NAMING OF KARORI STREETS

 PREFACE

Over the years there has been a trend away from the terms Street or Road, used almost exclusively until 1920, toward Drives, Ways, Places and the like. Of the 147 Karori streets (as at 1991 when this list was compiled) the allocation of designations was as follows:

The City Council does not have a policy on designations with the exception of Way, used exclusively for streets maintained by the residents rather than the Council.

Alanbrooke Place

Named after Alan Francis Brooke (1883‑1963), a British Field Marshal during World War II. He  was Chief of the Imperial General Staff from 1941 to1946 and was created First Viscount Alanbrooke in 1946.

Allington Road

Named after Henry Allington who was born in Warwickshire, England, in 1836 and died at Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1901. He arrived in Wellington in 1841 on the Arab with his parents Thomas and Ettey, who bought 20 acres of land at the junction of Karori and Makara Roads. After goldmining in Australia and terms Street or Road, whaling, in 1866 he was appointed headmaster of Karori School, then situated in the old chapel located on the present library site. In 1867 the Karori Board of Wardens appointed him collector of rates to the Karod District. He had been converted to the Mormon faith in 1855, and baptised in 1870, and finally left for Salt Lake City in April 1872 with his wife (nee Ellen Reading) and three children in a group which included Robert Eagle, his wife and child, Karl Suisted and others. An earlier group of Karori Mormons including the Henry Dryden and Joseph Fawcett families had already gone to America in December 1871. The Allingtons returned to Karori in 1876, but in 1889 settled permanently in the United States. Reading descendants are now keeping in touch with their Mormon relations. Many of the families who went to America returned to New Zealand.

Appleton Place

Named after Sir William Appleton (1889‑1958), Wellington City Councillor between 1931 and 1944 and Mayor of Wellington from 1944 to 1950, the year in which he was knighted. He was involved in advertising with the Charles Haines Advertising Agency Ltd. Appleton Park is also named after him.

Astor Street

Astor Street was drawn from a list of English names suggested by B.P. Player of the Tse Group Ltd, consultants for the developers. These included Epping, Epsom, Buxton, Paddington and Thurleigh as well as Astor. The City Council agreed. Astor was the name of a well known English aristocratic family, the American‑born wife of one member being Britain's first female Member of Parliament.

Aylesbury Way

In 1964 when this cul‑de‑sac off Raine Street was subdivided, the City Council received a letter from a Karori resident saying that as Karori streets were named after English towns, she suggested for future use "Eaton (or Eton), Canterbury, Tonbridge, Aylesbury". The writer quoted Reading, Lancaster, Nottingham and Plymouth in support of her contention, being unaware Reading and Lancaster were the names of prominent Karori early settlers! The City Council selected Aylesbury, a Buckinghamshire market town, for the cul­-de‑sac.

Baxter Way

Named after the well known New Zealand poet, James Keir Baxter (1926‑1972). He and his family lived in part of what is now 115 Messines Road (105 in those days) for several years in the early 1950s when he was a postman in Karori. Asian names originally put forward for this 1969 Verviers Street Extension Subdivision were objected to. A local resident then suggested Baxter, Shotter and Beavis as names of Iocal identities", and the City Council agreed.

Beatty Avenue

Although Fadlalla Khouri, the developer, wished to have this street named after himself, the Council approved Beatty. Admiral David Beatty (1871‑1936) was a World War 1 British naval commander best known for his part in the Battle of Jutland (May 1916), the only major sea battle of the War. He was created Earl Beatty of the North Sea and of Brooksby in 1919 and was First Sea Lord between 1919 and 1927 (see also Khouri Avenue). 

Beauchamp Street

 This main road in the 1904 Bannatyne Subdivision was named after Sir Harold Beauchamp (1858‑1938) who headed the syndicate. He was born in Ararat, Victoria, but was educated principally at Wanganui Collegiate School. After gaining commercial experience working for his auctioneer father he joined the direct importing business of W.M. Bannatyne & Co. about 1877, achieving a partnership in 1889. He later became a JP, was elected to the Wellington Harbour Board in 1895 and became Chairman of Directors of the Bank of New Zealand. His third daughter wrote under the name Katherine Mansfield. After moving from Katherine's birthplace, 11 Tinakori Road, in 1893, the family lived in Karori for five years, leasing Chesney Wold, built by Stephen Lancaster in 1866 (now 372 Karori Road). Beauchamp was knighted in 1923.

Beavis Lane

This 1969 Verviers Street Extension Subdivision street (at the time of writing, Karori's only Lane) was named after Ernest Beavis (1881‑1967), Karori's last commercial dairyman. Wellington born, he moved from Brooklyn to Karori in 1930 and lived with his wife and four children at 48 Verviers Street, until the late 1940s. From there he supplied milk from several bought or leased adjoining      pieces of land on the Wrights Hill side of upper Donald and Campbell Streets,  including Monaghan Avenue and Beauchamp Street. Milk was delivered over a wide area at 3d per pint or 5 1/2d a quart, first by horse and cart then later by lorry. The land was sold in 1957, mainly for development, with Beavis moving to a larger holding at Reikorangi, where he died in 1967 aged 86.

Becker Way

This way, off Landsdowne Terrace, was named after the German tennis player, Boris Becker. One of the consultants for the developer had recently seen Becker on television win the 1991 Australian Open Tennis Championship defeating Ivan Lendl in a high quality and closely contested final.

Berrymead Way

Residents of this cul‑de‑sac off Makara Road applied to the City Council for a separate name, finally gaining mutual agreement for Berrymead, suggested by Audrey Cooper, wife of Keith Cooper. This reflected the widespread occurrence of berries growing on surrounding land (or meadows or, using an older term, "meads"). An earlier suggestion, not approved, was Poppikins Way.

Birdwood Street

Named after Field Marshal William Riddell Birdwood (1865‑1951).Birdwood was the British, ex‑Indian army, commander of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACs), between 1914 and 1918, and in particular at Gallipoli. In 1919 he was knighted and was created Baron Birdwood of Anzac and Totnes in 1938.  According to the Oxford Dictionary, the then Lt-General Birdwood wrote in 1916 " When I took over the command of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps in Egypt a year ago, I was asked to select the telegraphic code address for my Army Corps, and then adopted the word "ANZAC" (So he invented one of the earliest English-language acronyms still in use).   Prior to 1925 Birdwood Street was known as Evelyn Road. This was most likely named by Thomas Ward (1849‑1935) of Kelburn, the developer of the Evelyn Estate, after his wife Evelyn. Ward was a surveyor and civil engineer. He was for five years assistant engineer to the City Corporation before establishing his own business in 1881. He gave family names to other streets in the subdivision ‑ Mallam, a son who died when young, and Ponsonby, the name of his widowed sister‑in‑law who lived with him and his wife. According to The Streets of My City the street was named after Evelyn Dasent, daughter of the Reverend Alexander Dasent, vicar of St Mary's from 1882 to 1897. Dasent descendants still living in Karori have no views on this explanation but Evelyn Ward would appear to be the more probable origin. The street was renamed because it duplicated Evelyn Place off Webb Street. Interestingly, Evelyn Place lost its identity in early 1986, forming part of the extended Victoria Street.

Blakey Avenue

This street was named after losiah Blakey, of Halifax, Yorkshire. An absentee owner of Section 41 near Karori Park and other land in the area, he liquidated his land holdings relatively soon after their acquisition. At the time of this Disley subdivision the City Council was using a list of original Crown grant holders and land owners supplied by the Geographic Board as a basis for street names. Burrows, Collier, Richmond and Pimble were other names on this list.

Bourbon Terrace

One of the Manchester Unity Subdivision's 'Trench" streets, commemorating the Bourbon family, one of Europe's important ruling dynasties. Bourbons ruled France from 1589 to 1848, uninterrupted except for the Revolution, Spain between 1700 and 1931, and Naples and Sicily between 1774 and 1860. See under Versailles Street for further details.

Braithwaite Street

This street was originally dubbed Wallace Street after James Wallace, a member of the 1888 Section 34 subdivision syndicate. Wallace was a Wellington businessman who had a long association with the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, first as a director and later as general manager and secretary. The name was changed to Braithwaite in 1925 to avoid confusion with Wallace Street in the city, the continuation of Taranaki Street. The eastern portion at the time of the Evelyn Estate subdivision was originally named Forbes Street. The origin of Forbes is not known although it was possibly a family or other chosen name, given by Thomas Ward, the subdivider. Forbes was renamed Braithwaite in 1930.

