location, was officially established in 1907 under the direction of Mr Frank Foote. In April, he started the school in four small upstairs rooms in the Bett & Monrad Buildings. The buildings were situated between the Colonial Buildings (owned by Messrs Rutherford & Bett) and the Working Men’s Club. Designed by architect, Mr E Larcomb they had opened two years prior. Mr Francis “Frank” Dudley Opie was appointed director of the Technical School in December 1907. The school experienced increasing enrolments and solid attendance.
With the addition of new courses such as: elocution, wool-classing, singing, motor mechanics, and commercial correspondence, it was clear the now crowded school needed a new site from which to provide classes. In September 1908 plans for a building of its own were displayed to public at a school art exhibition. Fund raising and searching for a suitable site ensued.
The corner of Princess and King Streets was where building commenced in 1909. To ease space constraints on Cuba Street classes, the newly completed plumbing room and engineering shop opened in June 1909. The Palmerston North Technical School was finished and officially opened in September 1909 with a roll of over 600 students. The remaining students moved in October.
The Employers’ Association offices operated for a period in Cuba Street. Secretary, Mr W McKenzie, ran the office from c. 1909. He was still the secretary when they moved to the Commerce Building in Broadway Avenue in 1925.
A bucket brigade started as Palmerston North’s first fire-fighters in 1883. In 1887, a volunteer fire brigade was formed and housed in a wooden building in Coleman Place. In 1888, a Fire Brigade Station, opened in Terrace End at 224 Main Street east. The Terrace End brigade ran until 1936.
Meanwhile the Coleman Place station remained in use until 1910 when the Central Fire Station opened in Cuba Street, next to the Woodfield Stables. The foundation stone had been laid in March of that year by Mr Edward John Armstrong, chairman of the Fire Board. By August the Fire Brigade was in possession of the building designed by Mr LG West and erected by Mr CW Blackbourn. Comprised of two storeys, the ground floor housed the enquiry office, engine room, horse stalls (until horses were superseded by motor engines in 1913), a kitchen and two bedrooms for single men. Upstairs was the superintendent and foreman’s quarters, as well as the married men’s quarters and a social hall. In 1914 tenders were invited for additions and alterations to the station.
By 1925, running out of space, a tender was accepted for a new fire station to be built in Cuba Street on a vacant section more-or-less opposite the end of Campbell Street. Messrs Trevor Bros. were the builders and Messrs LG West & Sons, the architects. The new Central Fire Station opened 19th July 1926. Additions to the living quarters were made in 1938. It remained in Cuba Street until 1977 when a new station opened in Cook Street.
In 1940, the 28th Māori Battalion trained at the Palmerston North Showgrounds. To learn more about their time in Palmerston North, read this Memory Lane article by Tina White.
In 1964, Te Rau O Te Aroha Māori Battalion Hall was opened at 138 Cuba Street. The soldiers were regarded highly by Palmerstonians and remembered for their stay in the city. The hall was a national memorial and emblem of gratitude to the men of the 28th Māori Battalion, six hundred and thirty-nine of whom lost their lives in World War Two. The design included carvings on the exterior honouring different iwi, tukutuku panels inside, and kowhaiwhai on the ceiling beams.
Held in the ownership of the Raukawa District Māori Council, the hall was a memorial, a guesthouse for visiting families of veterans, and a community centre. To learn more about the hall and its significance, listen to this brief history from Major George Kereama.
For almost fifteen years it was used for functions and community initiatives. Then from 1978, facing financial pressures, the hall was leased to an individual tenant, Fishbowl Youth Trust. This ended in 1982 when the Fishbowl Trust was dissolved. From 1983 the hall was leased to a succession of restaurants and nightclubs, who refurbished to purpose.
From June 2001 Te Wānanga O Aotearoa became a long-term tenant and used Te Rau O Te Aroha Māori Battalion Hall for delivering Te Wānaga Rauangi, their fine arts programme. The hall is currently an earthquake risk and cannot be tenanted.
Te Rau O Te Aroha Māori Battalion Hall became a Poppy Place in 2018 and remains an important gathering place for ANZAC Day ceremonies.
In 1981, Cuba Street was the scene of barbed wire, police lines and protesters; when anti-Apartheid activists opposed the Springbok Tour. Look at this Back Issues article by Stephen Berg to find out more.
To learn more about the history of Cuba Street read this lecture by historian, Mr Brian Mather.
The origin is unknown. It is assumed to be named after Cuba Street in Wellington, which was named after the ship, "Cuba."
The image is a derivative of this Palmerston North Borough map from 1923 by HR Farquar, Civil Engineer and Licensed Surveyor.
The Cuba was a barque of 270-273 tons captained by John Newcombe. The New Zealand Company sent her ahead of immigrant ships from England in July 1839, carrying a survey team of 23 people. The team was led by surveyor-general, Captain William Mein Smith. He had three assistant surveyors, Mr Robert Park, Mr Wellington Carrington and Mr Robert Stokes. Their job was to meet principal of the company, Colonel Edward Gibbon Wakefield who had set out on the Tory two months earlier, make purchases of land and survey it for the colonists to follow.
Other passengers included Mr (Sir) Richard Davies Hanson, Commissioner for the Purchase of Land, and his Assistant Commissioner and native interpreter, Mr William Bath.
During the voyage, the barque called at Porto Praya, Cape Verde Islands, and a party went ashore. A storm made it necessary for Cuba to ride it out at sea for four days. When they regained port to pick up those ashore, yellow fever came aboard. One of the survey team, Mr William Matthews, and Mr W Bath the Assistant Commissioner, died at sea and were committed to the deep.
In September 1839 the larger 500 to 550-ton vessels, Oriental and Aurora, left England carrying 145 and 148 immigrants respectively.
On arrival in New Zealand, Cuba missed meeting Wakefield on the Tory, at Kaipara. The Cuba made its way to the whaling station on Kapiti Island where whaler, Captain George “Jordy” Young, boarded. He then navigated Cuba to Port Nicholson, where a trader named Smith had been deputised by Wakefield to instruct Captain Smith where to proceed surveying. Cuba cast anchor off Pito-one (Petone) foreshore in early January 1840.
Although the Oriental had left England first, Aurora arrived in Port Nicholson a week earlier – docking on 22 January 1840. Both landed immigrants on Pito-one (Petone) beach, where the surveying team had built a small jetty for this purpose.
When Palmerston (later named Palmerston North) was proclaimed a town in 1866, Cuba Street was on the original plan. It first ended at Short Street (now known as Cook Street) and was extended out to Burns Avenue at a much later date. To learn more about the original planning and design of Cuba Street, look at this Back Issues article by Lesley Courtney.
In 1871, Palmerston’s first public cemetery was established on the site of the present Palmerston North Showgrounds. By 1875, a decision was made to move the cemetery to Napier Road, due to the Cuba Street site being too wet. The bodies were exhumed and reinterred at Terrace End Cemetery.
At the November 1878 Palmerston Borough Council meeting, councillor Coleman proposed that tenders be called for forming and metalling Cuba Street. Though it was one of the first streets of the town, it now needed significant attention. Most of the work was expected to be funded in debentures. At the December meeting, the council accepted the tender of Messrs Collins and McCarthy, £148 15s 6d; plus, footpaths and kerbing at £2 7s 3d per chain (chain = 66 feet/20.12 metres) .
In September of 1880 the lowering of the culvert at the junction of George and Cuba Streets, deepened the water table to drain towards the bush. After further lowering of the water table the following month, gravel was spread. In 1881 water was removed from the corner of Cuba Street and Rangitikei Street, leaving a hole to fill. That was addressed when the ordered dray and harness arrived in town. There was work undertaken on the culverts over the next five years.
In October of 1895 Mr Andrew Jack, overseer of waterworks, reported that the sewer in Cuba, and nearby streets, was in a bad way. Sewerage was escaping out the pipe joints as fast as he was running water through the four-inch main. The joints were not cemented, and surrounding shingle was black with discharge. While the report was acknowledged, this wasn’t acted on at the time.
By 1901 the sewerage pipes in Cuba Street were becoming blocked with silt. When they were opened for inspection, interested residents observed there was no cement securing the pipe joints at all.
In 1901, Mr Richard Liron Mestayer, newly appointed engineer for the borough sewerage scheme, was asked to inspect the main sewer and report back to council. By 1906 the plan was ready for laying of sewers in Cuba Street, and a call made for construction tenders. By October that year the pipes were laid, and house connections encouraged. Two years later it was reported that all houses were now connected to the sewerage system in Cuba Street.
Stormwater management was also a challenge in those early years. Plans were needed to intercept and drain surface water. From 1901 work was carried out on water channels and water tables, however it wasn’t until the 1920s that significant progress was made. In 1922 construction of a stormwater conduit accompanied by the laying of nine to twelve-inch drains commenced. Being a long street, the project took time. Concrete kerbing, channelling, pipe laying and sump building continued through until 1930.
The forming of footpaths and ongoing maintenance occurred over the same period. Work was often prompted by residents who also contributed towards costs. Reconditioning was carried out in the portions of Cuba Street with the greatest need. Heavy traffic areas received regular attention.
In the early 1900s the roadway regularly received coats of metal. From 1910 top-dressing with tar and sand commenced, although at times the borough had challenges in sourcing materials. Like the footpaths, Cuba Street work was carried out on one segment of the street at a time. From the 1920s the roadway became more robust with the introduction of macadam foundations and bitumen and chips as top-dressing. After that, ongoing treatment included top-dressing and asphalt patching.
Livestock certainly affected the upkeep of the road. In December of 1906 complaints were made of loose horses being driven, uncontrolled, up the street. Cuba Street was on the suggested livestock route to the Stevens & Gorton sale yards on Rangitikei Street. As late as 1917, a milk supplier complained about mobs of horses galloping up the street and disrupting his early morning deliveries.
Beside road damage and potential dangers, the horses also left droppings along Cuba Street. In 1911 the borough council imported a manual street cleaning machine, purported to do the work of three people. It was so successful in its intended purpose, to clean up horse manure, that a second machine was purchased.
In 1914 complaints were made about the horse dropping receptacles on the corner of Cuba and Rangitikei Streets. They were collecting, water, unpleasant smells, and horse flies. While the borough engineer remedied the water issue, the flies were a result of the nearby sale yards and stables. He supplied the driver of the collecting cart with a canister of chloride of lime for disinfecting purposes.
In 1905, when the council proposed to lease out a borough reserve between Coleman Place (later Coleman Mall) and Cuba Street, the alternate suggestion of a public library, museum and art gallery started to do the rounds. The reserve was comprised of shops and the Fire Brigade Station fronting Coleman Place, and a borough yard fronting Cuba Street. At the time, the Manawatū Philosophical Society ran the Palmerston Museum from a room in the Public Library, opposite the Post Office in Main Street. It was becoming increasing overcrowded with inadequate housing for exhibits. The library was based in the old municipal offices which were considered increasingly unsuitable and unsanitary.
The proposal of a public library, museum and reading room, in either Coleman Place or Cuba Street was reported on by the Library Committee to the borough council in 1908. Initially it seemed that the proposed structure would go ahead. It would be a two-storey building with the library and a woman’s reading room on the ground floor, carrying through to a museum. The upper storey would be a dedicated reading room. Building would commence in Cuba Street and extend to Coleman Place if the opportunity arose. The proposition was carried in council.
Of the funds needed forty percent was already available from an earlier loan to make additions to the current library. A ratepayer’s poll would be taken to raise a special loan for the remaining £2000. A great deal of discussion, debate and alternate proposals ensued.
Much of the discussion centred on the suitability of the Coleman Place site versus the Cuba Street site. Many felt that Coleman Place was the better option, although almost double the building cost. Those in favour argued was that it was central, visible, and more convenient to day travellers by rail. Others were in favour of frontages on both streets from the outset. Alternatively, some councillors and public thought Coleman Place was a business site more suitable for revenue generating stores. Suggestions for a completely different site were also raised.
Meanwhile the borough council wrote to Mr Carnegie asking for a monetary gift of £5,000 towards the building of a Carnegie Public Library in Palmerston North. This had been achieved in four other towns in Aotearoa New Zealand. After six months and no answer, the idea was dropped. This would have been welcome news to members such as councillor Stubbs who had stated that Mr Carnegie’s libraries were not ornamental enough to front a street like Coleman Place.
When the poll was finally released in August 1910, the proposal was to erect a library and museum in Coleman Place and Cuba Street, requiring a special loan of £5,000. In a ratepayers meeting in September, the Coleman Place and Cuba Street site was reaffirmed from an amendment by councillor Durwood. There was never any real opposition to a museum on Cuba Street, the strongest opposition was to a library in Coleman Place. Councillor Edwards proposed an amendment, that the idea of a new library be dropped, it was not the time. The amendment was lost on ratepayer voice. The special loan passed.
Although the loan passed, dissent continued in the council chambers on the appropriate site. In November of 1910 the Manawatū Philosophical Society requested use of the recently vacated Palmerston North Volunteer Fire Brigade Station for the museum. The building could be shifted back from Coleman Place to Cuba Street at an estimated £100 and altered fit for purpose. Two shops could then be built on the Coleman Place frontage. The idea was supported by council and the building moved the following year. The upper storey was allocated to the museum and the lower to the Men’s Social Club. The library remained in the old municipal offices building until 1929.
Late in 1911 the Manawatū Philosophical Society moved the bulk of its treasures to the new museum in the old Fire Brigade Station, Cuba Street. Mr A Hamilton, curator from the Dominion Museum, Wellington, came and provided help, advice, and supervised arrangement of the collections. Palmerston Museum settled into place with meetings held regularly in the museum rooms. In time it became known as the museum building. A downside was that the building was constructed of wood, risking fire damage. Another difficulty was funding. The museum was run solely on the efforts and monies of the Manawatū Philosophical Society with occasional support from local associations such as the Rotary Club.
By 1921 it was obvious that the museum was under resourced and lacking optimum public attendance. Work was required to refresh and relabel the collections. By 1923, the site, which neighboured the Soldier’s Club, was considered a potentially valuable commercial space. In November of that year, the mayor, Mr Frederick Joseph Nathan, suggested removal of the building and commented that the specimens for preservation surely deserved better housing. By 1924 when the council offered the site for a lease of 21 years, the writing was on the wall. Although new proposals were made for a loan towards a purpose-built library and museum, past experience demonstrated this would be a slow process.
In 1926 a delegation from the Philosophical Society proposed that exhibits and debt on the museum be handed to the municipality. It was either this or the collections would have to be stored or dispersed until a fire-proof building became available. The council agree to clear the debt and store collection items. Many of the curios and exhibits were returned to citizens who loaned them. Remaining articles were packed in cases and placed in the city council store. It was a solution that proved timely, in December of 1927 the museum was damaged by fire.
Palmerston North was a city without a museum for the next 45 years, then, in 1971, a museum was opened in a council owned house in Amesbury Street. This led to the establishment of the Manawatū Museum under the directorship of Mrs Mina McKenzie. To learn more, look at Margaret Tennent’s article, Mina McKenzie and the Manawatū Museum.
In 1908 the Manawatū Beautifying Society asked the council to consider planting trees in Cuba Street. The following year the Reserves Committee also suggested planting Cuba Street in trees. As a result, the council and local schools took part in planting efforts each Arbor Day for several years. The last reported Arbor Day planting on Cuba Street was four ash trees in 1914.
With the introduction of motor vehicles, minor collisions occurred occasionally where car meets tree. In October 1929 a decision was made to remove all trees on Cuba Street where the roadway was tarred from kerb to kerb. They were now considered dangerous. Initially, any action was deferred for the opinion of the borough solicitor regarding liability for collisions.