Braithwaite appears to have at least two main possible origins, although these exclude The Streets of My City explanation that the street was named after the Wellington City Engineer at the time the trams came to Karori. His name was R.S. Rounthwaite (1854‑1932) and not Braithwaite as stated in the book.

A Wellington resident who built and owned houses around the city, N.F. Cox (1877‑1978), informed the Karori Historical Society in the early 1970s that the street was named after James Walter Braithwaite, a well known auctioneer, who died in 1911 and was buried in Karori Cemetery. Braithwaite had his own business based in Willis Street and Johnsonville. In 1907 he was involved with   auctioneers Sidey, Meech & Co. in the Fairview Estate auction (extension of Duthie Street and Messines Road). Cox went on to describe an interesting aspect of Braithwaite's life. Around the mid‑1890s he became aware of the damage rabbits were already beginning to do to farming regions. To help prevent their spread he advertised locally for cats offering one shilling per animal, a large amount for local children. Many families lost their pet cats due to the initiative of "Pussy", as he was affectionately known.

Another possible origin of Braithwaite is that it is one of Karori's soldier streets named after Major W.G. (Bill") Braithwaite DSO of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers who commanded the Second New Zealand Brigade during World War I.  It maybe significant that neither N.F. Cox nor The Streets of My City suggested that Braithwaite fell into the soldier street category.

Bristow Place

This street takes its name from the subdivider Edward Bolton Bristow, a local merchant who bought land in Karori from the Johnstons of Homewood and built     his family home in 1900 on what is now 5 Bristow Place, the Philippines Embassy, and formerly a private hospital. It was not City Council policy at the time of the subdivision to name streets after living local residents, but as Bristow  had retired, the use of his name was approved for this cul‑de‑sac off Homewood Avenue.

Burn Street

This street was named after Benjamin George Henry Burn (1863‑1943). Born in the United Kingdom where he trained as a weaver, Ben Burn arrived in Wellington in 1879. He spent two years in the city before working as a dairyman in Karori for the Campbell family and in Brooklyn for the Fitchetts. During the early 1880s he married Beatrice Lewer (1865‑1954), producing one child, Sophia,  who died as a baby in 1886. He then worked back in the city for about 20 years for W. & G. Turnbull & Co. and for W.M. Bannatyne & Co. About 1904, however, Burns bought a small dairy farm in South Karori and named it Springfield. The farm house was built by Thomas W. Lewer and still survives, much enlarged, as the Willowdene Rest Home at 115 South Karori Road. They later moved to a house on the corner of Karori Road and Beauchamp Street. This was moved in 1955 to 47 Beauchamp Street, and became appropriately the residence of the caretaker.

Ben Burn Park, opened in 1950. A new Post Office was built on the vacant site and a Post Office is still there at present (1991). Burn became a Karori Borough Councillor in 1909 and was elected Mayor in 1915, a position he held until Karori's amalgamation with the city in 1920. He then became a Wellington City Councillor until 1931. Amongst other public appointments he served on the Hospital Board and was chairman of the Karori School Committee in 1913. He and his wife and child were buried in St Mary's Churchyard, and the Karori Historical Society repaired the headstone several years ago. 

The street was originally named Watson Street, again possibly by Thomas Ward as part of the Evelyn Estate subdivision, and the name was changed in 1925 to avoid duplication with Watson Street, off Vivian Street.

Burrows Avenue

Jane Burrows had the original Crown grant for Section 44 and the family owned the section for a considerable time as absentee land owners. At the time of the subdivision in the 1920s the City Council was basing new street names on early local land owners (see Blakey Avenue).

Buxton Avenue

Named after Buxton, a Derbyshire spa town. See Astor Street for details.

Caldwell Street

Robert Caldwell came to Karori in 1880 as a young draughtsman in the Surveyor‑General's Office. He married Ada Brown of Chesney Wold. He took a keen interest in the development of Karori and of St Mary's Church, serving as clerk to the Karori‑Makara Road Board and becoming Town Clerk to the newly formed Karori Borough Council in 1891. He served in this position for two and a half years before handing over to W1. England, who was the incumbent for the remaining 26 years of the Council's existence. Following several years in New Plymouth, Robert Caldwell returned to Karori in 1890 and built his family home at 105 (now 115) Messines Road. Descendants still live there and celebrated the centenary of the house in February 1991.

The Karori Historical Society suggested the street name to the City Council in the mid‑1980s.

Campbell Street

This street was named after John Campbell, one of Karori's earliest settlers. He arrived in Wellington from England in 1841 on the Lady Nugent, his wife tragically dying on the trip out, an all too frequent occurrence. He soon bought 12 acres of John Yule's Section 36 and, it is said, buried his valuables, put up a tent, and set about clearing the bush. His five children were cared for in Wellington. John Campbell remarried and his second family grew up in Karori. He and his second wife were buried in St Mary's Churchyard. His grand­daughter, Kathleen Campbell, lived all her life in Campbell Street and died in January 1986 aged 93 marking the end of this family in Karori. The Roman Catholic Church in Karori owes much to Kathleen and her parents, Thomas Campbell and his Irish wife (nee Ellen Keaveney) of Makara. In the early days Mass was said in their home. Following Miss Campbell's death the Karori Historical Society inherited many interesting photos, a farm book and other items from her estate.

After 1841 the family acquired more land in the mid to upper Campbell Street area, f arming cattle and sheep on it for many years. Eventually most of the farm was subdivided although one part, now Ben Burn Park, has survived free of housing. It was on this site in 1899 that the First Contingent of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles assembled and trained before their departure for the South African (Beer) War. A plaque on the wall on the Campbell Street frontage marks this event. In 1945 it was proposed that the area be subdivided into 31 sections, access to be by Scapa Terrace extended across Campbell Street to join an extended Kano Street. However this did not eventuate and in 1949 the area was officially confirmed as a City Council park. Campbell Street was known originally as Campbell's Lane and then Campbell's Road before finally becoming a street (Fig. 15).

Canterbury Street

The City Council turned down names put forward by the developer, E.B. May, and adopted Canterbury from a list of English towns it had received earlier (see Aylesbury Way). Canterbury in Kent is well known as the See of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the first peer of England and head of the Anglican Communion.

Cardrona Way

Named after the South Island gold town of Cardrona, situated in the Crown Range, by the subdivider Denis Smith, a resident of Donald Street, who was born near Cardrona and still lives in Karori. In the early 1970s he subdivided part of his section situated between Donald Street and Campbell Street, and was invited by the Council to name this short access road. Cardrona was approved.

Cargill Street

The Streets of My City wrongly groups Cargill Street (off Campbell Street) the 1904 Bannatyne Subdivision of the Beauchamp Street area, and infers that it was named after a Karori Borough Councillor named Cargill. In fact, the name Cargill was not adopted until 1925 when the original name of Durham Street was changed to avoid duplication with Durham Street in Brooklyn. The street was formed on land owned by J.G. Raine (see Raine Street), who named it Durham as he came from near that city. The only suggestion for Cargill that can be put forward is that someone wished to commemorate Williarn Cargill, a well known figure in the early colonisation of Otago. There was no Karori Borough Councillor of that name.

Cathie Place

This new street at the top of Montgomery Avenue was named after Charles Cathie, Mayor of Karori for three years between 1911 and 1914, and councillor for the previous four years. Cathie and his wife came to Wellington from Edinburgh in the mid‑1880s and later settled in Karori in the home they built in 1894.

This home is now 74 Friend Street, although its original large garden has been subdivided. Cathie founded the clothing manufacturing firm of Cathie & Sons Ltd. He was closely connected with community and church activities. A prominent Baptist, he was president of the Wellington Baptist Union in 1916. In Karori he was a foundation trustee of the Karori Methodist Church and laid the foundation stone of the second Karori Methodist Church in 1912 when he was Mayor of Karori. He died in 1930.

This street name was one of a list of early Karori identities suggested by the Karori Historical Society to the Wellington City Council in the mid‑1980s for new Karori streets. A son, Charles N. Cathie, married Phoebe Lancaster, a daughter of Stephen Lancaster, Karori's first mayor.