Councillor Fitzherbert also put forward a compelling case opposing destruction of the trees. Given the width of the street he thought the action unwarranted and suggested motorists had a responsibility to drive carefully. He cited strong public sentiment to retain the trees, and suggested light-coloured guards or kerbs be placed around them instead. Another suggestion was the lighting of each tree.
On the vote, the council was equally divided, and the mayor cast the final vote to eliminate the trees. On an early morning in November, the first two trees were cut down to a strong public reaction. Immediate protests led the mayor to rescind the order, subject to a special council meeting. Meanwhile, a protest meeting was attended by over two-hundred residents, regarding planned removal of trees in Broadway, Fitzherbert and Cuba Streets.
During the period, December 1929 to June 1930, there were three claims of damages after motorists had collided with a tree on Cuba Street. In each case the event occurred in the evening on wet roads. The council went to court with the first case and were found liable. The judge noted the tree was unlit and unguarded.
The mayor did note that the last claimant was citing an incident over six months prior.
In April of 1930 the Manawatū Beautifying Society indicated a willingness to work with the council to consider ways and means to minimise any danger from trees. That same month, the borough electrical engineer submitted a report recommending additional lighting in Cuba Street, and other streets with trees. He stated it was impractical to light every tree, and white picket fence surrounds should be enough. In May the council decided to remove only those trees that constituted a ‘menace’, and in June, following inspection, six trees were on the chopping block.
When two of the six trees were cut down, the Beautifying Society offered to fence the remaining ‘menace’ trees with white picket fences at their expense. Two further trees were cut down the following day. The remaining two and an extra tree followed, despite the Beautifying Society bringing a sample fence to the borough council chambers for inspection.
The following month, the trunks of remaining trees in Cuba street were painted a luminous white. This decision by the borough council resulted in a noticeable improvement in visibility.
While not as contentious as the trees, cycle tracks in the street were somewhat fluid. In 1912 cycle tracks were built in Cuba Street. And in 1915 councillor Rolfe suggested something needed to be done to define their existence between Rangitikei and Taonui Streets. However, just a year later, councillor Seifert moved that the track in Cuba Street be discontinued at Taonui Street and a sign posted to indicate this. Further efforts to add cycle tracks were defeated.
While councillor Seifert’s motion does not appear to have been successful, the cycle track from Taonui to Campbell Street was eliminated in 1927, when the road was tarred from kerb to kerb. It was also in 1927 that the proprietor of the new Carlton Hotel successfully had the cycle track abolished from the front of his business. New cycle stands did appear in Cuba Street from time to time.
Apart from a cab stand built opposite the showgrounds in 1909, parking stands for private motor cars did not appear until the 1920s. They were required to deal with overflow from Coleman Place and George Street. The showgrounds also extended parking on both sides of the road to accommodate visitors during events.
At a meeting of Palmerston North ratepayers in 1910, the mayor opened a discussion about public transport; cars, trams or motor buses? It soon became clear that trams or motor buses were preferable to a fleet of cars, but which of the two would be better? Should the town invest in both? A lively debate ensued over the next decade, including the well-attended public debate, Trams v. Motor Buses, at the Opera House in May 1915.
By 1919 the council had laid down preliminary works for an overhead electrical tram system, however a number of councillors recommended this be abandoned. The war had advanced motor bus technology, and buses were now more flexible and cost effective than tramways. Slowly buses gained traction in the council chambers. By April 1920 a proposal for motor buses was under consideration, with a report on petrol vs petrol-electric vs electric. Costs were investigated.
When Mr Matthew H Oram, a strong proponent of motor buses, was elected to council, he took that as a public mandate that ratepayers were also in favour. In June 1920 councillor Oram moved that ratepayers be asked to sanction a £9000 loan to purchase and equip four motor buses. It was carried, and the resulting public poll in September supported the purchase. The council subsequently received nineteen quotations to build and supply the buses.
In August 1921, the building of a municipal bus barn was completed in Cuba Street. It was situated on the Education Reservation between Short Street (later Cook Street) and Palermes Street (later Bryant Street). Despite the theft of eight cases of benzine during the journey from Napier, four highly anticipated municipal buses arrived in Te Marae o Hine the Square, on 6 September 1921. Almost immediately there were calls to make extensions to the bus barn and purchase more buses.
A new bus barn was built at the Scandia Street (later Albert Street) borough depot in 1927.
The Cuba Street building became known as the old bus barn. From 1932 it was used by the Takaro Scouts, as a youth employment centre, and to receive donated goods to relieve distress in the town. In 1935 the Education Board, who owned the land, requested its demolition and removal.
In December 1935, the Takaro Boy Scout Committee inquired as to whether they might use the timber and iron from the demolition to build a scout hall. The committee was advised that the materials were unavailable, as they had been earmarked for the building of the council stables in Manawatū Street. The old bus barn was demolished, and the timber and iron removed to the borough depot in 1936.
It was in 1908, that the Pascal brothers first looked at extending Cuba Street. To build and access Palermes Street, Messrs Pascal Bros first needed to extend Cuba Street beyond Short Street (later Cook Street) and through the Education Reserve. The reserve was leased to the Manawatū and West Coast Agricultural and Pastoral (A&P) Association by the Education Commissioner.
Messrs Pascal Bros agreed to transfer property to the A&P Association, which would allow the association to extend their grounds alongside Pascal Street and provide access from the rear. In exchange, the brothers would have the right to form Cuba Street through the Education Reserve.
In 1908, this was originally permitted by the Education Commissioner, but did not proceed at the time.
Once fresh negotiations commenced in 1912, the Education Reserve had passed into the hands of the Wellington Land Board. When the Land Board refused permission, a petition was made to parliament by A&P Association members. The government, led by Prime Minister Massey, issued permission and the transfer proceeded.
In October 1912 the Borough Council gave consent for the extension of Cuba Street and construction of a new street, connecting to the Cuba Street extension. The work commenced in 1913 by Mr Edward John Armstrong and Palermes Street was ready to be taken over in 1914. That year there was also discussion around extending Cuba Street all the way to Kairanga Road (later Botanical Road), however this did not eventuate.
In 1925 F Needham, Ltd. gained permission to construct streets through the Pascal Block. From the outset Mr Frederick Needham made it clear that these would not be private streets. They would be following by-laws to the laying out of public streets. Cuba Street was further extended, and Burns Avenue constructed at its end. Lyndhurst Street (called Lyndhurst Street extension for some years after) was continued from Chelwood Street to meet the new Cuba Street extension.
The addresses on Cuba Street were renumbered in 1938. See p.79 to p.83 of the Rates Register of Street Numbers - Old and New.
The origin of the name Palermes is unknown.
Geographically, Palermes is the French spelling of Palermo, the capital of Sicily, Italy. Parlemes is also found in the Nord-Ouest region of Haiti.
The image is a derivative of this Palmerston North Borough map from 1923 by HR Farquar, Civil Engineer and Licensed Surveyor. Please note: the 's' in Palermes has been omitted on the map.
Brothers, Mr Louis M Pascal and Mr Claude Marie Pascal emigrated to New Zealand from Loire, France, in 1878 and were early settlers in the Manawatū. Mr Jean Baptiste Pascal also emigrated and joined his older brothers in 1884. Palermes Street, D.P. 3617, section 311, was owned by either Mr CM Pascal or Mr LM Pascal, of Messrs Pascal Bros, from 1890 onwards.
To learn more about the Pascal brothers, look at Pascal Street.
To build and access Palermes Street, Messrs Pascal Bros first needed to extend Cuba Street through the Education Reserve. The reserve was leased to the Manawatū and West Coast Agricultural and Pastoral (A&P) Association by the Education Commissioner.
When this was first negotiated, in 1908, Messrs Pascal Bros agreed to transfer allotment 9 of section 294, to the A&P Association. This would allow the Association to extend their grounds alongside Pascal Street and provide access from the rear. In exchange, the brothers would have the right to form the Cuba Street extension through the Education Reserve.
This was permitted by the Education Commissioner but did not proceed at the time.
Once fresh negotiations commenced in 1912 the Education Reserve had passed into the hands of the Wellington Land Board. When the Land Board refused permission, a petition was made to parliament by A&P Association members. The government, led by Prime Minister Massey, issued permission and the transfer proceeded.
In October 1912 the Borough Council gave consent for the extension of Cuba Street and construction of a new street, connecting to the Cuba Street extension.
At a Borough Council meeting in June 1914, a letter was acknowledged from Mr L Pascal, and referred to the Public Works Committee. He wished to name a new street running from Cuba Street extension to Main Street west, Palermes Street. The street, comprised of a mixture of residential and business sites, was ready to be taken over. Mr Pascal reminded the council, that they were to add a culvert. This was also referred to Public Works.
Auctioneers, Abrahams and Williams Ltd., on behalf of Mr Pascal, advertised seventeen sections for sale in July 1914. Some of the sites had already been built on.
In April of 1917, Mr JB Wither on behalf of Pascal Bros., asked the Borough Council for permission to construct a continuation of Palermes Street to Chelwood Street. This was agreed and a additional time allowed in January 1918 and again in February of 1919. However the street extension did not go through due to unfavourable working conditions.
Sewers were laid in March 1919 and improvements to footpaths made in 1924.
In 1925 Mr Frederick Needham subdivided the Pascal Estate and extended Bryant Street through Chelwood Street to meet Palermes Street.
In February of 1926, the Borough Council proposed renaming streets where a continuation had been made to an existing street that effectively joined two existing streets into one. The resolution was passed in March. Town clerk, Mr James Robert Hardie, gave public notice throughout March and April that Palermes would become Bryant. From July 1926 the street was known as Bryant Street.
By 1917, Mr and Mrs E Fisher had taken up residence at 5 Palermes Street. Mr Edward Fisher was born in 1872 in New South Wales, Australia. He arrived in New Zealand from c. 1892 to c. 1903.
Miss Elizabeth England was born in Aotearoa New Zealand in 1869, to immigrant parents from Somerset, England. She married Mr E Fisher in Upper Hutt in 1904. They had one child, Kathleen Elizabeth b.1905.
In Palermes Street, they provided “On the Farm” produce opposite the Railway Station engine shed. Mr Fisher unsuccessfully sought election to the Dairy Control Board in 1923. The couple gave up dairying in 1925.
In the late 1920s Mr Fisher, a former engineer of the River Board, was the New Zealand patentee of several types of groynes for mitigating river erosion. By then their address had become 180 Bryant Street and was renumbered to 80 Bryant Street in the 1930s.
Mrs Elizabeth Fisher died in November of 1941, aged 72, and is interred at Kelvin Grove Cemetery. Mr Edward Fisher sold his house and its contents in 1945 and returned to Australia. He died in New South Wales in October of 1960, at the age of 88 years. He is interred at Sandgate Cemetery.
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 William Samuel 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.
This street is named for Mr John James Waldegrave, who owned the land. Mr JJ Waldegrave put through nine chains (chain = 66 feet/20.12 metres) from the Cuba Street end in 1875, D.P. 22, section 306. Twenty-seven years later, his son, Mr Charles Edward Waldegrave, extended the road through to Featherstone Street (later Featherston Street), D.P. 1441, section 297.
The image is a derivative of this Palmerston North Borough map from 1923 by HR Farquar, Civil Engineer and Licensed Surveyor.
Mr J Waldegrave was born in 1834 to Mr Daniel Burton and Mrs Susanna Waldegrave of Lincolnshire, England. Their second son, he emigrated to Sydney, Australia, in the 1850s.
There he met and married Sydney native, Miss Frances “Fanny” Eagar, who was born in 1826. While the date of their marriage is unknown, their eldest son was born in Sydney in 1853. In 1854 the couple arrived in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand, on the barque Koh-i-noor.
They had five children; Henry Richard b.1853, Charles Edward b.1855, Frank Geoffrey Burton b.1857, Arthur John b.1862, and Julia Mary b.1864.
Mr J Waldegrave first went into business in Wellington, as a sales agent importing foodstuffs and small goods. From the early 1860s he farmed dairy livestock on 200-acres at Pahautanui. In 1871 Mr Waldegrave sold the farm, and the family moved to Palmerston North.
In Palmerston North the Waldegrave’s settled on a farm in Fitzherbert east, and Mr Waldegrave established Waldegrave’s Royal Hotel c. 1871. It was situated on the corner of Te Marae o Hine the Square and Rangitikei Street. By 1875 Mr Waldegrave had built a residence near the hotel.
Mr Waldegrave also established the second enlarged and improved Royal Hotel, on the same site as the first. While Mr Waldegrave was originally the publican, he hired Mr John Octavius Batchelar as manager in the late 1870s, in order to pursue other professional interests. He sold the Royal Hotel in the early 1880’s to Mr H Fowler.
In 1877 he was a director of Manawatū Permanent Equitable Building and Investment Society, becoming the managing director by 1878. He served in that role until retiring in 1889.
By 1880 Mr Waldegrave was the Palmerston North agent of the New Zealand Company and New Zealand Fire Insurance Office. It is therefore of little surprise that he was included in a list of signatories, in 1883, of persons interested in the formation of a fire brigade. He was also a member of the licensing court and became Licensing Commissioner from December 1880.
Mr Waldegrave built a nine-room office building in Te Marae O Hine the Square in 1881, Mr William Charles Chatfield of Lambton Quay was the architect. It was also in 1881 that he was appointed a Justice of the Peace, remaining so until his death .
In recognition of his farming past, he was among the provisional directors of Manawatū Butter, Cheese and Bacon Manufacturing Co. Ltd., in 1883. Some years later he was also a provisional director of the Longburn Slaughtering and Freezing Company Ltd.
From 1886 to 1887 Mr Waldegrave was a borough councillor.
In November of 1887 Mrs Frances Waldegrave died suddenly at 61 years of age. In March 1891, after a long illness, Mr John James Waldegrave died, aged 57. The couple are interred at Terrace End Cemetery.
Mr Charles Edward Waldegrave was born in Wellington and was a teenager when the family moved to Palmerston North. He managed the farm at Fitzherbert east, until his mid-30s, when his father died. As a young man he also owned land in the township, and in December 1877, he and his father built a retail butchery and dwelling in Te Marae o Hine the Square. This was sold to Mr Joseph Beal in June 1878.
Mr CE Waldegrave married Miss Mary Louisa Budd in 1882. Miss ML Budd was born in 1857, in Devon, England, to Major Frederick Edward Budd (Royal Marines) and Mrs Charlotte Henrietta Budd, nee Walker.
Mrs and Mrs C Waldegrave had six children; John Frederick b.1883, Charles Norman b.1884, Margaret Adelisa b.1887, William Ernest b.1889, Dorothy Isabel b.1891, and Phyllis b.1892.
After the death of his father Mr C Waldegrave took over management of the estate. In the early 1890s he was appointed a Justice of the Peace, was the Palmerston North agent of New Zealand Insurance Company and was a member of the Manawatū Permanent Equitable Building and Investment Society.
Mr Waldegrave’s primary role was as an insurance, land and commission agent. He owned and sold land at Apiti. Mr Waldegrave constructed further streets, including Vivian, Edward, Sydney and Regent. He organised loans and mortgages, and owned town properties for let or sale. Mr Waldegrave also erected business buildings in and around Te Marae o Hine the Square.
It was likely late 1893 that the family moved to their two-storey home at 93 Broad Street (later Broadway Avenue). It was designed by architect Mr Ludolph Georg West.
In July of 1902 Messrs CE and HR Waldegrave created a stir when they offered to gift a freehold site to the borough council for a Municipal Building or Opera House. This was situated in Broad Street behind the Bank of Australasia. The Waldegrave’s stipulated that the offer was subject to their retention of a 58-feet frontage with a depth of 30-feet, on which they would build three ground level shops. Messrs C and H Waldegrave intended that this would be at their expense and suggested the design be included in the municipal buildings plan.