Chamberlain Road

Named after Thomas Chamberlain, one of Karori's earliest settlers, who arrived in Wellington with his wife and three children in May 1842 on the London. He soon took up and cleared bush‑clad land in Parkvale, the Parkvale Road area of Karori. They moved on after about three years to a dairy farm in the subdivided part of Northland area, then part of Karori. In 1855 the family moved again this time to the Wairarapa. Thomas died in 1865, when his son, then only 18, took over the Wairarapa farm

Chaucer Way

This street off Parkvale Road, subdivided by J.D. Davis, was named by the City Council after Geoffrey Chaucer (1340‑1400), the fourteenth century English writer of Canterbury Tales, to be consistent with the name of the newly formed Canterbury Street nearby.

Chaytor Street

Named after the New Zealand‑born regular army officer, Major General Sir Edward Walter Clervaux ('Fiery Ted') Chaytor (1868‑1939) who commanded the ANZAC Mounted Division in World War 1. Prior to Karori becoming part of Wellington City, this part of Karori Road was known officially as the Main Road although, unofficially, for many years as "The Deviation". The name arose because it described the new alternative route into Karori by‑passing, or deviating from, the route along Old Karori Road over Devil's Bridge where the City Council yard and the Karori Garden Centre are now located. Between 1881 and 1885 the deep Kaiwharawhara Gully was culverted and filled in and the new road cut (Fig. 16). James B. Tarr was given the honour of being the first to ride across the bridge and up the new road into Karori. Tarr was a councillor during the first two years of the new Karori Borough and mayor for one year in 1902‑1903. He was also the inspiration for Katherine Mansfield's 1913 story Old Tar. It is regretted that the City Council declined Tarr as a street name due to possible confusion with Sar Street in Wadestown. Tarr's name is, however, on the foundation stone of the Karori Borough Council Chambers set in the ground at the entrance to Karori Library. He was Karori's Mayor at the time he laid the stone in 1902. Tarr descendants still live in Karori.

Chisenhall Street

This street was named after Robert Chisenhall Hamerton who promoted this subdivision between Lancaster Street and the Main Road creating both Bell (later Flers) and Chisenhall Streets. After serving in the New Zealand Wars with distinction he entered the civil service. He was a solicitor by training, admitted to the Bar in 1878, served as Wellington's Registrar of Marriages in the 1870s and became the second Public Trustee in 1880, succeeding Jonas Woodward. He reserved a large section on the southern corner of Lancaster and Flers Streets and some of his family lived there. Hamerton died in 1913. One of Karori's early private schools, run by Mrs Greenish, was situated at the top of Chisenhall Street and was operating in 1909.

Collier Avenue

Named after the Collier family, who were early settlers in the Karori and Makara districts. George Collier arrived in Wellington with his wife and family on the Lady Nugent in 1841. Along with Reading, Robinson, Campbell, Spiers and others, Collier was a trustee of the old chapel built in 1844 on what is now the library site. A few early settlers, whose names are lost, were buried near this building but the Karori Borough Council minutes refer to "the Collier graves there". In 1935 during a realignment of the Main Road, the remains of six bodies were discovered and reinterred in Karori Cemetery, in an unmarked plot, still unidentified. At the time of this subdivision in the late 1920s, the City Council used names of early land owners for local street names (see under Blakey).

Cook Street

Named after Henry Cook, a Karori Borough Councillor between 1897 and 1907, and thus serving at the time of Harold Beauchamp's 1904 Bannatyne Subdivision, when all streets off Beauchamp Street were named after serving councillors. He was a well known grazier of Makara, owning the Opau Station. However in retirement he lived for many years in Friend Street. Cook was a vestryman at St Mary's, Karori, until his eightieth birthday; one of the church's stained glass windows was donated by him. He was born in 1844 in Lambton Quay and died in Karori in 1925.

Cooper Street

Named after George Sisson Cooper (1825‑1898), a Wellington Justice of the Peace 1856) and Colonial Under Secretary (1870). Cooper Street was cut through his estate. The original homestead, now restored, is used as an auxiliary building of Marsden School (Innes House), having been purchased by the school

from Mrs Cooper in 1929 for £5000.

Cornford Street

Named after one of Karori's early families, who arrived in Wellington on the Lord William Bentinck in 1841. Joseph Cornford (1797‑1874), along with his son William, is mentioned in Homewood and its Families as a hedge carpenter and gardener in the employ of judge Chapman. A daughter‑in‑law, Fanny Cornford (nee Shotter), died in Karori in 1934 aged about 100.

Cross Street

This street must rank high in a list of Karori's most unoriginal street names, describing the street that connects the top (north) ends of Standen and Nottingham Streets.

Croydon Street

It is not known for certain why this street was so named. Most probably it was taken from an approved Council list, after the Surrey town located south of London. Originally known as Fairview Terrace it duplicated Fairview Crescent in Kelburn and was renamed in 1925.

Darwin Street

It is not known why this street was named Darwin, but most probably it was after Charles Robert Darwin (1809‑1882), the Victorian naturalist, best known for his development of the theory of evolution. He visited New Zealand with the Beagle in 1835. The street was originally called Balfour Street, but was renamed in 1927 to avoid duplicating the street of the same name in Mornington. The origin of Balfour is not known.

Dasent Street

This street was named after West Indies‑born Cyril I. Dasent, a long‑serving Karori Borough Councillor (1893‑1907) and Mayor of Karori between 1908 and 1911. He owned a farm near the Cemetery which he eventually sold for £40 per acre and apparently regretted it! Dasent was a council member at the time of the 1904 Bannatyne Subdivision of the Beauchamp Street area, when side streets were named after current serving councillors. He was also secretary of the Wellington Acclimatisation Society and much involved with the installation of the tram service to Karori from the city. He was especially keen on the driving of the Karori Tunnel and on extending the tram service all the way to Karori Park and not just to the Cemetery. C.I. Dasent was the son of the Reverend Alexander Dasent, vicar of St Mary's from 1882 to 1897. Descendants still live in Karori.

David Crescent

The developer, J.D. Davis, chose a family name for the northern end of this cul‑de‑sac off  Parkvale Road. This subdivision was on land sold by the Catholic Church from the block in which the Futuna Retreat House stands. It extended the earlier‑developed Kirkcaldie Street, laid down over land sold by the Kirkcaldie family, but in 1948 the City Council gave the name David Crescent to the whole street. There is a Kirkcaldy Street in Petone. The Kirkcaldie family, founders of the well known Lambton Quay depart­ment store, lived in the Friend Street house, now part of Futuna. Descendants still live in Karori.

Debra Way

Named by the developer of the South Karori Hazlewood Subdivision after a family member. The Hazlewood Avenue entry provides fuller details.

Donald Crescent, Donald Street

Named after Robert Donald (1811‑1895), a gardener from Aberdeenshire who arrived in New Zealand with his wife Jane in 1850 on the Travancore. In 1853 Donald bought lot 19, fronting Donald Street, of John Yule's original subdivision of Section 36 into twenty 5‑acre lots. He later added lots 18 (1858) and 14 (1859) making 15 acres in all. As early as November 1853 Donald was announcing in the press the commencement of "a Pic‑nic and General Fruit Garded', open daily, Sabbaths excepted. By the early 1860s his tree nursery and the well known Donald Tea Gardens were flourishing. In the early 1880s a further 11 acres were purchased from John Campbell and it seems as if the tea gardens were replaced as a commercial proposition by a farm. However, after Robert Donald's death in 1895, the tea gardens were re‑established by the Young family who first leased and then bought for £1650 the whole 26~acre property. They subsequently sold out in 1900 to a syndicate who offered the Campbell Street sections (14 to 18) for sale; the original gardens, mainly lot 19, were sold to John Mills and his wife, Dr Platts‑Mills. The Mills employed caretakers and served teas early in their period of ownership but by 1914 this had stopped. The grounds deteriorated and were eventually subdivided over the following 25 years. The original farm house, Edenvale, was demolished in 1930 after being empty for some years.

Donald Street was for a period known to locals as "School Lane". S.1), Parnell's 1850s house, now 69 Donald Street, is mentioned in the entry under Pine Terrace. The first house in Donald Crescent was built in 1929.

Duthie Street

Named after John Duthie (1841‑1915), a member of the 1888 Section 34 subdivision syndicate. A Scot from Aberdeen, he arrived in New Zealand in 1863. Eventually in 1879 he established the hardware firm of Duthie & Co. in Wellington. Duthie was a director of several city companies, Wellington's mayor in 1889 and one of the city members of the House of Representatives. He was also associated in business with James Gear during the 1880s. At one stage Gear owned land in Karori for stock fattening.

Duthie was knighted in 1893. He never lived in Karori (Fig. 17).

Eagle Street

Robert Eagle, his wife Hannah and a large family arrived in Wellington on the Cleaner in 1857 and took up farming land in Karori. The Eagles and one child (according to a family source it was George) became Mormons and went to Salt Lake City in 1872, but returned a few years later. The street is named after George who lived in it with his wife, nee Edith Tarr. Tragically Edith and all the children, except one, died young from tuberculosis. George later lived in Spiers Street with his surviving daughter. He died in 1933 aged 77 years after serving many years as the much respected custodian of Karori Park. Robert Eagle's children married into local families including Cornford and Dryden, while the oldest daughter Sarah, in 1859, married Stephen Lancaster, the first Mayor of the Borough of Karori.

Ellerton Way

This street was named after a family home in England by the developer, Reginald Hammond, an architect who became Director of Housing for the City Council in the 1940s. The land, part of the Donald Tea Gardens, was sold by the Platts‑Mills family.

Emily Way

Named by the developer of the South Karori Hazlewood Subdivision after a family member. See under Hazlewood Avenue for details.

Epping Grove

Named after the Epping area in West Essex comprising the town and forest of that name. See Astor Street for details.

Epsom Way

Named after Epsom, a town in Surrey. See Astor Street for details.

Espin Crescent

As part of the Evelyn Estate subdivision, this street would have been named by Thomas Ward. It appears that only one family named Espin came to New Zealand before 1910. John William Espin arrived in New Zealand about 1900 from England via Australia where he had married Elizabeth Dunn of Lower Hutt. Their five children are dead, but none of the descendants know of any link with Thomas Ward. Dunn relations in Lower Hutt could supply no information. This research took place in 1990. John William Espin died in the Stratford Hospital in 1946 aged 80 years. No link has been established, however, between Thomas Ward and the Espin family.

Fancourt Street

This street was named after Archdeacon Thomas Fancourt (1840‑1919), who was the first clergyman to minister to St Mary's Church in 1866. He was born and educated in England and came to Wellington in 1865, the year of his ordination. Between 1865 and 1870 he was in charge of six church districts including Pauatahanui, Johnsonville, Tawa, Ohariu, Makara and Karori. He lived at Johnsonville where there was a vicarage by 1867. On one occasion he almost drowned crossing the flood‑swollen Makara Stream. He was buried, with other family members, in Bolton Street Cemetery. Before 1925 the street was named, for obvious reasons, Church Street, but had to change its name in 1925 owing to the existence in Wellington city of Church Street, off Boulcott Street.

Fernlea Avenue

Originally known as Jack Street, this street was part of the 1907 Lancaster Park Estate Subdivision. jack was a Wellington businessman who never lived in Karori. In 1954 residents successfully petitioned the City Council to rename the street, Fernlea being the popular and accepted choice. The Council agreed.

Fillbridge Way

Fillbridge Way is one of the nine Paparata Subdivision streets. It was named after the family name of one of the principals of the developing syndicate, Dr Owen Fillbridge Haylock.

Fiona Grove

The developer of the Hazlewood Subdivision wished to name this street after a family member, Matilda, in keeping with the other newly formed streets. In this case the City Council did not agree and named it Fiona. See Hazlewood Avenue for details.

Firth Terrace

Firth was suggested by the Wellington City Engineer as the developers, Hill and Campbell, had not put forward a name. This subdivision followed very soon after Scapa Terrace, named by John Sclater, and it is likely that the engineer considered it would be consistent to name the second street along similar lines.

Fitzgerald Place

This cul‑de‑sac off the 1979 extension of Hazlewood Avenue was named by P. Player of the Tse Group, consultants for the developers, after Audrey Fitzgerald. (nee McIntyre), a Wellington City Councillor of the time.

Flers Street

One of Karori's "soldier streets", Flers was named after the small French town in the valley of the Somme. The New Zealand Division figured prominently in this area during the Battle of the Somme, going into action for the first time on the Western Front on 15 September 1916. It was the first time that tanks had been used in action and the town was completely destroyed on that day. The street was formed as part of the Chisenhall Estate and originally named Bell Street. William Fenton ("Willie") Bell was a farmer who owned land (part of Section 34) facing Karori Road, opposite Nottingham Street, and lived there for some years in the early 1900s. He also owned the top of Johnston Hill and land in the Parkvale area as well as a quarry on Chaytor Street, now the site of the flats at number 29. The Bells are recorded as living in Karori between the 1860s and the 1940s. The street was renamed in 1925 to avoid duplication with Bell Road,

Friend Street

This street was named after George Friend (1838‑1898) who became Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives in 1889, after beginning as clerk assistant  in 1863. He was born in London, his father being Accountant‑General for India, and he was a student of King's College, London, and Trinity College, Cambridge, before arriving in Auckland in 1853 on the Hamilla Mitchell. Married in 1865, he lived with his wife and daughter from 1870 at 70 Friend Street although during parliamentary sessions he often spent the weekdays in the city. The Evening Post obituary of 18 February 1898 describes George Friend as "a man of excellent principle, and a most painstaking officer of Parliament". He was buried in St Mary's Churchyard.

Gipps Street

Almost certainly named after Sir George Gipps (1791‑1847), Governor of New South Wales from 1838 to 1846. He was Governor‑in‑Chief of New Zealand from June 1839 to January 1841 when New Zealand became a Crown Colony. Gipps Street was originally named Bella Street after Bella Duthie (Mrs Miller), daughter of John Duthie, a member of the subdividing syndicate. The name was changed in 1925 to avoid confusion with Bella Vista off Sutherland Road, Melrose.

Grenfell Drive

Named after Sir Wilfred T. Grenfell, KCMC, MD, "Grenfell of Labrador", a relative of Martyn Spencer, one of the partners of the subdividing syndicate. Sir Wilfred was a British missionary doctor who practised amongst the Eskimos of Labrador and was knighted for his services.

Hathaway Avenue

In naming this street, part of the St Albans Subdivision along with St Albans Avenue (originally called Shakespeare Avenue), the Council aimed to add a Shakespearean flavour to Karori street names. Ann Hathaway was Shakespeare's wife and her cottage still stands at Stratford‑on‑Avon.

Hatton Street

Named after Henrietta Charlotte Johnston, nee Hatton (1814‑1878), wife of John Johnston, who bought the Homewood Estate in 1852 from its original owner, Judge Henry Chapman. The Johnstons arrived in New Zealand on the Prince of Wales in January 1843; Charles Heaphy was a fellow passenger. One story is that Henrietta was connected with Hatton Garden in London, the well known centre of the jewellery trade, built on land which was once the garden attached to the house of Sir Christopher Hatton, Lord Chancellor to Queen Elizabeth 1.

Hauraki Street

Hauraki is one of the few Maori street names in Karori. It was one of two Maori names associated with Hone Heke (Waikare was the other) selected by the City Council from four (Maiki and Hikutu not chosen) suggested by R.H. Scott, the developer in this Charles Pulley subdivision of Homewood land. Hauraki was chief of the Hikutu tribe in North Auckland and, translated, the word means north wind, a not inappropriate name for a Karori street.

Hawick Street

One of the Paparata streets, Hawick is named after the Scottish border town, Duthie (Mrs Miller), the birthplace of Sir James Wilson, the grandfather of the wife of one of the syndicate's principals, Dr Haylock.

Hazlewood Avenue

The 1976 South Karori subdivision was called Hazlewood, the maiden name of Emily Grenside whose husband, Peter, was connected with Gandar Associates, the developers. Debra, Emily, Lydia and Ruth are all Hazlewood family names; the City Council disallowed another family name, Matilda, and substituted Fiona. The Hazlewood family came to Wellington in the 1870s, living in the eastern suburbs. They were connected with boat building, sailmaking, and later, commercial building. Hazlewood has frequently been spelt incorrectly, and the subdivision has no connection with the Hazelwood family who lived in Karori.