The alternate site was the old pound in Church Street. Members of the Baptist and Presbyterian Churches had protested this option as unwelcome opposite their places of worship.
Some councillors were uneasy about accepting Messrs Waldegrave’s offer, as it required the mixing of municipal with private and commercial. The brothers were eventually told that a site had already been selected, and they withdrew their offer in September 1902. The Municipal Opera House was opened in 1905 in Church Street.
In April of 1903, Mr Waldegrave was nominated for borough councillor, but was not elected to council chambers. In March of 1904 he was elected as an officer on the newly formed Beautifying and Scenery Preservation Society, initially to look at enhancing Te Marae o Hine the Square. Mr Waldegrave donated £25 to the cause.
In August of 1908 Mr and Mrs Waldegrave, accompanied by one of their daughters, made a trip to London. When they returned in September, they had a large Humber motor car with them. Mrs Waldegrave returned to London for an extended trip in 1911.
In October 1918, after a long illness, Mrs Mary Louisa Waldegrave died aged 61 years. In August of 1920, Mr Charles Edward Waldegrave, aged 65 years, died at the family’s Broad Street home. The couple are interred at Terrace End Cemetery.
In late 1932 the Waldegrave Building opened at 125-128 Te Marae O Hine the Square. It was built on land that Mr John James Waldegrave had purchased in 1873 and was commissioned by the Trustees of the Charles E Waldegrave Estate.
It was in 1876 that the Clausen brothers, Messrs Christian Nicolai and Johan Frederick, first laid eyes on Palmerston (later Palmerston North). Children at the time, these early Scandinavian settlers recalled the Bourke and Waldegrave Street blocks being great paddocks of oat crops.
Behind the crops lay Waldegrave’s paddock, an early racecourse venue. In July of 1878, having purchased the butchery in the Square from Messrs John James and Charles Edward Waldegrave, Mr Joseph Beale applied to the borough council for a license to establish a slaughter-yard on a section in the paddock. This was refused due to a former decision against new slaughterhouses within town boundaries.
The paddock was also the scene of up to two traditional Easter Encampments of the New Zealand Volunteer Force. An encampment was held in Palmerston North as early as 1891.
The Cuba Street end of Waldegrave Street was well-established within a few years of being formed. There were at least five dwellings by 1878 and most of the residents owned several allotments of land adjoining their home.
In August and September of 1900, Waldegrave Street was included in ratepayer meetings regarding a drainage scheme. In March of that year, advice was made of rates adjustment in order to proceed with the drainage loan.
In August of 1902 when Mr C Waldegrave advertised building sites in Waldegrave Street for sale, Mr Henry "Harry" Richard Waldegrave owned section 297. The street extension was under construction.
In April 1903, the council received correspondence from Mr Waldegrave asking permission to lay off Waldegrave Street, for takeover by council. The Public Works Committee agreed on the proviso that footpaths be laid. Tarring and sanding of said footpaths was carried out late 1903. In January of 1904 the borough inspector reported that Mr Waldegrave has constructed Waldegrave street to his satisfaction. As a result, the council resolved that it could be taken over as a public street.
Like all streets surrounding the Manawatū and West Coast Agricultural and Pastoral (A&P) Association showgrounds, heavy foot traffic necessitated regular upkeep of walkways. Loan monies were often sought for footpaths and kerbing, and homeowners on Waldegrave Street were required to pay accordingly. The Waldegrave roadway received more attention after the introduction of motor vehicles, most particularly in 1914 and then again in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
In August of 1904, an application was made to the borough council for water services in Waldegrave Street. It was referred to the committee reporting on a water scheme for the town. Late in the month a motion was carried to lay a 4-inch water main in the street. In December of 1907 a storm water culvert was constructed.
It was also in 1907 that tenders were sought for construction of an 8-inch sewer in Waldegrave Street. The sewer was completed in July and by October 1908, all houses in the street were connected.
In July and August of 1907 letters to the editor appeared in the Manawatū Standard, complaining about the street numbering system. Waldegrave Street was given as an example. Houses were numbered consecutively, despite several vacant sections in-between. The writers were concerned that once houses were built on vacant lots, they’d have to utilise a fair portion of the alphabet to distinguish addresses – 42a, 42b, 42c, 42d, 42e, 42f and so on. In January 1908, The Public Works Committee recommended renumbering Waldegrave Street to allow for vacant sections.
A unique feature on the corner of Waldegrave and Featherston Street was the Victorian style Post Office telephone booth. It was installed around 1920.
In July 1930 gas mains with a greater width were extended into Waldegrave Street by 26 chains. This increased capacity improved the operation of cookers and heating units.
From c. 1878 Mr and Mrs Jens Christensen lived on Waldegrave Street. They owned allotments 39, 40, 41 (with house) and 44.
Mr Jens Christensen was born in 1840 and worked as a dairyman. His wife’s name was Mrs Maren Christensen and they emigrated to Aotearoa New Zealand as a married couple.
Mr Jens Christensen died September 1898 and was 57 or 58 years old. He was interred at Terrace End Cemetery. The rate books show that Mrs Mary (Maren) Christensen owned the property after Mr J Christensen’s death. By 1900 Mrs Christensen had sold all her holdings on Waldegrave Street.
Mr Anders Larsen purchased allotments 45, 48 (with house) and 49, from Henry Carlson in 1879. He and his brother Mr Jens Larsen are recalled, by other early settlers, as living in Waldegrave Street and later Kimbolton.
The Larsen brothers were born in Sweden to Mr Ola and Mrs Inger Lassen. Mr J Larsen was born in 1855 and Mr A Larsen in 1861. The Lassen family were immigrants to Aotearoa New Zealand, leaving Hamburg, Germany, in November 1875 aboard the ship Terpsichore, and arriving in Wellington in March 1876. Messrs J and A Lassen were aged 21 and 16 years respectively, their sister Miss Anna Lassen was 14.
During the voyage the family changed their name from Lassen to Larsen.
Sadly, Mr O Larsen died on the journey, January 1876, from typhoid fever. He was committed to the deep. Miss A Larsen also succumbed in April of 1876, and is buried on Sommes Island, Wellington.
The three remaining Larsen’s travelled to Foxton via coastal steamer and moved on to Palmerston North a month later. While the Waldegrave Street property was in Mr A Larsen’s name, it is likely that the whole family resided there.
Mr J Larsen worked forming roads from Bunnythorpe to Palmerston North and worked on the railway for several years. He then purchased a bush farm in Beaconsfield and felled much of the bush himself.
In 1896 Mr J Larsen married Miss Josephine Emily (Bochnig) Bocking of Kimbolton. The couple had five children; Orlando Edward b.1899, Herbert Bennett b.1901, Walter Archie b.1903, Mortie “Maude” Josephine b.1905, and Percy Bertie b.1913.
After living in Beaconsfield for many years the family moved to Cheltenham and purchased a 300-acre farm, part of the Bruce Estate. Mr and Mrs J Larsen later acquired the neighbouring property. Mrs Larsen was fully involved in farm operations and often advertised stock for sale.
Mr A Larsen lived in Waldegrave Street until about 1897, when he took up farming on Cemetery Road in Bunnythorpe. Mother, Mrs Inger Larsen, made the move with him and died at her son’s residence in May of 1898, aged 76 years.
In May of 1900, Mr A Larsen sold the farm. Meanwhile the Waldegrave property had been rented out and was in the care of Mrs Marie O’Connor, who also let property on Waldegrave Street. By 1908 Mr A Larsen appears to have resided in Bourke Street, and then Main Street from 1914. He also owned a property in Church Street. In 1923, and again in 1928, there were fires in the Boniface Bros. bakehouse on Waldegrave Street, it was Mr A Larsen's property.
At some stage in the 1930s he joined his brother, Mr J Larsen, in Feilding.
Mr Jens Larsen died May 1941, aged 86 years, at Cheltenham. Mr Anders Larsen died in September of 1947 also at the age of 86 years. The brothers are interred at the Feilding Cemetery. Mrs Josephine Emily Larsen died March 1951, aged 78 years, and is interred with her husband.
In his Will, Mr A Larsen left the Waldegrave property to his three nephews; Messrs Herbert, Walter and Percy Larsen.
Allotment 52 (with house) was owned by a Mikkelsen, also spelt Micklesen, from 1881 to 1893. Rate books show the property under the name of Mr Jorgen Mikkelsen until 1887, when the listing is changed to Mitelene Micklesen. By the 1890s the owner’s name is recorded as Natalena or Matalena P Micklesen in the rate books.
Mr and Mrs Albert Howes lived on allotment 42, Waldegrave Street from 1891.
Mrs Margaret Howes was born 1844, the daughter of Mr John and Mrs Anne McMillan of Iverness, Scotland. The family emigrated to Aotearoa New Zealand in 1859 on the ship Regina when Miss Margaret McMillan was 17 years old.
The McMillan family settled in the Hinds District, Canterbury. Miss M McMillan met Mr Albert Howes and they were married in Hokitika around the mid-1860s. The couple had six children; Margaret Jane b. c. 1867, Annie b. c.1870, Helen McMillan b.1872, Alfred William b.1877, Lucy Howes b.1879, and Norman George b. 1881.
Mr and Mrs A Howes lived for a time on the West Coast, and in Wellington and Marton, before coming to reside in Palmerston North. In 1886 and 1887, local newspapers show that Mr Howes worked at the woolshed of Messrs Macmillan and Hunt in a supervisory capacity. Messrs Macmillan and Hunt owned a store at Awahuri with the woolshed attached and were importers, general merchants and commission agents.
Mrs Howe was a suffragist and signed the 1893 petition to gain women the vote.
Mr Alfred Howes died in July 1832, at 63 years of age. Mrs Margaret Howes continued to live at 6 Waldegrave Street until her death in October of 1921. She was 77 years old. The couple are interred at Terrace End Cemetery.
Mr Mads Peter Sorensen retired to 28 Waldegrave Street in 1900 and lived there the rest of his life.
Mr MP Sorensen came to Aotearoa New Zealand from Denmark in 1883. He arrived in Wellington and travelled to Foxton with six months of supplies. From Foxton, Mr M Sorensen travelled by dray to Palmerston North and worked as a contractor cutting sleepers for the Palmerston North to Foxton tramline.
Mr Sorensen later purchased land in Bunnythorpe and farmed there until his retirement.
In December of 1907 Mr Sorensen married Mrs Karoline Emilie Andersen, also of Waldegrave Street. She had purchased two of the Waldegrave extension allotments in 1903. Mrs KE Andersen was the widow of Mr Fred Andersen and among the earliest Norwegian settlers.
Mrs Karoline Emilie Sorensen died in March 1920 at the age of 76 years.
In 1921 Mr Sorensen married Miss Peterine Semiane Stordahl.
Mr Mads Peter Sorensen died in December of 1928 at 80 years of age. Mrs Peterine Semiane Sorensen lived on until July of 1961, when she was 86 years old. The couple are interred at Terrace End Cemetery.
Mr and Mrs William Inkpen purchased an allotment (later addressed 36) on the new Waldegrave Street extension in 1903.
Mr W Inkpen was born 1861 in Kent, England, to Mr James and Mrs Ellen Inkpen. He left Kent as a teenager and emigrated to Aotearoa New Zealand. On arriving in Wellington in the late 1870s, he became a bootmaker and shoe repairer.
He met Miss Charlotte Shaddick, a Wellington native, born 1869, whose parents were Mr Henry and Mrs Mary Shaddick. Mr Inkpen and Miss C Shaddick married in 1888. The couple had five children; William James b.1892, Roy Frederick b.1894, Charlotte Millicent b.1897, Albert Thomas b.1899, and Leonard Henry b.1909.
The Inkpen family came to Palmerston North about 1900. Mr Inkpen started out as the foreman at Payne’s Acme Boot Factory on Main Street. He stayed with them approximately five years before going into trade on his own on Broad Street (later Broadway Avenue). In October of 1905, he took over Messrs Miller & Sons on Main Street.
By July 1906 he’d left self-employment, managing the clicking and repairing department for Messrs F. Johansen and Co., Boot and Shoe Manufacturers. In time he once again went into trade on his own as William Inkpen, Boot Dealer, and was based in the State Theatre Building on Broadway Avenue.
He and Mrs C Inkpen were faithful and involved members of the Methodist congregation of the Cuba Street Church. He also took an interest in his children’s’ schooling and was elected to the Campbell Street School Committee in June of 1907. Mr Inkpen was a notable bird fancier who bred canaries, a bird he had loved since boyhood. He was very active on the feathered show scene, both exhibiting and running fancier shows.
Mr Inkpen was a delegate to the North Island Poultry Association, vice president of the New Zealand Canary Specialists’ Club from 1915, and an elected a life member of the Palmerston North Canary and Budgerigar Club from 1935. He continued to show canaries throughout his life, winning multiple prizes and awards at each show. Mr Inkpen was named Palmerston North’s oldest living bird fancier in 1937.
In May of 1936 Mrs Charlotte Inkpen died after a short illness. She was 66 years old and is interred at Terrace End Cemetery. Within a couple of months Mr Inkpen wound up his business estate, inviting tenders for the stock, plant and shop fittings.
Mr Inkpen remarried in 1937 to Mrs Emma Jane Meller, who lived at 22 Waldegrave Street. By 1937 Mr Inkpen’s address had been renumbered to 47 Waldegrave Street.
Mrs Emma Jane Inkpen died in August of 1952, aged 88 years, and was interred at Kelvin Grove Cemetery. Mr William “Bill” Inkpen died almost five years later in April of 1957. He was 95 years old and is interred with his first wife at Terrace End Cemetery.
Mr George Falla purchased allotment 6 in 1903 and the Falla family lived in Waldegrave Street until 1907. Their stay was of short duration due to the transient nature of Mr G Falla’s position with the Railway Department.
Mr Falla was born in Sydney in 1860 to Mr George and Mrs Mary Falla. He was nine years old when the family moved to Aotearoa New Zealand, arriving in Nelson. The Falla family settled in Westport and it was there that Mr George Falla Jr. entered the employ of the Railway Department in 1879.
After being stationed in Greymouth, he went on to open the station in Hokitika c. 1893. It was in Hokitika that Mr G Falla met Miss Elizabeth Kirk. Miss E Kirk was born in 1872 to Mr Alexander and Mrs Elizabeth Kirk, West Coast, Aotearoa New Zealand. Having since been transferred to Lyttleton, he returned to Hokitika for their wedding in 1900.
The couple had four children; Robert Alexander b.1901, Dorothy Jean b.1903, Helen May b.1906, and John Douglas, b.1910.
In 1903 Mr Falla was transferred to Palmerston North and made chief clerk at the railway station’s goods shed. During their time in Palmerston North Mr Falla was an active member of St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church. The couple’s two daughters were born in Palmerston North.
From Palmerston North Mr Falla was promoted to stationmaster, serving at Hawera, Masterton, Invercargill, and finally Auckland, over the next thirteen years.
He retired after 41 years of service in December of 1920. Mr and Mrs Falla lived in Devonport, where he was active figure in public life and the Devonport Presbytarian Church.
Mr George Falla died in April of 1933, aged 72 years. Mrs Elizabeth Falla died July 1952, she was 80 years old. The couple are interred at O’Neill’s Point Cemetery, Auckland.
Mr Arthur Pickering purchased allotments 22 and 23 from Mr George McCarty in 1904. He was retiring to 37 Waldegrave Street after careers in the police force and as a hotelier. Mr and Mrs A Pickering resided in Waldegrave Street for the rest of their lives.