Henderson Street

This street, one of the 1904 Bannatyne Subdivision. was named after James W. Henderson (1857‑1942). He was a prominent member of the Karori Borough Council, elected in 1899 and serving at the time of the subdivision when the side streets created off Beauchamp Street were named after serving councillors. Later in 1920‑1921, he was a Wellington City Councillor. In addition to Council activities he was a vestryman at St Mary's for 38 years, synod member, diocesan trustee, governor of Marsden School, and a captain of the New Zealand Volunteer Defence Forces. Henderson arrived in Karori in 1898 with his wife and six children and lived at Vanduara (65 Old Karori Road) named after the Latin name for Stirling, his birthplace. The family moved in 1922 to 73 Old Karori Road, one of the houses built on land which he subdivided.

Hildreth Street

Named after W.T. Hildreth, Mayor of Karori in 1914. He was one of the syndicate which bought and subdivided Lancaster land near what is now Karori Park. The Hildreths have resided in Karori since 1908, originally living in Stephen Lancaster's first house, now 378 Karori Road, which they bought with one acre of land for £850. A son, H.C. CHerbie") Hildreth of Friend Street, who died in 1987, shared many reminiscences with the Karori Historical Society, including a graphic description of how the 1910 Halley's Comet lit up and filled the night sky over South Karori. Descendants still live in Karori.

Homewood Avenue, Homewood Crescent

Homewood was the name given by Judge Henry Samuel Chapman (1803‑1881), one of Karori's earliest settlers, to the estate formed out of Section 35 which he bought in December 1844 for £325. He built Homewood during 1846. It is not known how the name arose. The Chapman family most likely simply thought it an appropriate name for their circumstances. Following a spell in Canada mainly as a journalist, Chapman returned to London, read for the Bar and was called to it in June 1840. His training was very apparent in the newsworthy nature of his letters to his father during Karori days. They are held in the Alexander Tumbull Library and make fascinating reading. Chapman was a friend of Wakefield and took a close interest in the colony. In London he published the New Zealand journal, the New Zealand Company magazine, until mid‑1843 when he was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court for the southern division of New Zealand. He arrived in Wellington on the Bangalore in June 1843. In late 1851 Chapman was appointed Colonial Secretary of Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) and sold Homewood to John Johnston. Later he left the colonial service to practise law in Melbourne and was elected to the Victorian Legislative Council. In 1864, however, he accepted a new appointment as judge of the Supreme Court in Dunedin and died there in December 1881. He contributed to the cost of the old chapel, and gave four acres of land for an Anglican Church for Karori. It is a pity that a Chapman Street already exists outside Karori (in Johnsonville) thus precluding the commemoration in this way of one of the valley's most distinguished early settlers. Homewood and its Families provides a great deal more detail.

There is a sad memorial in St Mary's Churchyard recording the deaths on 11 January 1866 of Chapman's first wife, two sons and only daughter when the steamship London sank in the Bay of Biscay.

Hurman Street

This street, part of Section 34 off Duthie Street, was given a family name by the subdivider, C.H. Williams, who had a son (or grandson) Hurman at Karori 98, School up to 1902. The street was extended in 1953 from where it turns at right angles to the left, and was tentatively going to be called Coronation Street. Fortunately the name Hurman prevailed for the whole street. C.H. Williams was an engraver who came out from England in 1877 and settled in Karori. He was a Karori Borough Councillor in 1891‑93 and 1903‑1905.

Joll Street

Named after the Joll family who lived in sweet shop on the Main Road on the site of the service station opposite Standen Street. Joll was said to be deaf, dumb, bearded and moustached. Samson T. Joll of Karori is listed in 1900‑1905 as an umbrella‑maker. Joll approached the Karori Borough Council as far back as 1902 about forming the street.

Kano Street

One of Karori's Maori street names, "Kano" means a berry. Until 1925 it was known as Huia Street, named after the extinct native bird, but duplicated several streets of that name. Presumably in renaming the street the City Council wished to maintain the Maori flavour.

Karori Road, Old Karori Road, South Karori Road

Translating Maori words into English is often difficult, but as far as can be ascertained the most likely derivation of Karori is from "kaha" which became shortened to "ka", ropes, and "rore", snare. The meaning is therefore snare ropes, a reference to the abundance and variety of bird life to be found and trapped or snared by the Maori in pre‑European times and later. Whatever the derivation, the early "Karore" was recorded on Lands and Survey maps by the 1860s as the currently used "Karori".

Karori Road has been used since the 1840s to describe part or all of the route from the city to Karori. The earliest settlers made their way up Orangi Kaupapa Road, over Northland down to cross the Kaiwharawhara Stream and then up to near Rosehaugh Avenue before reaching Karori Road. Signs mark part of this route. Soon, however, the regular route was up The Rigi, over the hill (later pierced by the Karori Tunnel), down to the Kaiwharawhara Stream, across the Devil's Bridge and up Old Karori Road to Karori Road. A plaque erected by the Wellington City Council in 1989 near the Karori Garden Centre in Old Karori Road commemorates this route. Karori Road remains the main route through the suburb down to South Karori Road which, with various bridges, gave access to many small dairy farms in the early days.

As part of the Wellington City Council's renaming of many Wellington streets in 1925, it was proposed that the road from the Botanic Gardens to the foot of Makara Hill be renamed as follows:

Botanic Gardens to Tunnel - Glenmore Street

Tunnel to Cemetery -  Karori Road

Cemetery to Makara Hill - Chaytor Street

The argument was that any road to Karori should be known as Karori Road. However, John Burns, a Wellington City Councillor (ex Karori Borough Councillor) and Karori resident, was instrumental in switching the proposed Karori Road and Chaytor Street named sections before final approval. The numbering of Karori Road property today follows on sequentially from the Old Karori Road numbering. Thus, Karori Road numbering commences not at 1 but at 77, following on from 75A Old Karori Road (Figs 18,19).

Kate Way

This cul‑de‑sac off Hawick Street was named after the mother and first grandchild of one of the Paparata Subdivision syndicate's principals, Dr Haylock.

Khouri Avenue

This street was named after Fadlalla Khouri, a businessman and Karori land owner. Khouri was a Lebanese by birth and became a naturalised New Zealand citizen in the 1890s. He lived for 45 years at 319 Karori Road, the home now being part of Helen Lowry Hall. Khouri owned land on Makara Hill, earlier owned by James Tarr, which was subdivided by the family estate in 1962 after his death, forming Khouri Avenue. Earlier he was denied the use of his family name to denote one of the streets on land he sub-divided in the mid-1930s, subsequentIv named Blakey (extended) and Beatty.

Kilsyth Street

One of the Paparata Subdivision streets named after a small coal mining town near Glasgow, where the mother of one of the syndicate's principals J.M.L. Ridd grew up. A short way at the top (southern) end of this street was originally proposed , with the name, Hoyston Way, actually approved by the Council in 1971.  However in 1983, when the survey plan was finally deposited , Hoyston Way was incorporated as part of Kilsyth Street, although the name Hoyston crept into our street maps.

Landsdowne Terrace

This newly formed street off Parklands Drive was named by Rodney Callender of Truebridge Callender Beach Ltd, consultant surveyors to the developers. It was not named after any particular place or person, but was simply a name with a mellifluous quality with which, it was considered, residents would feel comfortable.

Lemnos Avenue

One of Karori's World War 1 street names, it was originally Earl Street, being renamed in 1925 to avoid confusion with Earls Terrace, Mount Victoria. Earl was a name taken from Francis Earl Johnston (1871‑1917), eldest son of the Hon. Charles Johnston, then owner of Homewood. Francis was killed on the Western Front by a sniper in 1917 two years after the street was formed. Lemnos is a Creek island near the Dardanelles, sometimes spelt Limnos. It was used as an Allied naval base during the Gallipoli campaign taking advantage of the large and sheltered harbour of Mudros.

Lethenty Way

Named after the home in Bulls of one of the Paparata syndicate principals, Dr Haylock. This in turn is named after a village near Aberdeen in North East Scotland.

Lewer Street

This 1904 Bannatyne Subdivision street was named after Thomas William Lewer, a founder member of the Karori Borough Council in 1891 and a foundation trustee of the Karori Methodist Church in 1895. T.W. Lewer built several houses in the South Karori area and in Campbell Street. The Lewers had been dairy farmers, first in South Karori and then on part of what is now Karori Park. When the park was acquired for the Council in 1911, Lewer received £2200 for his piece. Mormon Church history states that their first Karori meetings were held in the home of Allen Lewer, South Karori, in the 1870s. T.W. Lewer married Hannah Lancaster, a daughter of Stephen Lancaster, but she died in 1906 without children. He remarried and later moved to Christchurch. The street was originally called Pearce Street, and was changed by the Karori Borough Council in 1915 to avoid confusion with Peers Street also in Karori (later Plymouth Street). Pearce was named after Archibald Cameron Pearce, a Karori Borough Councillor at the time of the Bannatyne Subdivision, and later mayor. A short way at the top (southern) end of this street was originally proposed, with the name, Hoyston Way, actually approved by the City Council in 1971. However in 1983, when the survey plan was finally deposited, Hoyston Way was incorporated as part of Kilsyth Street, although the name Hoyston crept into street maps.

Laidlaw Way

Robert Gilkison Jr, the surveyor of the Paparata Subdivision, who lived for some time in Duthie Street, named this street after one of his ancestors, Margaret Laidlaw. She was the mother of James Hogg (1770‑1835), an early nineteenth century Scottish writer, known as "The Ettrick Shepherd" after the Ettrick Forest which covers much of the county of Selkirk. She was well known as a source of local legends and stories and is credited with providing Sir Walter Scott with material for several works.

Lancaster Street

Named after one of Karori's important figures, Stephen Lancaster (1832‑1899). He was a member of the 1888 Section 34 subdivision syndicate which created this and other streets. Lancashire‑born, Lancaster arrived in Wellington in 1857 and Karori in 1859, where he owned and farmed a large area between Karori Park and Morley Street, incorporating much of the present Sunshine Avenue‑Victory Avenue area and supplying milk to the city. He was responsible for building many Karori houses including three in which he and his family lived : 378 Karori Road, their first home built in 1859; 372 Karori Road, Chesney Wold, built in 1866; and 385 Karori Road (Fig. 20). All still survive, but only 378 retains much of its original character. In 1859 Stephen Lancaster married Sarah Eagle. Their five sons all ultimately settled in the Rangitikei area. Their six daughters married, three remaining in Karori where their husbands' families have streets named after them ‑ Newcombe, Lewer and Cathie. Stephen Lancaster was Karori's first mayor, elected in 1891 and for the two following years and he served as a councillor until shortly before his death. He also served terms as Chairman of the Hutt County Council, Chairman and member of  the Wellington Hospital Board. He was on the building committee that erected the first St Mary's Church and a leading member of the congregation, serving on the vestry for many years. Before St Mary's was built in 1866, Lancaster family history records that services were held in their first home, now 378 Karori Road. Both Stephen and Sarah Lancaster were buried in St Mary's Churchyard. No descendants now 1991) live in Karori.

Lydia Way

Named by the developer of the South Karori Hazlewood Subdivision after a family member. See Hazlewood Avenue for further details.

Lynmouth Avenue

According to one of the developers this North Devon seaside town name was chosen because of its pleasant ‑ sounding quality.

Makara Road

One explanation of this Maori name, outlined in The Great Harbour of Tara is that it is derived from manga‑kara; "manga" meaning stream and "kara" meaning greywacke, the prevalent local rock. Other meanings given in A Dictionary of Maori Place Names are "head", or "to come and go", the latter possibly referring to the Maori track running parallel to the stream. The road over the hill from Karori was used from earliest days although only the very first part from Karori Park to the top of the hill would have been in Karori proper. The Karori Borough Council certainly collaborated on a number of occasions with Makara County over such amenities as the wind break at the top of the hill.

Mallam Street

This Evelyn Estate street was laid out and named by Thomas Ward (1849‑1935) after his only son, Mallam, who died in 1893 aged seven years and was buried in Karori Cemetery. English‑born Ward arrived in Wellington at the age of 24, and was one of Wellington's leading surveyors. He supervised, amongst other projects, the laying out of the suburbs of Roseneath and Northland, as well as the construction of the Karori Tunnel. He founded the New Zealand Institute of Surveyors and was its first secretary.

Marsden Avenue

This street was formerly Amy Street, named after Amy Lancaster, Stephen Lancaster's daughter who married WY. Newcombe. Lancaster was a member of the 1888 Section 34 syndicate which subdivided this and adjacent land. Amy Street was renamed Marsden Avenue in 1927 when Marsden School moved from the city to Karori, occupying land given by the Riddiford family between the Main Road and Vera Street. The name commemorates the Rev. Samuel Marsden, who established New Zealand's first Christian mission in the Bay of Islands in 1814. 

Marshall Street

 Named after one of the businessmen involved in the 1907 syndicate which subdivided Lancaster's farm. He never lived in Karori.

 Masefield Way

 Along with Ellerton Way, this street was named by Reginald Hammond, the subdivider. An architect by training he became Director of Housing for the City Council in the 1940s. Masefield was the maiden name of Hammond's mother. She was apparently related to John Masefield, the well known English poet.

 Messines Road

 Messines Road has the distinction of being renamed twice since its inception as part of the 1888 Section 34 subdivision. It was originally named MacDonald Street after one of the subdividing syndicate members, Thomas Kennedy MacDonald, who was also the auctioneer. He was a well known Wellington businessman, arriving from Scotland aged 24 in 1871 and founding the auctioneering firm bearing his name two years later. In 1877‑78 he was a city councillor and later represented the City of Wellington in the House Representatives. He and his family, including three sons who died of scarlet fever within a few days in 1876, were buried in Bolton Street Cemetery.  In 1915 the Karori Borough Council renamed Macdonald Street to save confusion with Donald Street. Initially the Council considered Massey Street agreed, with Mayor Burn's approval, on Grande Vue Street. Residents' claimed that Grande Vue was illiterate, denied by the Council, led to a reappraisal and was dubbed View Road. In 1925, the Wellington City Council renamed Messines Road, thus avoiding confusion with View Road in Houghton Messines is taken from the South Belgian town of that name. Following devastating bombardment the New Zealand Division seized this strategic important hill top town in June 1917, and suffered high casualties from the German counter artillery fire.

 Monaghan Avenue

Named after Patrick Monaghan. He was born in 1819 in County Down, Ireland, joined the army in 1838 and arrived at the Bay of Islands with the 65th Regiment in 1846. He was discharged as a sergeant in 1848 and bought and developed a small property in Karori in 1850. With his family (11 children, of whom 7 survived, 4 being born in Karori) he moved to Makara in 1860 but returned in 1866 purchasing Section 38. This he farmed with his sons until his death in 1898. During the Taranaki wars Patrick Monaghan joined the local volunteers, and achieved the rank of Major, although he did not take part in hostilities. It is believed that the first Mass said in Karori was in his house when he was ill. The family were closely connected with the Roman Catholic Church, first in the city and later in Karori. A son, William J. Monaghan, dairyman, built his home in 1906 at what is now 43 Monaghan Avenue. The house is no longer in the family, but the present owners are well aware of its historical interest and are preserving Monaghan photographs and other items found in the house. Monaghan connections still live in Karori.

 Montgomery Avenue

One of the post World War 11 subdivisions on the original Lancaster farm land, this street was named by the Wellington City Council after Bernard Law Montgomery (1887‑1976), Field Marshal and Commander of the British Eighth Army during the War. He was created Viscount Montgomery of Alamein in 1946. The street was initially formed on part of the original Lancaster land but has been extended on several occasions, most recently in 1989.

 Morley Street 

This street, resulting from the 1907 Lancaster Park Estate subdivision, was originally named Stout Street after the Rt Hon. Sir Robert Stout, the Scottish‑born Prime Minister of New Zealand. He was Chief justice and Administrator at the time of the subdivision. The City Council renamed the street in 1925 to avoid duplication with Stout Street in the city. The origin of Morley is not known. 

Natalie Way

This small cul‑de‑sac off Karori Road was named after the daughter of Noel Freeman, the building supervisor responsible for the subdivision.