Mr Pickering was born in 1857 to Mr William and Mrs Susanna Pickering in Nelson, Aotearoa New Zealand.
In 1877 Mr Pickering joined the Armed Constabulary in Wellington. This was a military unit purposed to defend early colonists during the New Zealand Wars. He was originally stationed in the Taupo District, then called to Napier in preparation to travel to Taranaki during the Parihaka resistance campaign. However, on reporting to Napier, he was informed the incident had been settled. The inspector of police instead offered him a job with the Napier police force, which he accepted.
Later Mr Pickering was transferred to Kōpua, Ormondville, and then on to Woodville. He married Miss Clara Louisa Ball in 1879 and they resided in the police station at Woodville for about a year.
Miss Clara Louisa Ball was born in 1857 in Leicestershire, England, to Mr William and Mrs Catherine Ball. The following year Ball family emigrated to Nelson, Aotearoa New Zealand, on the ship Palmyra.
The couple had seven children; Emily Susan b.1881, Arthur Montague b.1883, William Henry b.1884, Ada Beatrice Louisa b.1885, Ernest Alfred b.1886, Constance Maud b.1888, and Eva May b.1895.
Police work at the time required travel by horse over a large area. Where streams couldn’t be forded or bridged, they were ferried with the horse swimming behind. Mr Pickering ended his service with the police, as a sergeant in Hastings. He was stationed there for ten years.
He then went into the hotel business in Te Aute, in 1893, holding the publican’s license for Te Aute Hotel and Refreshment Rooms for six years.
In 1899 the Pickering family moved to Woodville and Mr Pickering took over the newly built Commercial Hotel. During his time in Woodville he was a member of the Woodville Bowling Club, taking on roles of both secretary and president. In 1903 Mr Pickering gave notice that he would be transferring the publican’s license for the Commercial Hotel to Mr Owen McWilliams.
On retiring to Palmerston North, Mr Pickering joined the Palmerston North Bowling Club, becoming a long-time member. He was also a member of the Manawatū and West Coast Agricultural and Pastoral (A&P) Association, and a member of the Cosmopolitan Club. Part of the All Saints Church congregation, he served as a churchwarden for a time; and sat on the Central School Committee for a short duration.
Mrs Clara Louisa Pickering died suddenly in July 1919, aged 62 years. Mr Arthur Pickering died in October of 1933 after a long illness. He was 76 years old. The couple are interred at Terrace End Cemetery with two of their daughters who predeceased them.
In the early years, trade in poultry and livestock was common on Waldegrave Street. Residents also ran businesses from their homes.
Other residents made their home their business. In the early 1900s Mr R Workman ran Workman’s boarding house on the corner of Cuba and Waldegrave Streets (1905); Mr E Jenson ran a boarding house for working men called Avon House (1906); and Mrs McLean ran a private boarding house for gentleman boarders, at 7 Waldegrave Street (1908). She left the district for a time and reopened the boarding house in 1913.
The street was home to at least four bakers in the first quarter of the 20th century.
Mr Daniel and Mrs Emma Charker moved to new premises on Waldegrave Street in September 1906. Mr D Charker was a baker and confectioner and this ensured his bakehouse and store were in a single location. Previously he’d operated a bakehouse on Andrew Young Street, with a shop on Main Street.
Mr Charker ran his baker’s shop in Waldegrave Street until retirement. Mr and Mrs Charker celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in August 1923. The couple moved to Taonui Street in the late 1920s, celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary there in 1933.
In April 1908 Mr D Watson and Son, master bakers of 15 Waldegrave Street, advertised themselves as open for engagement.
In 1918 the Royal Bakery was opened by Mr WJ Reid, at 11 Waldegrave Street (formerly occupied by Mr and Mrs Charker). He operated there for a couple of years before selling up and leaving for England.
From 1923 Boniface Bros. had two large ovens in a Waldegrave Street bakehouse for bread baking. They used the ovens in their Cuba Street store for small goods. In October 1923 a furnace fire broke out and was fortunately controlled by the fire brigade. In November 1928 the bakehouse had light fire damage and was once again saved by the prompt response of fire fighters. In 1929 operations moved to their purpose-built bakery on the corner of Cuba and Bourke Streets.
In 1905 the Manawatū and West Coast Agricultural and Pastoral (A&P) Association purchased a section of land to obtain access to the grounds from Waldegrave Street. As horse boxes and stalls were situated along the Waldegrave Street boundary, that became the entrance for everything horse related.
Fence hoppers looking for free entertainment proved an ongoing problem on the Waldegrave Street side of the showgrounds. Barbed wire had been placed on the other three sides, but wasn't possible on Waldegrave Street. It was closely watched instead. In 1924 a brick wall was built, accompanied by new horse boxes and stalls.
In 1916 a section was purchased in Waldegrave Street for the Defence Department, for later lease or transfer to the A&P Association. In January of 1945 there was huge fire at showgrounds along the Waldegrave Street boundary. Army ordnance stores filled with over £1,000,000 worth of army equipment were destroyed. The fire brigade was able to save the six dwellings on Waldegrave Street, backing on to the showgrounds.
The parsonage of the Cuba Street Methodist Church was based in Waldegrave Street from 1913.
In March of 1917 a Police Station was established at 5 Waldegrave Street, in the charge of Constable Dunphy. This was the third station in Palmerston North, the others being at Terrace End and Palmerston North Central. It was short-lived however, closing the following year.
Late in 1924 a boy scouts troop was formed in Waldegrave Street.
In August of 1934 The Manawatū and District Radio Listener’s Association announced the formation of the 2ZO Radio Club in Waldegrave Street. From 1931, the 2ZO Radio Station association had operated out of CM Ross Co.; with concerts, children’s programming from ‘aunts’ and ‘uncles’, and Sunday services.
Despite payments to the Listeners’ Federation, the station had not received government recognition for extended broadcasting hours and there had been difficulties in obtaining co-operation from broadcasting authorities. It was decided that the balance of association funds would be given to the more informal club, with the view of keeping radio 2ZO on the air. The chairman of the club was Mr EA Shackleton.
In October of 1937, 2ZO, which was privately owned and operated by Mr JV Kyle from community donations, had its final transmission. He had been forced to sell the station and plant to the government.
The addresses on Waldegrave Street were renumbered in 1937. See p.275 and p.276 of the Rates Register of Street Numbers - Old and New.
Henry Jackson's survey plan of 1872 shows a large gravel pit occupying the future Domain Street site, accessed by a branch tram line (see map sections 694-698). The pit was subsequently filled to enable railway extensions.
Scott’s plan in 1881 shows two acres of the railway yards reserved for a domain. Therefore, this street was intended as an access road to a domain which did not eventuate.
Domain Street was surveyed in 1881, D.P.228, sections 322 and 339, and was originally a private street.
The image is a derivative of this Palmerston North Borough map from 1923 by HR Farquar, Civil Engineer and Licensed Surveyor.
In August of 1884 at a Palmerston Borough Council meeting, councillor Gatton presented a petition from residents of Domain Street. It requested that the street be taken over by the council as the requirements of the Borough Engineer had been complied with. The petition was discussed at the following meeting. Councillor Hawkins opined that the residents should tidy and repair the street first. Councillor Larcomb confirmed that the street was in disrepair. Others, including councillor West, argued that the residents had been paying rates and should expect the council to maintain their street in return.
In September of 1884 a special meeting was held to pass a resolution that Domain become a public street. However, the matter was once again adjourned. The issue? The street was forty-feet wide and the Municipal Corporations Act, 1876, required public streets to be sixty-six feet wide.
This must have been resolved, as in November of 1884, Domain Street was included in the list of town streets to be metalled and formed. Street lamps, grading, a storm water outlet, sewer connections, and water tables were addressed from 1900 to 1910.
A reoccurring complaint was the state of the footpaths. As an access street directly across from the railway station, it became heavily congested (particularly on show days) and the footpaths suffered. They were regularly treated with tar and sand and received concrete curbing and channelling in 1925. It was also in 1925 that parking restrictions were made; a result of the narrow road. The tar-sealing of the street in April 1934 was welcome.
In 1940, the 28th Māori Battalion trained at the Palmerston North Showgrounds. To learn more about their time in Palmerston North, read this Memory Lane article by Tina White.
On June 21st, 1940, the Manawatū Standard reported on the 28th Māori Battalion leaving the city. Their final farewell parade left the Showgrounds, moved along Cuba Street, and marched up Domain Street to the railway station. Friends, whānau and members of the public accompanied and cheered the men on their way.
At the station hundreds of people had assembled to wish the soldiers well and watch them depart for Wellington to board troopships. The mood was quieter and more emotional. Tiger, the battalion mascot, was led up and down the platform, leaning his front paws on the window ledges of the train for final pets and farewells. You can read more about Tiger in this Back Issues article by Tracey Armstrong.
Mr John Lynch purchased a section allotment in Domain Street in 1883 and a house was in situ the following year. Mr J Lynch was born in County Cork Ireland in 1852 and emigrated to Aotearoa New Zealand in 1876, on the ship Inverness. He is listed as a farm labourer. On arrival he worked as a farm contractor and carpenter.
Mr John Lynch met and married a fellow immigrant, Miss Mary Hyam, in 1876, and in time they settled in the Manawatū district. The couple had eight children; Daniel b.1883, Thomas b.1886, Nora Lena b.1891, Kathleen Agnes b.1892, Mary Magdalene b.1894, John Jeremiah Patrick b.1894, Julia Bridget ‘Dolly’ b.1896, and Emily Theresa b.1898.
Mr Lynch successfully encouraged his brothers Daniel and Jeremiah, to join him in Aotearoa New Zealand. Mr Jeremiah Lynch lived with the family in Domain Street c. 1884 before moving and settling in Pohangina.
In 1887 Mr Lynch had sold the house in Domain Street and purchased a section allotment in Wood Street, at the edge of town. The house on this section was destroyed by fire the following year. By 1894 he purchased six acres of bushland on the corner of Featherston and Wood Streets and there the Lynch family made their home, initially farming in Linton and Tokomaru.
Mr Lynch retired in 1912 and moved into town. He died at 37 Grey Street, on the 3rd of March 1931, aged 79 years.
Mrs Hannah Hansen owned the property at 2 Domain Street from 1899 until her death, September 1923, aged 70 years. Mrs H Hansen was born in Ireland and emigrated to Aotearoa New Zealand, c. 1867. She first lived in Dunedin and was married to Doctor CJ Allen. He died in 1880.
Mrs CJ Allen later met and married Mr Hansen and the couple came to reside in Palmerston North. Mr Hansen predeceased her by fifteen years. She was a fruiterer with a store in Te Marae o Hine the Square from 1899 and likely resided on premises while owning and letting several properties in the township. The store was located two down from the Bank of Australasia, on the corner of Te Marae o Hine the Square and Broad Street (later Broadway Avenue). In June 1912 the business was taken over by Mrs J Anderson, and Mrs Hansen retired to Domain Street.
Mr Johannes Hansen, also known as John, was resident of 10 Domain Street from 1922. Even though he wasn’t an early resident of the street, he was an early resident of the Manawatū. The Manawatū Standard reported that on 21 Nov 1930, Mr J Hansen attended the ‘Old Identities’ lunch, catering to “pioneers and settlers, city makers and nation builders.”
He died on the 1st of February 1939, in his 95th year, at 15 Domain Road (renumbered from 10) and was interred at the Kelvin Grove Cemetery.
In 1890, Palmerston North Methodists purchased two sections in Cuba Street and an adjoining section in Domain Street. A cottage on the Cuba Street section was moved to the Domain Street section as a residence for the minister. A small church was built on the corner section and services commenced in 1891. In August of 1910 a kindergarten was built at the rear of the church on Domain Street. The school, designed by AW Corslett, was capable of seating 150 children.
John Black, proprietor, built the Café de Paris Hotel in 1892 and it opened in 1893. He had previously been a railway contractor in the South Island and had worked on the Napier breakwater. It was in Napier that he met his wife, and the couple moved to Palmerston North. The unlicensed 22-bedroom hotel, situated on the corner of Main and Domain Streets, was ideally situated opposite the railway station. As such, it provided accommodation for boarders and travellers and a place to obtain refreshments for the latter.
The dining room, fitted with small tables, was sizable. On just one day of the A&P Show of 1893, over six hundred visitors had their luncheon in the establishment.
1893 proved an eventful year for Mr J Black. In June he was awarded a publican’s licence by the Palmerston Licensing Committee and was applauded by the public in attendance. In August, there was some excitement when a heavily disguised Whanganui Gaol escapee, George Harper, was arrested in the hotel. He had escaped from a hard-labour gang two months prior. When arrested the confidence trickster was in-the-act of trying to defraud Mr Black of money. In December, Mr W Hook of Timaru purchased the Café de Paris from Mr Black.
By February of 1895 the hotel had changed hands and was under the management of Mrs Susan Manson. Mrs Manson added further bedrooms, sitting rooms, billiard rooms and a dining room. The freehold and lease was purchased in April 1900 by the Ward Brewery Company who on-sold to Mr FJ Tasker. While the Café de Paris Hotel was in his hands, he added a billiard table and made alterations. In 1902, Mr Tasker added nine bedrooms and bathroom on the Domain Street frontage, and a balcony the full length of the building. Architect, Mr Ludolph Georg West, designed the plans.
In June of 1904, the Trasker’s sold the hotel to Mr E Woollright. In little over a year Mrs E Kennedy purchased Mr Wollright’s interest and disposed of it to Mrs Rebecca Tabor, who then transferred it to Mrs Mary Moynihan. Mrs Moynihan was licensee of Café de Paris until November 1906 when it was transferred to Mrs James Adams. She treated the hotel to a painting and refresh, with renovations being completed in June of 1908.
In September of 1912 the license was transferred to Mr John Smith Fletcher, who sold it to Mr Mark Dumbleton in January of 1916. Mr M Dumbleton renovated the hotel. Between December of 1920 to Feb of 1921 the hotel changed hands four times, from Mr Dumbleton to Mr Edmund Perkis to Mr Patrick John Purcell, to Mr Thomas Richards. Mr T Richards was well-known in trotting circles in Auckland and New Plymouth. Local newspapers show he was in trouble regularly for trading at Café de Paris outside of licensed hours. In 1923 an extension was built on the Domain Street frontage, with an opening to a courtyard.
In 1927 the license transferred between four owners, Mr Richards to Mr Henry Bodley, to Mr James Condy to Mr and Mrs F Jabez Bebbington. The Bebbington’s managed the Cafe de Paris Hotel for four years. In March of 1931, the new licensee was Mrs Florence Lucilla Mills. By June of 1935, Mrs ST Murphy was licensee, and in May of 1937 Mr William Charles Coldicutt took over the hotel. It continued to change hands throughout the years.
In 1963 the Main Street frontage was replaced.
The building was demolished in August of 2016 after significant fire damage eighteen months prior. Mr Gary Young was the owner. It had become an iconic bar in the 1980s, hosting live music from local and national acts.
The addresses on Domain Street were renumbered in 1939. See p.86 of the Rates Register of Street Numbers - Old and New.
George Street is named after the landowner and building contractor who put the street through, Mr George Frederick Roe (1837-1902).
The image is a derivative of this Palmerston North Borough map from 1923 by HR Farquar, Civil Engineer and Licensed Surveyor.
Mr GF Roe was an early settler in the district. He arrived in Wellington in 1841, with his parents and and six siblings, on the ship Gertrude.
As an adult he served throughout the New Zealand Wars. Arriving in Fielding c. 1872, one of his first contracts was building forty houses for immigrants to Manchester Block. In those early years he was a local storeowner and agent for the Wanganui Chronicle.