Newcombe Crescent

This street was laid out in 1928 by Williarn Fry Newcombe (1863‑1944). In 1894 Newcombe married Stephen Lancaster's daughter, Amy, who also gave her name to a Karori street until 1927, when it was changed to Marsden Avenue. William and his brother Sid were born and raised on a Devon dairy farm. They decided to come together to New Zealand arriving in Wellington in 1890. William went to Christchurch to Wardell Bros and Sid to Warnock & Atkins of Lambton Quay. In 1892 Sid learnt that the Karori General Store and Post Office, a big shop on the site of the present‑day Karori Mall, was for sale and he and William bought it. The brothers ran the store until 1899, when they sold it to J.G. Raine. Sid went farming in the Wairarapa and William remained in Karori taking up the family tradition of dairy farming on the five acres between Friend Street and Karori Road which he had purchased in 1894. The family lived in a four room cottage, later 41 Friend Street, demolished in 1953. Later William purchased 25 acres of land up Chamberlain Road. He served as a Karori Borough Councillor in 1903‑04 at the time of the Bannatyne Subdivision but disapproved of cul‑de‑sacs and so was not included in the street naming at that time. He and his wife were both closely connected with St Mary's Church and both were buried in St Mary's Churchyard. A daughter, Gwen Newcombe, who was born above the shop in 1898, was a valued member of the Karori Historical Society for many years until her death in February 1991, at the age of 92 years. Many of her reminiscences are included in the Society's archives as well as booklets and photographs.

Nottingham Street

This street was originally named Johnston Street after the Johnstons of Homewood. At the time of Karori's merger with the city the name had to be changed to avoid duplicating Johnston Street, between Lambton and Customhouse Quays, which was named after the same family. It is not known why the City Council chose Nottingham, but Mr and Mrs Astridge who lived in the street at the time of the change in 1925 were amused as Mrs Astridge was born in Nottingham, England. 

Old Karori Road

See entry under Karori Road.

Paddington Grove

Named after Paddington, an area of London well known for its railway station serving the west of England. See Astor Street for details.

Paisley Terrace

This street was named by James W. Henderson, a Karori Borough Councillor and later Wellington City Councillor. At the time of the 1908 subdivision it was named Stirling Terrace, after Henderson's Scottish birthplace. In 1925 when a number of Karori streets were renamed owing to duplication with city streets (in this case Stirling Street in Berhampore), Henderson asked the City Council to rename it Paisley Terrace after another Scottish town. Paisley was the head­quarters of J. & P. Coats Ltd, the cotton firm which he represented.

Paparata Street

Named after the Paparata Development Company Ltd which initiated the subdivision in conjunction with a firm of surveyors. The company was originally formed to develop a large hill country block at the Paparata Saddle in the King Country. Paparata literally means "rata flat” i.e. papa (flat land) on which ratas grow. As well as Paparata Street, eight other streets were formed at the time of this 1967 subdivision.

Parklands Drive

This 1963‑64 subdivision street was named by the developers, a 4‑person Hutt Valley‑based syndicate which had purchased the land for subdividing, because it overlooked and was close to Karori Park. It was considered also that the name had a satisfying ring to it from the viewpoint of the prospective section purchaser.

Parkvale Road

This street was named after Robert Park (1812‑1870), one of the intrepid band of early New Zealand Company surveyors of the 1840s. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he remained in New Zealand after completion of his 3‑year contract. The road was laid down by McManaway from Karori Road through Section 37 into Park Vale. Robert Park was related to Mungo Park, African explorer of Victorian times. Some early maps show a Parkvale Road continuing over the hills to Ngaio. Certainly farm roads existed over those hills.

Parsons Glen

Parsons Glen was named by the consultants to the developer. The physical nature of the surrounding area is glen‑like ‑ a narrow mountain valley ‑ while Parsons was chosen simply for its mellifluous quality.

Penlington Place

This street off Montgomery Avenue was named after George Penlington, Assistant Government Architect and for many years a Karori resident. In 1935 he built a house on the corner of Hauraki and Waikare Streets. He died in 1979 and is gratefully remembered, along with Hubert Fletcher, as a leader in the 1938 movement to preserve Johnston Hill as a domain for the benefit of present and future Karori residents. The name was one of those suggested by the Karori Historical Society to the City Council for the naming of new Karori streets. Fletcher's Lookout on Johnston Hill commemorates Hubert Fletcher.

Percy Dyett Drive

The City Council named this main road in the Broadlands Subdivision after a well known Karori resident, H.L.P. (Percy) Dyett (1889‑1975). Born in Napier, he joined Lands and Survey in 1906 qualifying as a surveyor. Following a period as a partner with Seaton & Sladden in their Masterton office, he moved to Wellington in 1919 taking up residence in Duthie Street. After being "roped‑in" to help level and permanently surface the large playground between the Karori School and Karori Road, until then wet and muddy, he was closely associated with the Karori School Committee, being chairman from 1927 to 1940. At about the same time he was active in the Progressive Association again acting as chairman for some time. Percy Dyett's work during this period included the design and engraving of the Katherine Mansfield birdbath and plaque in the grounds of Karori School. He was involved in major up‑grades of the school grounds and in having the Karori swimming pool built, both projects using unemployed labour. He also assisted in the movement to preserve Johnston Hill as a domain. In 1962 he retired to live in Napier where he died at the age of 86.

Pimble Avenue

Pimble was one of the early Karori land owner names being used at the time of the Disley Subdivision (see under Blakey). John and Ann Pimble came to Wellington in 1841 on the Lady Nugent and acquired part of Section 32, the family living in Northland and Karori. He was on the Karori Rate Board in the mid­1850s. A Miss Pimble, who was a dairy farmer, married into the Joll family.

Pine Terrace

The subdivider, T.J. Kerr, suggested this name and it was accepted by the Council. There were many pine trees in the area. At the time of the subdivision into six lots in the early 1930s, Lot 1 of the subdivision was described as having an old house on it which was expected to be demolished. Some 60 years later it survives as 69 Donald Street, renovated and well cared for. The house is probably Karori's oldest, built in the 1850s by Samuel Duncan Parnell, the originator of the 8‑hour day (see Donald Street).

Plymouth Street

Originally known as Peers Street, this street was not part of the original 1888 plans for the Section 34 subdivision. It was cut about 1908 by the owner T.C. Peers and renamed Plymouth in 1925, presumably after the English city of that name, to avoid duplication with Pearce Street, Vogeltown. In 1915 the Karori Borough Council changed the name of Pearce Street in Karori to Lewer Street to avoid confusion with Peers Street.

Ponsonby Road

This street was named after Amy Ponsonby, sister‑in‑law of Thomas Ward, surveyor and developer of the Evelyn Estate. Amy was the widow of Captain Cordon Ponsonby, a master mariner and son of Captain John Ponsonby from Keswick, Cumberland. Amy's parents were John and Ann Watts, a Scottish settler family from Fordyce, Banffshire, who arrived in Nelson in 1842. She was widowed in 1895 and went to live in Clermont Terrace with her sister Evelyn and husband, Thomas Ward. Ward named other streets in this 1910 subdivision after family members.

Raine Street

Named after John George Raine (known as J.G.). He and his wife came to New Zealand in 1884 from Crooksalter near Durham. At first he looked for gold near Lawrence, but then moved to the West Coast where he bought the general store at Brunner. In 1895 the family came to Wellington where J.G. Raine bought a general store in Courtenay Place. In 1899 the family moved by horse and trap to Karori, and J.G. bought the large old general store and post office from the Newcombe brothers, now the site of Karori Mall. He made considerable additions to the store. After the family had spent a short time above the store, a house and land in Campbell Street, near Cargill Street, served as accommodation until about 1906 when J.G. built the family home, Westgate, for the parents and eight children.  The house still stands at 5 Aylesbury Place but its original address was Raine Street. J.C. Raine formed the street about 1906 and was allowed to give it his name although the Karori Borough Council had planned to call it Garrett after the previous owner of the land.

J.G. Raine served as a Karori Borough Councillor from 1908 to 1911. For many years the family were closely associated with the Karori Methodist Church. A daughter, Hilda Cullen of Te Awamutu, who had left Karori as a young woman, joined the Karori Historical Society and until her death in 1984 sent the Society many reminiscences of her early life in Karori. Descendants still live in Karori.

Ramsey Place

The origin of this street name is not known. A former Karori resident informed the Karori Historical Society in 1987 that when the street was formed about 1970 the press reported that it was named after a doctor at Wellington Hospital. It has not been possible to confirm this.

Ranelagh Street, Ranelagh Terrace

Ranelagh Street was originally named Briggs Street as part of the 1907 Lancaster Park Estate Subdivision. It is not known why the name changed since no duplications appear in the Greater Wellington area, nor why Ranelagh was used in Karori although it is used as a street name in London. The Earl of Ranelagh, one of the many Irish earldoms established by the English, built houses and gardens in Chelsea, London. It was said of him that "the only redeeming feature in his character was his unaffected pleasure in building and gardening". The origin of Briggs is also unknown.