In late 1875, he commenced building a hotel on property he owned in Feilding township. The Denbigh Hotel opened on 12th May 1876, with his brother, Charles Roe, his successor in the endeavour.
Mr G Roe moved to Palmerston North, where a year earlier he had sold the Clarendon Hotel to Mrs Atkinson for £1,400. He was a Palmerston North borough councillor from 1877 to 1880. Within that time he owned the Palmerston Hotel (1877-1879) and was a general storekeeper in partnership, Messrs Roe and Green. The partnership dissolved by mutual consent and Mr Roe was left to settle all debts. Unfortunately he became bankrupt in 1880.
He married Miss Mary Stoneleigh in 1878. Miss Mary Stoneleigh of Shropshire, England, emigrated to Aotearoa New Zealand in 1873, on the ship Salisbury. She was recorded as a general servant on the passenger list. The couple had three children, Edward Wakefield b.1879, Arthur George b.1881 and Nina May b.1882.
Mr and Mrs Roe soon started a new enterprise, Roe's Private Hotel (1881-1883). In 1883, the Roe's sold-up with the intention of moving to the new settlement of Kawhia. However, in 1884, a local newspaper reports Mr Roe suffering a protracted illness in Palmerston North.
It appears that Mr Roe continued in the hotel business and was briefly the proprietor of the Post Office Hotel on Broad Street (later Broadway Avenue), in the 1892-93 rates year. His bankruptcy was announced in 1893.
In September of 1900 the Roe's were living in Taonui Street, when their daughter Nina May died. Mrs Mary Roe died in April two years later. Mr George Frederick Roe followed his wife and daughter in May of 1902, at 66 years of age. The couple are interred at Terrace End Cemetery.
In 1875 the road was put through at the Main Street end and D.P.27 subdivided. An extension was made through to the Cuba Street end in 1879 under D.P.155.
In September of 1878 The Public Works Committee of the Borough Council accepted the tender of Mr Joseph Nathan, £147, for works in George Street. This was Mr Joseph Edward Nathan, of Joseph Nathan and Co., owners of the agricultural supply firm that evolved into Glaxo. By the end of October 1878, the street was gravelled and had a pathway.
Mr George Mathew Snelson had been selling George Street sections since 1877, from his Auction Mart in Te Marae o Hine the Square. As a result, shops and houses became established rapidly, and land values soared.
In September of 1880 the culvert was lowered at junction of Cuba and George Streets. The water table was deepened towards the bush, in order to provide better drainage at upper end of Cuba Street.
On October 6 1880, at a Palmerston Borough Council meeting, councillor Ferguson recommended purchase of a right-of-way from Broad Street (later Broadway Avenue) to George Street. Landowners, Mr Hoskings and Mr Darwick, were agreeable to selling ten feet each and councillor Ferguson thought it better to purchase now, than wait some years when prices had risen.
The Chairman opposed the proposition, as George Street was initially a private street, not on the map and built on speculation. Furthermore, the developer had ignored suggestions on appropriate street width, and now there was an expectation of public funding to enhance the neighbourhood. Discussion ensued around this and the additional land required to fully open the way, being forty-six feet. According to the Municipal Corporations Act, 1876, the Council was prevented from making any street less than sixty-six feet wide. The proposal was rejected.
In the years following, there were constant issues and complaints about the narrowness of George Street in regard to parking.
Five years after the street was first constructed, it was reformed and metalled; being nine chains (1 chain = 66ft/20.12m) of construction £40, and metalling £45, a total of £85.
The way through was also revisited in 1883, when councillor Snelson presented a plan to the council of a proposed connection between George Street and the now established cul-de-sac, Coleman Place (now Coleman Mall). The proposal was carried, and the Reserves Committee commenced arrangements in September 1884, advising the Council to draft a clause into The Special Powers Bill giving local authority.
In October of 1895 Mr Andrew Jack, overseer of waterworks, reported that the sewer in George, and nearby streets, was in a bad way. Pipes had been laid without cemented joints and sewerage was being discharged into the porous shingle beneath. While acknowledged, this wasn’t acted on at the time.
In 1901, Mr Richard Liron Mestayer, newly appointed engineer for the borough sewerage scheme, was asked to inspect the main sewer and report back to council. Meanwhile the inspector of works was to check the condition of the culvert in George Street and carry out any necessary repairs. By 1904 the plan was ready for laying of sewers in George Street. However, the call for tenders was only made immediately before the Manawatū and West Coast Agricultural and Pastoral (A&P) Association Show. This ensured that work would not be carried out during show week.
The A&P Show was important to the township and attracted many out-of-town visitors. In October 1904 the council received requests to have superfluous vegetation cleared from George Street, to be presentable during show time. Show attendees were invited, through targeted advertising, to wander the streets viewing especially designed window displays. Many would patronise business establishments and there was a bustling trade. The sewers were laid and connected directly after the show ended in 1904.
For just over a decade, work was concentrated in managing water in George Street. In 1908 the old boxed culvert under the water table in the street was removed, and the space filled with tarred metal. The following year the water channel on one side of the street was tarred. In 1911 a culvert was laid at the intersection of George and Cuba Street.
In 1913 a recommendation for a concrete culvert across George Street, was referred to the following year’s estimates. And while the water table received some attention in 1914, by 1915, with stagnant water frequenting the gutters, the matter was referred to the engineer. By December of 1922, the laying of a 9-inch stormwater drain in George Street was completed. In June, five years on, a 9-inch stormwater drain was laid from the manhole in Coleman Place, for 2&½ chains into George Street.
The footpaths, being heavily used, received regular attention with repairs and reconditioning. Over the years they were top dressed in tar and sand, and hot-mix bitumen and chips. The roadway also received attention on a regular, although less frequent, basis. It was tarred in 1917 and top dressed in asphalt from time-to-time, until resurfaced with bitumen and chips in 1931.
In July of 1925 a letter from the Fire Board to the council, sparked a ten-year debate. The Fire Board drew attention to the danger of having parked cars in George Street. Passage of fire trucks was challenging, due to the narrowness of the road. Councillors discussed alternative parking in nearby streets and a motion was made that private car parking in George Street be abolished. This was revoked in September.
In June 1926, additional parking lights were installed at George Street stands. A year later a request was received for a time limit on cars parked in Coleman Place, or, that George Street parking stands be extended. The Traffic Committee recommended that Coleman Place parking be abolished and a new parking area be allotted in Cuba Street. This recommendation was passed. Also in 1927, placement of stop signs and a dome, to allow safer turning from Coleman Place into George Street, was considered.
In February of 1929 the council were asked to revisit the abolishing of parking areas in George Street. This was referred to the Transit Committee for consideration. There was talk of establishing night parking away from the day parking stands. In April 1929 alterations were made to parking hours.
Later that year, the Palmerston North Fire Brigade complained of George Street cars parked over fire plugs. Again, the suggestion was made to abolish car parking in George Street. The council asked the Transit Committee to look at city parking areas, in their entirety, and report back. The Ratepayer’s Association also recommended abolishment of George Street parking area. They felt the parking stands were a danger to traffic, due to the narrowness of the street.
In October of 1929, the type of parking was discussed, with particular note of the American style of parallel parking – nose to tail. Finally, it was decided that only night-time parking be allowed in George Street. By December the Ratepayer’s Association was pushing for abolition of night parking in George Street. They pointed out that cars were parking there in the daytime regardless.
May 1930 saw a further decision on parking. Twenty-minute parallel parking was to be allowed in George Street day and night, with a 30-foot intersection restriction. In 1931, to restrict the blocking of fire plugs, cycle parking was enabled on the east side of the street opposite fire plugs. Shortly after, the car parking time limit was raised to thirty-minutes.
In March of 1934 the Manawatu Automobile Association asked that parallel parking be allowed on both sides of George Street after 7pm. In July a by-law amendment was sent to the City Solicitors for inclusion in the next set of amendments. The by-law restricting parking in George Street to thirty-minutes was amended to permit continuous parking, each day, after 7pm. The parking question was resolved for the moment.
Mr George Mathew Snelson (the first mayor of Palmerston North) and Mrs Louisa Matilda Snelson arrived in Palmerston in December of 1870. They built a general store on the western side of Te Marae o Hine the Square in partnership with Mr EW Mills, Mr Snelson's former employer, an ironmonger in Wellington. Opening in 1871, this was the first store in the township.
Palmerston North Borough Council Rate Books show that the Snelson’s owned an allotment and house on section 331, (George Street) from 1878. By 1879 they also owned a house and blacksmith shop on section 332. This was recorded as a house and stable the following year. In November 1883 it was reported in the Manawatū Times:
“Mr G. M. Snelson is having substantial additions made to the front of his residence in George street, which will greatly improve the appearance… .”
It was also that year, that section 847 (Fitzherbert Street), first appears listed under George Snelson in the rate books. It is likely that the couple moved to their Fitzherbert Street (later Fitzherbert Avenue) residence around that time and purchased the adjoining section, 848. In 1885 they’d also acquired section 300 (George Street) with house. The Snelson’s kept property in George Street until around 1892. Due to their extensive work in the community, the Snelson’s were later known as the “Father and Mother of Palmerston North.”
A second mayoral couple lived on George Street at the turn of the 20th century. Mr James "Jimmy" Alfred Nash and Mrs Elizabeth Lily Grater, nee Keogh, married on Valentine’s Day in 1895. Rate books show that Mr JA Nash purchased allotments on sections 331 and 332 (George Street) that same year. Already operating a store in Te Marae o Hine the Square, Mr Nash established two shops in George Street next to Woodfield’s stables in 1901.
The Nash’s private residence on George Street was advertised to let in June 1906. The couple moved to their newly built house, later named Waimarama, on Alfred Street. Rate books show Mrs Nash as the ratepayer on an allotment of section 169, from 1904-05. In June 1907, Mr Nash sold his shop in Te Marae o Hine the Square to Messrs Paget and Barron and advised he could be contacted at his new business next to the Fire Bell Tower, Coleman Place.
Mr and Mrs CA Peters were residents of George Street from 1897 to 1904. A native of Palmerston North, Mr Charles Abel Peters was born c. 1864. He married Miss Esther Adams (b.1862) in 1893. The couple had five children; Florence May b.1893, Charles Abel b.1895, George Hugh b.1898, Dorothy Allen b.1901 and Ernest Albert b.1906.
Although Mr CA Peters is registered as Ernest Albert's father, Ernest is acknowleged as the biological son of Mr Ernest Albert Fearnley.
Mrs CA Peters owned a Coffee Palace with accommodation on George Street, and it appears that Mr C Peters may have run a Billiard Saloon.
Mrs Peters moved to Andrew Young Street in 1904 and opened a two-storeyed boarding house, of twenty-nine rooms. It also housed Peters Coffee Palace. It is unclear whether she and Mr Peters were still together.
In 1908 Mr Charles Abel Peters died, aged 44 years.
Mrs Peters remarried to Mr Ernest Albert Fearnley, and the business was renamed Fearnley’s Coffee Palace and private hotel. Mrs Esther Fearnley died in 1954, aged 91 years. She is interred at Kelvin Grove Cemetery.
Mrs CA Peters ran a Coffee Palace on George Street from 1897 to 1904. Occupying a large residence, she also provided accommodation to travellers and boarders. In 1904 she moved the business to Andrew Young Street.
The Woodfield Stables, also known as Manawatū Stables were established at 23 George Street in 1901. They were owned by Mr Herbert John Woodfield and operated as a livery stable with conveyances for hire. The local fire brigade housed their horses there, with the horse(s) harnessed to a fire cart overnight in case of emergency. The stables hosted experts, including Mr Walter J Bullock equine dentist and Mr GE Owen Veterinary Surgeon. Woodfield’s also offered services, such as horse clipping, on site.
In 1904 Mr Woodfield extended his livery business to a second site on Cuba Street. Considerable fire damage occurred to the George Street stables in January of 1911, fortunately no horses were harmed. The remaining wood building was pulled down in 1915. Mr Woodfield had fully established his business on Cuba Street.
Handily located next to the Woodfield Stables at 21 George Street, in 1907, was Mr Wallace John Bruce Jolly, saddler and harness maker. By the early 1920s Mr WJB Jolly expanded into sports goods and restringing of tennis racquets. His store was sold in 1926 after his unexpected death. Next to WJB Jolly, at number 19, were Messrs Swift and Co., land estate agents (established 1905). They were still advertising their business at its George Street location in 1920. In 1908, HJ Lauridsen Blacksmith & Farriers commenced business in a leased shop directly opposite Coleman Place. Mr Hans Jorgen Lauridsen’s family had moved to Palmerston North from Denmark in 1907.
In January of 1904 Messrs Joe Lee & Co., started a laundry in George Street. It remained in George Street for 17 years, with a move within the street when the original structure was demolished for new builds in 1912. In March of 1921 the company moved to Main Street West.
In September 1908 Mr Nash, in partnership with Mr DJ Lovelock, commenced business as Messrs JA Nash and Co., from George Street offices. They were produce, land, estate and general commissioner agents. It was also 1908 that Mr Nash became mayor of Palmerston North, remaining in office until 1923.
The Nash Buildings, 42-48 George Street, were constructed in 1925 for Mrs Nash. She had purchased the property in 1894, before her marriage to Mr Nash, with the building remaining in the family until 1978. The building plan was created by Mr Herbert Leslie Hickson, registered architect. The Nash Buildings housed fours shops on the ground floor including confectionary, millinery and clothing; with living spaces upstairs. Additions were made to the Cuba Street end in 1929 to the design of Mr Oscar Albert Jorgensen. This comprised a fifth shop and upstairs residence at 50 George Street. (See also, Built Heritage Inventory, below).
In 1883 the Bon Marche, a general market, drapery and clothing store on the west side of Te Marae o Hine the Square changed hands. Formerly owned by Mr John Coulson Fowler, the new proprietors were CM Ross & Co., and they took over in September of that year. In 1905, extensive additions and improvements were made to the store, including an arcade from Te Marae o Hine the Square to George Street. Fronting George Street were large display windows. The first display was furnishings, as George Street housed the furniture department and, in 1909, the factory. At that stage customers could only access the George Street side via Te Marae o Hine the Square.
This changed in 1916 with the completion of a steel framed concrete building comprised of two storeys on Te Marae o Hine the Square, and three storeys on the Coleman Place and George Street sections. With display windows on Coleman Place, entry was made from Te Marae o Hine the Square and George Street. The latter housing the showroom of the firm.
During 1927 and 1928 CM Ross and Co., built a completely new department store, replacing three of the former buildings. It was called Rosco, and, as previous, could be accessed from Te Marae o Hine the Square and George Street. After Roscos discontinued operations in 1959, the store went through several owners including DIC (originally Drapery and General Importing Company of New Zealand Ltd). In 1991 it was purchased by the Palmerston North City Council and converted into the City Library – opening in 1996.
When the new City Library opened in 1996, so too, tucked underneath the library besides the George Street entrance, did Bruce McKenzie Booksellers.
Mr Bruce McKenzie was born in 1937 and was raised in Palmerston North. He is a local identity and powerhouse in book selling. For twenty-six years he was with G H Bennett & Co Ltd, on Broadway Avenue, and spent twelve years in publishing sales in Wellington.
He opened the George Street store with his daughter Louisa, and they also had an educational bookstore on George Street and a wholesale bookstore in Coleman Mall for periods of time.
To learn more about Mr Bruce McKenzie, listen to his oral interview. Here is an image of Bruce McKenzie Booksellers in 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic.
While George Street catered to shoppers looking for goods and services, it was also home to various national organisations, such as:
New Zealand Express Company, moved from the corner of Main and David Streets to George Street in 1906. The company worked from several locations within George Street over the years. In 1935 NZ Express sold their cartage, forwarding and sample rooms at 6 George Street to Child Bros., who made it their head office. In the 1940s the Child Bros. head office moved to 85 George Street.
Department of Labour, from 1908 on the corner of Main Street West and George Street. In the 1920s the Department of Labour moved into the Hopwood’s Buildings in Main Street.
Returned Services Association, from 1917 the Soldier’s Club was situated on the corner of George and Cuba Streets. (See also, Built Heritage Inventory, below).
YMCA, 1936 to 1942. Maintained rooms on the 2nd floor of the Manawatū Building.
George Street was a hub of community entertainment in the form of picture theatres, skate rinks, dance halls and billiard saloons. The later included T Bill’s Billard Saloon, Crown Billiard Saloon, West’s Billiard Saloon and the Commercial Billiard Saloon.
In 1910, some old shops were removed to make way for an indoor skating rink. Building commenced in September of 1910 by Mr TJ Rodgers for Messrs J Fuller & Sons. The finished product would be a hall (the rink especially constructed from heart of matai), dressing rooms, attendant’s rooms and offices. The hall would be used to show pictures out-of-season. There were two entrances from George Street and one from Main Street. Further, three shops would form the frontage in George Street.
For a taste of yesteryear George Street on a Saturday night, read this Back Issues article by Steve Stannard.
This skate rink and picture hall, His Majesty’s Theatre (here in its building stage), was consequently opened in February of 1911 with a 1,750-person capacity. It was referred to by various names, including Fuller’s Hall and Fuller’s Pictures. In 1916 the theatre was leased by Mr W Downey with the intention of converting it to a modern skate rink. His Majesty’s Rink, otherwise known as The Rink, reopened March of 1917.
In 1921 Fuller’s Hall was acquired by Kairanga Auctioneering Co., for storage, display and sale of goods. Stock pens for livestock were built alongside. They also leased part of their space to Mr AC Crossan for his billiards saloon in 1922. Unfortunately, in 1924, the Kairanga Auctioneering Company went into liquidation. In September of that year a tender was accepted from The Palmerston Paramount Pictures Ltd., Company and on the 30th of October 1924, the new Paramount Theatre opened in George Street.
By 1927 this became the De Luxe Theatre. The Skating Rink De Luxe was opened in July 1931. It was also known as the De Luxe Hall, and many dances were held there. In July of 1937 the hall reopened as The Coconut Grove ballroom. From 1942 to 1945 the hall was known as the ANA Dance Hall (Airforce, Navy, Army) housing a club, lounge and patriotic shop. It was then renamed the George Street Dance Hall. It became the Ballroom Astoria around 1948 and remained so until closing in 1984.
A second picture theatre was built in George Street in 1915 on the site previously occupied by Woodfield Stables. The Palace Theatre opened in November 1915 and remained until gutted by fire in 1935. A newly refurbished theatre opened on the same site in 1936, as the Mayfair (you can see the corner of it here), and ran until 1965. As Pauline Knuckey explains in this Back Issues article, the most successful screening was in 1950. Closed for extensive modernisation, the theatre re-opened in December of 1965 and was now called the Odeon. The Mayfair had become part of the Kerridge Odeon Corporation in 1946. The Odeon stayed until its demolition in 1992.
The addresses on George Street were renumbered in 1937. See p.124 and p.125 of the Rates Register of Street Numbers - Old and New.
This street is named for Mr Louis M Pascal who owned the land when the street was formed, D.P. 578, section 294. Borough rate books reflect that his brother, Mr Claude Marie Pascal, had section 294 under his name in 1891 and it transferred to Mr LM Pascal in 1900. They and their younger brother, Mr Jean Baptiste Marius Pascal, had several businesses under the Messrs Pascal Brothers umbrella. In 1913, the last remaining allotment belonging to the Pascal Bros on section 294, was sold.
The image is a derivative of this Palmerston North Borough map from 1923 by HR Farquar, Civil Engineer and Licensed Surveyor.
Brothers, Mr CM Pascal (b.1856) and Mr L Pascal were both born in Saint-Chamond, Loire, France. They emigrated to Aotearoa New Zealand in 1878 and 1879 respectively, Mr C Pascal on the ship Aroha. By 1882 the brothers were running sheep and cattle on a farm at Awahuri called Beaulieu. They fenced and cleared the property in early 1884, and applied for permission to the Manawatū Road Board to cut down fourteen acres of bush adjoining on the north and south road lines. This was agreed at £2 an acre, the going rate at the time.
Mr C Pascal married Miss Marie Leopoldine Louise Roper in 1887 and five children were born to them at Beaulieu; Alix Marie b.1888, Odette Marie b.1890, Marie Louise b.1892, Pierre Marie b.1894 and Andree Rona Marie b.1896. In 1897 Beaulieu was sold to Mr PA McHardy of Hawkes Bay. He farmed there until 1915 when the 431-acre property was subdivided into fifteen blocks of varying sizes and sold. Mr and Mrs C Pascal and their family left for France circa 1908. They were living in Greenoble in 1936, when Mr Claude Marie Pascal died, aged 80 years.
It was in 1884 that Mr JBM Pascal, born 1859 in Loire France, emigrated and joined his older brothers. Three of seven siblings now resided in Aotearoa New Zealand. Mr JB Pascal also took up land in Awahuri and built a homestead named Brooklands. In 1887 he married Miss Flora Emily MacLennan. After a trip to France they settled to farming Brooklands for 22 years and had three children; Madge Marie b.1889, Noelle Louise Jeanne b.1893 and Flora Lucie b.1896. The couple moved to their final home, Foncala, in Te Awe Awe Street in 1909. Mr Jean Baptiste Marius Pascal died there in June 1939, aged 79 years.
Messrs Pascal Bros became involved in the flax industry in the Rangiotū community, which was then known as Oroua Bridge. Mr L Pascal owned a 1,000-acre property at Kereru, of which 340 acres were in flax. He took up residence there in 1890. The Teopakete hemp mill was established in October of the same year and employed about sixty people under the management of Mr Gledhill. For ease of transport a tramway was laid through the centre of flax country. The output of the mill was around 2,000 tons of green leaf per annum.
Both Mr L Pascal and Mr C Pascal were active participants in local Hemp Miller’s meetings, and members of the Flaxmiller's Association. Mr C Pascal was also a member of the Horowhenua County Council.
In 1896 the mill was destroyed by fire and rebuilt, resuming operations in 1898. In 1903 this second mill was also destroyed by fire and in 1906 they sold the stock and implements. Prior to the sale there were efforts within the industry to have the government purchase the property as a model flax mill for experimentation, however this did not eventuate. Mr WH Ferris who had managed the mill for twelve years, became Chief Grader of the Dominion in 1910.
The brothers owned a second property at Puketotara, Oroua Bridge. They purchased this from Mr Walter K Simpson in the late 1880s and made improvements with a view to farming livestock. The property, some 2,000 acres, was sold to Mr John Gemmell in 1905.
Rangitāne presented the pou (palisade posts) from the Puketotara pā to the Pascal family. Prior to the 1870s, the posts, carved to represent ancestors, stood on the pā on the banks of the Manawatū River. They were a significant and important example of early local carving. The brothers gifted them to the French government in 1899. They were exhibited in the Musée de l'Homme, in Paris, late into the twentieth century. Unfortunately the carvings were insensitively displayed, as Mrs Mina Louise McKenzie, director of Manawatū Museum, reported after her visit in 1984.
It was from 1890 onwards that Mr C Pascal and Mr L Pacal purchased property in the Palmerston North township.
The brothers were keen horsemen and Mr J Pascal was one of the earliest members of the Manawatū Racing Club and Feilding Jockey Club. Mr L Pascal was heavily involved in Manawatū racing. He raced horses at various meetings from 1898 and eventually employed a private horse trainer, Mr T Clarke, stationed on Foxton Line. His most successful horses were Flingot by Musketry–Lady Isabelle (brood mare and dam of all his horses) and Bourrasque by Sou’Wester–Lady Isabelle. They competed from around 1905 to 1912. Bourrasque won the Egmont, Manawatū, and Foxton Cups.
In 1908 Mr L Pascal sold some of his horses to fund a trip to La Belle, France. It was with particular regret that he decided to sell Lady Isabelle to Mr S Mesena.
Local newspapers show that the brothers were active citizens of their communities in both a civic and social sense. In addition to horse-racing, Mr L Pascal golfed at the Manawatū Golf Club. He appears to have been a congregant of All Saints Church and donated regularly to local causes, including the new convent in 1903. From 1908 Mr J Pascal provided French conversation lessons at home and at the Convent High School on Grey Street. The Pascal’s corresponded with county and borough councils over roads and services. For example, regarding road upkeep for movement of stock to market, or development of infrastructure towards sale of allotments on town streets. Mr L Pascal was using those same town streets – or not – he was fined 10s and costs of 7s for riding his bicycle on the footpath in 1904.
The brothers entered livestock and hemp into Manawatū and West Coast Agricultural and Pastoral (A&P) Association Show competitions from the 1890s, winning several prizes. The Pascals also had business dealings with the A&P Association, due to the A&P grounds adjoining Pascal Street (see History, below.)
In 1914, with the commencement of World War One, Mr L Pascal’s attentions returned to his home country. He wrote a letter to the Manawatū Times in September of that year defending the French position. In 1916, as secretary of the Red Cross Society in Palmerston North he sought donations to support French aid efforts, and in April of that year he returned to his birth country.
Meanwhile, the operations of Messrs Pascal Bros., property development and sales, continued in Palmerston North until 1924, when Abraham and Williams, Auctioneers, were instructed to wind-up the estate. This was largely land around the Cuba and Chelwood Street areas.
Residing in France, Mr L Pascal corresponded with his brother Mr J Pascal of Te Awe Awe Street and his undertakings were occasionally mentioned in local newspapers. In November of 1939, a letter from Mr L Pascal, now 81 years old, was published in the Manawatū Standard. He spoke of conditions in France as the country prepared for war and the enlistment of French soldiers. He wrote of his decision to remain in Lyon despite authorities’ warnings to leave the town, on account of local war armament factories being likely targets. He ended the letter:
“You will understand that we don’t live in happy days but, believe me, France is calm and determined without fear. We know that all the British Dominions, above all dear New Zealand, will join England and France. The 1914-1918 war has taught us to admire and appreciate greatly the courage and military valour of the Anzac fighters. We will be pleased to have them with us if it comes to fighting again. We still hope a little that it won’t.”
Pascal Street was a stretch of paddocks in its early days, of livestock, orchards, oats and tare – country living within town boundaries. It became increasingly residential as the town grew into a city in the late 1920s. The street's fortunes were closely tied to the adjoining showgrounds, owned by the Manawatū and West Coast Agricultural and Pastoral (A&P) Association. In the 1890s grazing paddocks and sheep pens were situated in the showgrounds alongside Pascal Street. While subdivided, the street wasn’t formed until c. 1900.
From 1901 residents corresponded with the Borough Council to form a footpath on the west side of the street and requested water services. For the latter, ratepayers paid to lay the pipes and requested a rates rebate in return. The Waterworks Committee ensured extension of water services to Pascal Street by October 1901; however, the kerbing and footpaths were delayed until August 1904. A couple of months later lamps were erected, and gasworks extended in 1905. Stormwater work began in 1906 with the culverts completed in 1907, and sewer connections made in 1908. In 1910 the road was tarred.
In May of 1905 the Football Union began regular practices and matches on new grounds in Pascal Street. Junior footballers complained of the well-used grounds being lumpy in 1907. The state of the football grounds wasn’t the only complaint. From 1905 to 1910, both the A&P Association and street residents drew attention to the poor state of the footpaths.
The A&P Association were keen to extend their grounds and provide access from the rear. Negotiations ensued with the Pascal Bros over a number of years with a view to transfer allotment 9, section 294 of Pascal Street to the Association in exchange for the right to form a road, the extension of Cuba Street, through the Education Reserve. The latter was leased by the A&P Association. In 1908, this was originally permitted by the Education Commissioner, but did not proceed at the time.
Once fresh negotiations commenced in 1912 the Education Reserve had passed into the hands of the Wellington Land Board. When the Land Board refused permission, a petition was made to parliament by A&P Association members. The government, led by Prime Minister Massey, issued permission and the transfer proceeded allowing the A&P Association to increase the size of their grounds. In October 1912 the Borough Council gave consent for the extension of Cuba Street and construction of a new street (later named Palermes Street), connecting to the Cuba Street extension.
It became the practice of A&P Shows to supply free milk from the exhibitors of dairy cattle each morning at the Pascal Street gate. Hundreds of children enjoyed this tradition during show time.
In May of 1920 the Borough Council received a letter from residents requesting a footway be constructed on the east side of Pascal Street. Residents agreed to pay half the cost, and kerbing and channelling was carried out in May 1922. Heavy traffic on the street required Pascal Street to be scarified and re-metalled in 1923 and from that time the road and footpath were regularly top-dressed.
1923 was also the year a naming and renaming scheme of Palmerston North streets was proposed. Both the Manawatū Standard and the Manawatū Times covered Mr JH de Marr’s report of the scheme, to the Chamber of Commerce in May of 1923. His aim was to eliminate confusion by renaming current streets with a prefix or suffix based on location within Palmerston North; north, south, east, west. Future street names would start with their location letter. For example, all streets in the west would start with the letter ‘w’, all streets in the south with the letter ‘s’ and so on. Mr J de Marr suggested various options, using the example of Pascal Street in the south:
Under his scheme ‘avenues’ would designate parallel boundaries. ‘Streets’ would run parallel to avenues, ‘roads’ would run in the opposite direction, that is, non-parallel. He thought this more scientific, with the benefits outweighing any sentimentality.
There was a lengthy discussion in which chamber member, Mr JH Stevens, suggested it would be wiser not to attempt too great a revolution. The chamber voted on a middle ground with a recommendation to the Borough Council on renaming several streets, avenues (including Rangitikei and Fitzherbert), and placing a direction letter suffix on the end of every name.
After the A&P Show of 1926, Pascal Street residents were treated to a nightly orchestra of lions’ roars. The six lions, situated in cages by the Pascal Street fence of the showgrounds, were owned by Mrs Baker, principle of the former Baker’s Circus & Zoo. When a business partnership severed with the proprietor of another circus during the winter show, she decided to sell the lions. They stayed at the showgrounds for ten days while she arranged temporary accommodation in the Wellington Zoo.
In 1935 water supply improvements included the laying of nine inch main in Pascal Street. This was a good thing due to the vicinity to the showgrounds and also because Pascal Street was the location of regular grass fires over the years.
By the late 1930s the Takaro Suburb Progressive Association had formed, with representatives from Pascal Street, and was active in canvassing the council for street improvements.
In December of 1903, Mr John Archibald of 33 Pascal Street, sold his house to Mr and Mrs Patrick Guerin, late of Foxton. Mr Patrick Guerin was born c. 1840 and Mrs Catherine Guerin, nee McGill, was born c. 1851 in County Antrim, Ireland. On arriving in Aotearoa New Zealand Miss C McGill went to the West Coast, South Island, where she met Mr P Guerin, a dairyman. They married in Hokitika in 1874. In 1875 the couple took up ownership of the Butcher’s Arms Hotel in Revell Street of Hokitika. They were there when the discovery of gold was made at Kumara in 1876.
According to voter registrations, the Guerin’s moved to the Manawatū in 1880. Messrs Guerin and McGauley were the Foxton poundkeepers in the early 1880s. Mr and Mrs Guerin's daughter, Miss Alice Elma Guerin, was born c. 1880-1884. By 1889 Mr and Mrs Guerin had purchased Captain Moore’s house in Purcell Street, Foxton. That same year Mr Guerin became the borough Ranger and Registrar of Dogs. He held the position for a decade, carrying out his duties on horseback. This was an interesting choice of career for Mr Guerin who was fined several times in early 1870s, West Coast, for allowing cattle to wander.
In addition to ranging, Mr Guerin raised and sold young cattle, cows in calf, potatoes and oats from their 4&½ acre lot. The couple also purchased and let property. Mr Guerin successfully tendered for the Foxton lamplighting contract from 1890 to 1900, an annual income double his ranging work. Mrs Guerin was involved with the Foxton Dramatic Club and had a talent for creating stage sets. She also sold poultry, such as geese. In 1894 Mr Guerin became county Ranger and Dog Tax Collector for Awahou Riding, Manawatū County Council. He held the Pohangina position for a couple of years.
In 1898 Mrs Guerin put their Purcell Street property on the market to let or sell. By 1903 the family had moved into the Pascal Street property after a few months in Stoney Creek (later known as Whakarongo). They retained property in Foxton. Miss AE Guerin finished her education in Palmerston North and left home in April of 1906 when she married Mr William McDowell. Mrs Catherine Guerin died in 1917, at 66 years of age. Mr Patrick Guerin died in 1927, aged 87, and was interred at Palmerston North Cemetery. His will included pecuniary legacies to Catholic churches, convents and orphanages in the Manawatū and Upper Hutt.
Mr and Mrs Arthur Hosking lived at 25 Pascal Street from c. 1904. Mr A Hosking, an engineer, was born in Palmerston North in 1879. He was the son of Mr and Mrs Charles Hosking, early settlers. Mr C Hosking founded an engineering works in Church Street, which was taken over by his sons when he died. Mr A Hosking withdrew from the business in 1904, the same year he married Miss Annie Thompson, and went to work for Berry Engineering until 1911. The Hosking Bros business was later sold to JJ Niven and Co., becoming Niven Engineering.
Mr Hosking became bankrupt in 1912 after being unable to find further employment. Mrs Annie Hosking, aged 36, died that same year from a long illness.
He successfully applied for discharge of bankruptcy in 1913 and went into partnership with Mr Charles William Fuller. The firm, located on Rangitikei Street, was called The Hosking Foundry and Engineering Company. The partnership was dissolved in 1915 and the business accounts settled by Mr Hosking.
In 1913 Mr Hosking married Miss Eva Gertrude Thomas. In 1915 the couple moved to Pahiatua where Mr Hosking had become licensee and proprietor of the Rutland Hotel.
He returned to engineering in Palmerston North in 1922, and had a business on Lombard Street until his death in 1925, aged 46 years. He was survived by his wife Mrs Eva Hosking and six children; Ethelwyn Beatrice Ena Thompson b.1907, Beatrice Coral Thompson b.1909, Nita Daphne b.1915, Lorraine b.1916, Arthur Edward b.1918 and Maitland Harvey b.1923.
Mrs and Mrs R Mulrooney took up residence at 23 Pascal Street in March of 1909. Mr Roger Mulrooney, recently retired from the Masonic Hotel, had been in ill health for some years. In the short-term they aimed to strengthen his constitution to the extent he could take a health tour. They remained owners of the hotel and leased it out.
Mr Roger Mulrooney was born in County Sligo, Ireland, c. 1855. He came to NZ in 1877 on the ship Piako. He was on the passenger list as a farm labourer. Initially, Mr R Mulrooney took up a teaching position at Dunedin Normal School, later joining the Prisons Department, c. 1888. Miss Mary Kavanaugh was born in County Kilkenny, Ireland, c. 1849 and came to New Zealand in 1882, likely on the ship Mennock. In 1892, Miss M Kavanaugh married Mr Mulrooney in Wellington, where he worked in the prison service. There were no children of the marriage.
They came to Palmerston North in 1898 and took possession of the Masonic Hotel from Mr PL Harnett in 1899. Mr Mulrooney was a genial and popular hotelkeeper and townsman. He was a member of the Licensed Victuallers Association and the Hibernian Society.
Mr Roger Mulrooney’s health took a turn for the worst in April of 1909 and he died in May at 56 years of age. His funeral was large and well attended. Eighteen hotelkeepers amongst the followers came from all over the country. The hotels in Palmerston North closed from 2:00pm to 2:45pm as a mark of respect.
Mrs Mulrooney was well known for her church and charitable work. In 1924 she re-licensed the Masonic Hotel under her name and became the hotel keeper, with renovations and refurbishments made. She remained in Pascal Street until her death in 1932.
Mr and Mrs Hans Anderson Ihle and Mr Adolph Ihle moved to numbers 43 and 45 Pascal Street, respectively, in 1916 (section 294, allotment 17). Mr and Mrs HA Ihle had owned property on the corner of Featherston and Pascal Streets since 1893, first on one corner (section 294 allotment 20) and then the opposite (section 294 allotment 19) from 1897. They also owned allotment 18. Mr A Ihle had made the move from Ferguson Street.
Mr H Ihle was born in Christiania, Oslo, in 1866, and Mr A Ihle was born in Palmerston North in 1880.
The Ihle brothers were sons of Mr and Mrs Anders Hansen Ihle, and among the first families of Palmerston (later Palmerston North). They arrived aboard the ship Celaeno (also referred to as Zealine) in February of 1871. Their family name was originally Hansen, in the patronymic style. In 1870, it was changed to Iler, after the family farm, and was spelt Ihle.
Ihle Street is named in honour of their father, a carpenter and contractor. One of Mr H Ihle's enduring memories was being the first child to walk upon the Fitzherbert Bridge, on which his father was contractor. You can read more about Mr AH Ihle in the Manawatū Journal of History. The article is on page 11, Anders Hansen Ihle: Palmerston North Pioneer by Joan Barnes.
Mr H Ihle married Miss Anna Matilda Jacobsen in Wellington in 1892. They had two sons and two daughters; Algar Herbert b.1894, Ida Matilda b.1897, Annie b.1899 and Leonard Hans b.1900.
He was involved in the timber industry, working for GA Gamman and Co., and the Tiratu Sawmilling Company. He was a member of the Palmerston North Brass Band, the Druids’ Lodge, a keen lawn bowler and member of the Takaro Club. Mrs Anna Matilda Ihle died in 1932, aged 69, she was followed by her husband Mr Hans Anderson Ihle six years later. He was 71 years old and was interred in the Kelvin Grove Cemetery.
Mr A Ihle married Miss Rosalyn Lillian Mudrack in 1899. They had three sons; Adolph Harding born c. 1901, Stanley Robert b.1901 and Gifford Clarence b.1902. The couple separated in 1914. Mr A Ihle worked as a stoker at the Gasworks. He died in 1961 at the age of 81 years.
Early businesses on the street were rural in flavour. There was trade in livestock, crops and garden produce, as well as leasing of paddocks to exhibitors attending A&P Shows.
The poultry business was also prevalent, with Mr Walter Cotton advertising the Maitai Poultry Yard from 1904. Other poultry traders included Mr J Tavendale of 29 Pascal Street and Mr H Barlow of 6 Pascal Street.
In November of 1927, the corner of Pascal Street and Cuba Street extension, approximately 1-acre, was gifted to trustees of the All Saints Children’s Home by Mr H Akers. The original home on the corner of Ada and Ferguson Streets was overcrowded and £1000 had already been set aside to build a new modern home. With thirty-six inmates in Palmerston North and twenty-five at Foxton, the trustees hoped to erect the new building on Pascal Street. Rebuilding funds were of sufficient amount in 1930 that a decision was made to proceed. In August the Right Reverend, Bishop of Wellington Dr TH Sprott, laid the foundation stone. The home was completed in December and was expected to be occupied after the Christmas holidays.
In January of 1931 the grounds were levelled and landscaped due to a donation from a Wellington businesswoman. On 30 January 1931, thirty-six children moved into the building, and in March the home was officially opened by the Right Reverend Dr TH Sprott. In October of 1931 there was a gathering to celebrate 25 years of the All Saints home and its first year in current location. In April of 1933, unable to maintain the costs of two homes, the Foxton children were placed in the Pascal Street home, bringing total residents to forty-three. The Foxton home was kept as a seaside resort for children.
In 1964, with more children being fostered, All Saints Children’s Home was replaced by a family home in Ngaio Street. The Pascal Street building was used as a convent and for private accommodation over the ensuing years. It was demolished in 2014.
In 1946 a concrete electrical power substation was built in Pascal Street. Alongside the Power Station and Main Street substation, the aim was to carry higher voltages to help deal with increased demand. This image shows the interior of the substation after an explosion in 1958.
The A&P Grounds transferred to the Palmerston North City Council in 1973. The A&P Cattle Pavillion, originally built c. 1915, was lost to fire in 1977. Note the Pascal Street Stadium, built in 1961, next to the destroyed pavilion in this image. Designed by Bill Lobel Smith and Associates, construction commenced on the new Pascal Street Stadium in 1980, also known as the Manawatū Sports Stadium and the Palmerston North Sports Stadium. It was completed in 1981 and is now known as Arena Manawatu.
The addresses on Pascal Street were renumbered between 1936 and 1939. See p.210 of the Rates Register of Street Numbers - Old and New.
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.
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, Mr 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.
The lane is a combination name. It acknowledges Ashhurst the town and Grove Road – which the lane branches off. February 2020.
The aerial image is a derivative of the Palmerston North City Council online mapping Geographic Information System (GIS).
The street is named for Te Ara o Kawai, the first wife of Korongawhenuai. December 2022.
The aerial image is a derivative of the Palmerston North City Council online mapping Geographic Information System (GIS).
Korongawhenuai is a direct descendant of Te Rangiwhakaewa. The Paewai and Nireaha whānau whakapapa to Korongawhenuai. His second wife, Ngene, was the younger sister of Kawai.
Korongawhenuai is featured at the heart of one of the significant battles with Ngāti Apa.
The street is named for Te Ara o Waihuri. December 2022.
The aerial image is a derivative of the Palmerston North City Council online mapping Geographic Information System (GIS).
The Matai, Moea and Te Panau whānau whakapapa to Te Ara o Waihuri, who had two wives.
The crescent is named for Pokerekere, Whakarongo's first husband. December 2022.
The aerial image is a derivative of the Palmerston North City Council online mapping Geographic Information System (GIS).
To learn about Whakarongo, read this Back Issues article by Karla Karaitiana.
Pokerekere's parents were Ratoaiterangi and Kaiwari. His father, Ratoaiterangi, was the son of important tipuna, Parakiore.
Whakarongo married Pokerekere and they lived at Te Wii pā. The couple had a son, Manukatahi. Sadly, it was a short alliance as Pokerekere died young. Manukatahi also died in early adulthood, leaving behind a daughter called Ngatii.
Whakarongo then married Tukere and lived at Te Motu a Poutoa and the Ruahine kāinga where she had another two children, Te Paea and Wirihana Kaimokopuna.
Taonui Street is named for the Taonui Swamp. While the literal meaning is "big spear" or "big catch," it is a metaphor for an abundance of kai (food) and resources.
The image is a derivative of this Palmerston North Borough map from 1923 by HR Farquar, Civil Engineer and Licensed Surveyor.
The Taonui Basin lies between the Manawatū and Oroua rivers in Kairanga, on the Manawatū Plains. The plains are an ancient sea bed. Earth movement over millions of years shaped the sea bed into domes running roughly parallel with the Ruahine and Tararua Ranges. This, in turn, determined the way in which the Manawatū and Oroua rivers meandered.
The meandering of the rivers, particularly from Opiki to the sea, created lagoons and basins that became separate from the main flow when the rivers changed paths. In times of high rainfall, the Manawatū and Oroua rivers would overflow and the water, full of silty alluvium, became trapped in the basins, forming swamps. Taonui Swamp was among the largest of these.
Semi-swamp forest formed on the low lying land surrounding the swamp. It was dominated by Aotearoa New Zealand’s tallest native tree, kahikatea (white pine), and pukatea (Laurelia novae-zelandiae). Within the swamp was harakeke (flax) and raupō (Typha orientalis). The Taonui swamp had a plentiful supply of tuna (eels). The site was a major and important source of kai (food) and resources for Rangitāne and Ngāti Kauwhata.
The sale of Te Ahu a Tūranga Block, first offered to the government by Rangitāne rangatira, Te Hirawanui Kaimokopuna, in 1858, was finalised in 1864. Payment was made to Rangitāne, Ngāti Kauwhata and Ngāti Tumokai. To learn more about Te Hirawanui Kaimokopuna, look at Te Hirawanui Drive. 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. In 1867 the first sections were being sold in Karere.
When a survey of the Kairanga block was completed by Mr Thomas M Drummond in 1878, drainage was implemented. The land block adjoined the Taonui Swamp, which remained in Māori ownership. Kairanga County land sales were made in 1881.
Where Māori viewed the swamp with opportunities and benefits, settlers saw challenges. European farmers set about clearing vegetation and swamp forest in order to introduce paddocks of crops and livestock. This act of clearing resulted in higher incidence of flooding, the centre basin was open to water up to three quarters of the year. Finding drainage particularly difficult to maintain in winter, farmers also carried out their own drainage systems.
The deep drain originally cut through the centre of the block, joined up with the Te Puke Stream and emptied into the Taonui Swamp. It was after 1894, when the Manawatū Drainage Board straightened and deepened the main drainage outlets, that Taonui Swamp began to empty. As it emptied, harakeke and blackberry, the latter introduced by settlers, encroached. Eventually the food species completely disappeared and the forest almost followed.
There are two remnants of the semi-swamp forest today, Buchanan’s Bush (now Clausen’s) and Sutherland’s Bush. The forest that used to entirely surround the Taonui Basin can never be fully regenerated, as drainage has lowered the water table irreversibly. When the Clausen family purchased their dairy farm in 1979, they recognised the significance of the forest remnant. They fenced the 5-acre area of bush and spent a great deal of time and energy towards enabling the forest to regenerate and become healthy.
Heagney, G. (2023, September 11). With a name comes a kaupapa: The history of Māori names of significance in Feilding. Stuff NZ.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/pou-tiaki/300966028/with-a-name-comes-a-kaupapa-the-history-of-maori-names-of-significance-in-feilding
Knight, C. (2018). Ravaged beauty (2nd ed.). Totara Press.
Taonui Street was the first subdivision in the town, with the northern end (Featherston Street end) D.P.1, surveyed in 1872. The owner of this section, 301, was Mr WHW Haines. Through an oversight it was not dedicated until 1951. The southern end (Cuba Street end) D.P.16, was surveyed in 1874, being section 302, owner not stated. In 1878, twenty-eight chains (chain = 66 feet/20.12 metres) of the street was metalled.
Taonui Street was one of the first streets to have a continuous row of dwellings. By 1878 there were seven houses on the northern end and six on the southern.
In March of 1880, an application was made by Taonui Street ratepayers to have work done in a street leading on to Rangitikei Line. Likely Cuba or Featherstone Street (later called Featherston Street). The council agreed that if ratepayers carried out the work, they’d be reinstated once the borough had commensurate funds.
Meanwhile, on Taonui Street, there was a problem with water accumulating due to a depression in the lie of the land. This was reported to the Borough Council in May of 1881. By August, a plan was made to reform and regrade the road and footpaths. However, the works weren’t immediately carried out as Borough Engineer, Mr Edward John Armstrong, was experiencing challenges in response to tenders. It wasn’t until November of 1884 that water tables were made in the street, and stagnant water removed. Surface water was to remain an issue.
In August of 1883, councillor Walker proposed that owners of unfenced sections in Taonui Street receive notice to fence. Councillor Ferguson seconded the motion.
In the early 1880s the area around Taonui Street was known as the 'fashionable quarter' and had the nickname, "New Chum Town." Early residents certainly went on to become movers and shakers in the community. Over time the street lost its prestige. Taonui Street later acquired the name "Soapsuds Alley," because of the narrowness of the street and all the clotheslines strung up there.
The narrowness of Taonui Street was discussed regularly. In September of 1917, the council officially stated that the width of Taonui Street would not meet future requirements. Section 117 of the Public Works Act gave the council power to set frontages back to an appropriate distance. Almost a decade later, in April 1927, the council decided not to apply the Public Works Act to Taonui Street. As an alternative, consideration was given to compensating owners who were asked to set back their frontage.
The widening of Taonui Street was eventually carried out in the early 1960s, and a stormwater sump unit installed.
Residents made the council aware of problems or opportunities arising from businesses operating in, or nearby the street. In February of 1886, for example, councillor Snelson presented a petition from residents complaining of night soil contractors keeping their carts in the vicinity of houses.
The tarring and sanding of footpaths had just been completed, when, in February of 1905, herds of cattle and horses driven down the street, tore up the new walkways. While residents brought this to the council's attention, apart from regular upkeep, there wasn’t a solution. Taonui Street remained a recommended stock route.
By October of 1906 the main waterworks were completed, allowing Taonui Street residents to be connected. Two years later, all premises on Taonui Street were connected to the sewer.
From c. 1910 old houses in the street increasingly came under scrutiny. As the earliest residential street in Palmerston North, Taonui Street contained the oldest houses, some becoming increasingly derelict. Decisions were made in the ensuing years on whether such dwellings should be condemned and demolished.
This cottage, formerly 23 Taonui Street, was one of the earliest homes still standing in 1979. On its section was a 40-year-old pine which was recommended for inclusion in the city’s tree register. The cottage was on the City Council’s register of historic buildings. It was dismantled in 1980, by carpenter Mr Graham Norman, who planned to reconstruct the building in James Line. Mr Roy Mudgeway chopped down the pine before it was officially protected as one of the city’s notable trees.
In 1913 there was talk, initiated by a special committee appointed by the Borough Council, of changing the name from Taonui Street to Nelson Street. There was discussion in the Manawatū Standard on preservation of local Māori names, versus honouring the overseas hero of Trafalger. The local Māori name endured.
May of 1930 saw the street excavated to a new formation level, and metalled. A welcome move in reducing surface water. In March of 1933 the street was tar-sealed, which went a long way to mitigating the dust output from the previous metalled roadway.
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 Taonui Street were renumbered between 1936 and 1939. See p.258 and p.259 of the Rates Register of Street Numbers - Old and New.
The crescent is named for Tukere, Whakarongo's second husband. December 2022.
The aerial image is a derivative of the Palmerston North City Council online mapping Geographic Information System (GIS).
To learn about Whakarongo, read this Back Issues article by Karla Karaitiana.
After the death of her first husband, Pokerekere, Whakarongo married Tukere. The couple lived at Te Motu a Poutoa and the Ruahine kāinga. To learn about the Ruahine kāinga, read this Back Issues article by Karla Karaitiana. They had two children, Te Paea and Wirihana Kaimokopuna.
In the early 1820s, Whakarongo and a party, including Tukere, 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 of Te Amio-Whenua expedition, ran them down. It is understood that Whakarongo fought in both battles, Te Horehore and Te Ruru. Everyone in the group at Te Ruru were killed except a woman called Wiramina, and Whakarongo.
Due to her rank, moko kauae and demeanor, Whakarongo was captured and taken to Kaipara. There she married a chief of Te Uri-o-Hau branch of Ngāti Whatua and had another family.
When Te Hirawanui Kaimokopuna learned of Tukere's death and his sister's abduction, he took their children, Te Paea and Wirihana Kaimokopuna, as whāngai (to foster and nuture) and raised them as his own.
This street is believed to be named after Mr David Joseph Nathan (1858-1920), sometimes described as the father of the dairying industry. Mr DJ Nathan may have also been the road contractor who put it through in 1875. At the time he was working for his father, Mr Joseph Edward Nathan, who certainly responded to tenders for town road works in the 1870s. Mr JE Nathan, was one of the largest landowners in the Manawatū.
In February of 1883, a letter from Joseph Nathan and Co., the family business, was read at the Palmerston Borough Council meeting, requesting the forming of David Street, with a cheque for £25.
The image is a derivative of this Palmerston North Borough map from 1923 by HR Farquar, Civil Engineer and Licensed Surveyor.
Mr David Joseph Nathan was born in Wellington on 30th of August, 1858, where he spent his school years and attended Wellington College. The eldest son, he then joined his father’s business, Joseph Nathan and Company Ltd., managing the Ready Money Store in Te Marae o Hine the Square, Palmerston North. By 1883 Mr D Nathan was supervising the management of various branches of the family firm in the Manawatū district. He would eventually become managing director of the company and remain so until his death.
He married in 1886 to Miss Miriam ‘Minnie’ Jonas, daughter of Mr Hyam Jonas of London. They had four children together; Hilda Rebecca b.1888, Joseph Edward b.1889, Kathleen Madge b.1891 and Aileen Ida b.1895.
The first successful shipment of frozen meat from Aotearoa New Zealand to Britain was made aboard the sailing ship Dunedin in 1882. In the 1890s, advances in technology meant that ocean-going steamers had been fitted with refrigerating machinery. Mr Nathan could see the possibilities for trade.
He contacted owners of dairy cows in the region proposing they establish creameries and gave farmers a price to encourage production. Those who started creameries quickly gained success, but questioned Mr Nathan’s earnings in the enterprise. Mr Nathan offered to sell creameries at a reasonable rate of commission, his firm acting as the London agent, if the farmers would form co-operative companies. This was acceptable and The Ready Money Store became The United Farmers’ Co-operative Association Ltd in 1892. The co-operative dairy company movement spread throughout Aotearoa New Zealand.
Mrs Nathan died suddenly of peritonitis in May of 1897. The funeral was carried out in both Hebrew and English, as the Nathan’s were of Jewish faith. Mr Nathan was president of the congregation and president of the Jewish Socal Club.
In 1899 Mr Nathan re-married. His wife was Miss Cora Jonas, daughter of Mr Jonah Jonas of London. Together they had one child, Nell b.1904, and lived on a large estate in Wellington.
In 1903 in Wellington, Mr Nathan proposed a scheme for the consolidation of the frozen meat trade. He attended farmer’s meetings to discuss freight and generally encourage interest. Mr Nathan was passionate about the country’s commerce, and how Aotearoa New Zealand could capitalise on opportunities – especially in regard to flax, dairy and meat.
Mr Nathan also paid attention to local body matters in his home, the capital, and was a city councillor for three years. He was a member of the Harbour Board, steward of the Wellington Racing Club and director of the old Wellington-Manawatū Railway Company. Mr Nathan continued to speak publicly on world trade. As the president of the Wellington Chamber of Commerce, he advocated for preferential trade with Great Britain. He was also a one-time director of the Bank of New Zealand and directed or served on the boards of many other companies.
His links with Palmerston North and the Manawatū continued. As President of the Bowling Association in Wellington, he attended the Palmerston North Bowling Club’s opening ceremony in 1903 and was elected vice-president of the Manawatu and West Coast A&P Association in 1904.
It was also in the early 1900s that Mr Nathan submitted proposals to Manawatū dairy farmers for the establishment of factories to produce dried milk. Cheltenham, Makino, and Bunnythorpe responded with sufficient support to induce him to either purchase or establish plant and start the venture. Glaxo was to become the brand name for their baby milk and eventually evolved into the name of this business. Mr D Nathan was the first head of the Glaxo Manufacturing Company.
On 20th of March 1920, Mr Nathan died suddenly from an aneurism at a private hospital in Wellington. He was 62 years old. Mr Nathan is interred at the Karori cemetery.
His younger brother, Mr Frederick Joseph Nathan, became Managing Director and Chairman of Joseph Nathan & Co. Ltd. Mr FJ Nathan had settled in Palmerston North and was a borough councillor, 1911-1915, and mayor of the city 1923-1927.
David Street was put through in 1875. D.P. 26, and formed in 1883. It was listed as a private street in 1885. After 1900 it appears to have been regarded as public, with the council laying service pipes and maintaining the road and footways.
In June 1901 Mr Axel Frederick Anderson made a request to the Borough Council that the footpath be asphalted. This was carried out in August. They were top-dressed with tar and sand in January of 1912 and again in October of 1914. Further treatment was applied in 1932.
In October of 1904, two arc lamps were removed.
In August of 1906 David Street had a direct connection to sewer, with all residences being connected by October 1908. There were some problems with the sewer in those early days, on one occasion it was blocked by a chunk of wood, and, on a second, by a man’s handkerchief.
In August of 1908 a plan was made to kerb the western side footway and open a channel to allow water to escape. This was followed by the construction of tarred water tables one year later. In June 1920, new kerbing and channelling was completed on the western side of the street, with the eastern side being done in October 1931 (when the western side was rechannelled).
David Street was scarified, metalled and rolled in by September of 1916. A decade later, in November of 1926, the street was re-metalled and sealed with bitumen.
Early settlers, Mr and Mrs JE Magnusson, retired to 9 David Street. Mr Julius Emil Magnusson was born in Sweden in 1845 and emigrated to Australia c. 1870. During his time in Queensland he met Miss Jakobine Marie Anderson.
Miss JM Anderson was born in Larvig, Norway, in 1855. As a young woman she emigrated to Queensland, Australia, settling there for a few years. The couple married in August of 1878 and travelled to Aotearoa New Zealand.
They had four daughters and one son; Emlli Emillsen b.1879, Julia b.1881, Victoria b.1883, Oscar b.1894 and Amanda b.1898.
Arriving in Wellington, the Magnusson’s made their way to Palmerston North, then a village surrounded by bush. They purchased a section on the corner of Ferguson and Fitzherbert Streets (later Fitzherbert Avenue) and built a house. Mr JE Magnusson was a road contractor in those early days.
They then purchased a farm in Fitzherbert, and, on selling, purchased a farm on James Line, Stoney Creek (now Whakarongo). A further move was made to Stoney Creek Road, Bunnythorpe, before buying a lifestyle property on Boundary Road (later Tremaine Avenue). Here, Mr J Magnusson entered the carrying business.
Mr Julius Emil Magnusson died October 1935 at the age of 90 years. Mrs Jakobine Marie Magnusson died in May 1940, aged 84. Both are interred at Terrace End Cemetery.
Mr Axel Frederick Anderson was born in Oslo, Norway in 1867. He came to Aotearoa New Zealand with his parents Mr Nils and Mrs Anne Anderson in 1872.
Miss Clara Emma Hepworth was born in 1859 in Batley, Yorkshire. She travelled with her parents, Mr John and Mrs Sarah Hepworth, to Western Australia in 1875, where they worked on sheep farms. The family went back to England for eighteen months, then emigrated to Aotearoa New Zealand in 1882, on the ship Crusader. They landed in Lyttelton in 1883.
The Hepworth family came to Palmerston North in the early 1890s, where Miss CE Hepworth met Mr AF Anderson. The couple married in 1893. They had two children; Eileen Margherita b.1894 and Clara Victoria b.1901.
They made their home in Palmerston North, establishing the Anderson Private Hotel in David Street. The couple later owned the Temperance Hotel near the railway station and took over Central Hotel in Te Marae o Hine the Square, from 1902. This then became their residence. Central Hotel was relocated to the corner of Main and Andrew Young Streets in 1905. The Anderson Private Hotel was taken over by Mr Duncan Anderson in 1907, and Mr A Anderson transferred the license of the Central Hotel in 1909.
In 1910 the Anderson’s left the Manawatū to live in Stratford, Taranaki where they took up farming for six years. Mrs Anderson divided her time between Stratford and Palmerston North. From there the couple farmed further in Waipawa, Hawkes Bay. In 1920 they moved to the Te Puke district where Mr Anderson became a land agent. In 1922 the Anderson’s moved to Hawera, Taranaki, where Mr Anderson entered the wine business. Mrs Clara Emma Anderson died in 1926, aged 64 years.
Mr Anderson remarried in 1927 to Mrs Mary “Mollie” Christina Elizabeth Lloyd. In 1930 the couple moved to Auckland. Mr Anderson returned to Palmerston North with his wife in 1942.
Mr Axel Frederick Anderson died at his home, 109 Te Awe Awe Street (which he built in 1907), on March 31, 1945, at the age of 77 years. He is interred at Terrace End Cemetery.
The New Zealand Express Company Ltd, a cartage business, started its life in Palmerston North on the corner of Main and David Streets in the late-1880s. It moved to George Street in 1906.
The Railway Hotel, later known as the Old Railway Hotel, was built opposite the Railway Station on the corner of Main and David Street in 1892. Its proprietor was Mr Timothy O’Leary and the hotel had 24 guestrooms, besides those used exclusively by the owner’s family. He leased the hotel in 1897 to Mr Michael Hogan who, in turn, sold his interest to Mr Henry Border.
Mr T Young became the owner in 1901 (after Mr O'Leary's death) and on-sold the hotel to Mr David Roux Bouisson in 1902. On changing hands in 1903, the Railway Hotel was condemned as old, rotten and full of vermin. Its license was not regranted until the new owners took measures to cleanse the building. It is unsurprising therefore that the owners, Staples and Co., of Wellington, made plans to re-erect the hotel. The first Railway Hotel was replaced by this building in 1904-1905.
Anderson’s Private Hotel, on the left of this image, was established on David Street in 1893. The two-storey boarding house was gutted by fire in September of 1894 and rebuilt. Mr Axel Frederick Anderson, the proprietor, was active in seeking improvements in the street from the borough council. He made additions to his boarding house in 1900, from a plan designed by Mr Ludolph George West. The hotel was taken over by Mr Duncan Anderson in 1907. In January of 1908 local newspapers reported on an inmate of the hotel preparing a bath, only to find a 12-inch eel, the thickness of a finger, coming out of the water tap. In 1916 the hotel was taken over by Mrs A Trepo.
Other accommodation in the street between 1900 and the 1940s included JK Christensen Private Hotel, Wentworth Boarding House, and the Goldfern Boarding House. There were also a couple of billiard rooms.
David Street Stables at 8 David Street, this livery was operated by Mr John Jones from c. 1901 to 1908 when it was sold to Mr N Paulsen. He ran the business as a livery, general carrier and forwarding agent until 1917. Over that period its name changed from David Street Stables to Paulsen Stables to Railway Stables. Caleb Penman took over the Railway Stables in September 1917 and by 1921 the stables had passed into the hands of Messrs Peterson and Low. In April of 1930 they were the only remaining livery stables in Palmerston North.
In 1913 Frank Harris and Co. Ltd., moved their monumental yard to 12 David Street while in voluntary liquidation. The business was taken over by Messrs JW Fisher and Co., Sculptors and Monumental Masons in 1914. Here is an image of their business at 17 David Street (due to street renumbering) in 1997.
The addresses on David Street were renumbered in 1939. See p.85 of the Rates Register of Street Numbers - Old and New.
The lane is named for a grove of magnolia trees that graced this area, prior to development. February 2020.
The aerial image is a derivative of the Palmerston North City Council online mapping Geographic Information System (GIS).
The lane is named for korimako, the bellbird. A native bird of Aotearoa New Zealand. December 2022.
The aerial image is a derivative of the Palmerston North City Council online mapping Geographic Information System (GIS).
The lane is named for piwakawaka, the fantail. A native bird of Aotearoa New Zealand. December 2022.
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).
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 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 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 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 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.
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.