Reading Street

This street was named after John Brown Reading (1814‑1876), one of Karori's early settlers. He had served his apprenticeship as a manufacturing jeweller in Birmingham before sailing for Wellington with his wife Elizabeth and two children on the Duke of Roxburgh in 1840 and taking up land as a dairy farmer in Karori. He was listed in the 1843 Burgess Roll for the Borough of Wellington. In the early 1850s he was a trustee of the old chapel and was appointed Karori's first post‑master in 1863. He was elected as a Provincial Councillor three times between 1855 and 1872. Reading was said to have discovered gold in Karori in 1857. He began making jewellery at home, opposite the Park, supplying to Shaw & Sons of Lambton Quay. The Readings produced a further seven children, six surviving infancy. Reading died in 1876, his wife in 1893 and both were buried in Bolton Street Cemetery.

The Karori Historical Society holds the Reading family album and also family histories written by Mrs Lois Burfield. The entry under Allington Road gives information on Reading family links with the Mormon Church. Prior to 1925 the street was known as Hamilton Street after Andrew Hamilton who subdivided the land and lived on the corner ol Reading and Friend Streets. Hamilton was a Karori Borough Councillor from 1911‑1912 to 1918‑1919. The name was changed in 1925 to avoid duplication with Hamilton Road, Kilbirnie.

Richmond Avenue

Richmond Avenue was named after Robert Richmond, an early Karori settler, who bought 15 acres of Section 43, South Karori, in the 1860s. The Richmonds arrived in Wellington in 1842 after a few years in Australia. Prior to that Richmond had been a sea captain, sailing a sloop from the Humber River in England. With his son‑in‑law, Charles Suisted, son of a Swedish iron master and experienced international trader, Richmond was involved in running Barrett's Hotel between 1842 and 1849. Later he and his wife brought up the younger Suisted grandchildren after the death of their parents. The Richmonds were buried in the Bolton Street Cemetery, as were the Suisteds. Richmond was one of the early Karori land owner names being used by the Council at the time of the Disley Subdivision (see under Blakey Avenue).

Ridd Crescent

This crescent was named after the family name of one of the principals of the Paparata Subdivision, John M.L. Ridd. The family are descended from the Ridds of Lorna Doone fame.

Rosehaugh Avenue

The family of James Mackenzie, ISO, FRCS (1849‑1928), named this street after the name of his residence in Karori which he built about 1880. Mackenzie was Surveyor‑General from 1912 to 1914, and Under‑Secretary for Crown Lands between 1914 and 1915. Rosehaugh in turn was named after Mackenzie's Scottish family home, situated close to the Moray Firth, north of Inverness. The Karori Roschaugh had 13 acres of beautiful grounds, part of which are now traversed by Rosehaugh Avenue and Seaforth Terrace. The land was subdivided after James' death in 1928.

Ruth Grove

This street was named by the developer of the South Karori Hazlewood Subdivision after a family member. See Hazlewood Avenue for details.

St Albans Avenue

The 1931 St Albans Subdivision proposal originally included Hathaway Avenue and Shakespeare Avenue. The Shakespeare name was used only briefly because it was duplicated in Trentham, hence the street was given the name of the whole subdivision. St Albans is a town in Hertfordshire, England, an important centre during Roman times.

Scapa Terrace

Named by John Sclater when the family poultry farm between Campbell and Donald Streets was subdivided. It was named after the almost land‑locked arm of water known as Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands, off the north coast of Scotland. The following extract from a letter dated 29 April 1929, written to the City Council by Sclater of Orkney, Donald Street, Karori, provides the back­ground.

"As the new street which I am having put through my property in Karori is nearing completion, I wish to suggest a name to you for same. The name that I would like to have it called is Scapa Street. Scapa Harbour (or Scapa Floe which is its proper name) is the harbour which I looked out on practically every day for the first 25 years of my life, and although it is over 40 years since I last saw it, it claims a warm corner in my heart."  The Council agreed to this suggestion although it opted for Terrace rather than Street. Sclater descendants still live in Karori.

Seaforth Terrace

Together with Rosehaugh Avenue, Seaforth Terrace was named by James Mackenzie's family when the 13 acres of gardens were subdivided after his death in 1928. It is understood that Mackenzie wanted the name Seaforth.

Selkirk Way

Paparata Subdivision, Robert Gilkison jr, who lived for some time in Duthie Street. The Scottish side of his family originated in Selkirk and the name was in keeping with the southern Scottish flavour of other Paparata streets.

Shirley Street

This street was originally named Victoria Street, after Queen Victoria, who had died a few years before the original subdivision. Together with at least seven other Victoria streets in the Wellington area, the name was changed in 1925, leaving in splendid isolation the Victoria Street which joined Hunter to Mercer Street and was extended more recently through to Webb Street. It is not known why Shirley was selected.

Shotter Street

Part of the 1969 Verviers Street Extension Subdivision, this street was named by the Council along with Beavis Lane and Baxter Way to honour, as a resident suggested, well known personalities and identities who had lived in Karori. Four Shotter children came to Wellington in 1841 on the Gertrude with their mother and step‑father, Eliza and Thornas Cole, and settled in Karori. One old Shotter home, 2 Duthie Street, still exists. A photograph of Katie Shotter's cottage on the Makara Road, hangs in Karori Library. P.J.E. Shotter was for many years the city sexton. Fanny Cornford (nee Shotter) was a girl in service at Homewood in the 1850s and died in 1934 aged about 100.

South Karori Road

See entry under Karori Road.

Spiers Street

Part of the Bannatyne Subdivision, Spiers Street was named after a Karori Borough Councillor of the day, Joseph Frederick Spiers (1847‑1919) who was born in Karori. His parents arrived on the Oriental in 1841. He married Emily Allington and together they produced twelve children. The family ran a horse­drawn coach service to town from the 1870s, operating from what is now the site of the Karori Park dairy. This was Karori's main mode of public transport until the trams took over in 1907. Spiers was a borough councillor for 14 years between 1894‑95 and 1910‑11, and a trustee of the old chapel.

Standen Street

Standen Street was named after Edward Standen, a local farmer. The 100­acre section (Number 33) was originally owned by Timothy and Mary Benton who came to New Zealand on the London in 1842. In the mid‑1840s their daughter, Frances, married Edward Standen who had arrived in Wellington on the Catherine Stewart Forbes in June 1841. Edward and his father‑in‑law farmed the land until Edward died in 1869, aged 43. He and Frances, who died in 1900, were buried in St Mary's Churchyard. One or more of their sons continued farming the land. Later it was sold to the City Council as part of Wellington's main cemetery, which opened in 1891, replacing Bolton Street Cemetery. Descendants still live in Karori.

Stockden Place

This upper Montgomery Avenue subdivision street was named by Paul Philips of Fletcher Residential, the developers. As a member of the Auckland Choral Society he had been involved in entertaining a choral society from the town of Stockton in California. He developed this name into more of a description of the physical nature of the area which could be thought of as a place where the local sheep may have sheltered ‑ a stock den.

Sunshine Avenue

This area was developed around 1930 as the Sunshine Estate and the main street was named accordingly. Being located on south‑facing hills it seems somewhat mis‑named. It was one of Karori's earliest state housing developments. The existing Sunshine Avenue at the Ranelagh Street end was shown in the 1907 Lancaster Park Estate Subdivision as Fowlds Street. As far as can be ascertained it was never formed as Fowlds.

Swadel Way

This short street off Allington Road was named after the family of the mother of the developer, J.T. Williamson.

Tedder Way

Tedder Way, off Alanbrooke Place, was named after Arthur William Tedder (1890‑1967), Marshal of the Royal Air Force and Deputy Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force under General Eisenhower which invaded

Normandy in 1944. He was created a Baron in 1946. The City Council continued the tradition of naming streets in this part

after World War 11 identities.

Terawhiti Terrace

In 1956 residents favoured Parkview Terrace as the name of this short street off Makara Road but were turned down by the City Council, although no duplicate existed. They then suggested Terawhiti since their homes overlooked the Terawhiti Bowling Club, and this was acceptable. The westernmost part of the Wellington area is bounded by Cape Terawhiti. Various translations are given in A Dictionary of Maori Place Names including "near to the sunrise", "disturbed crossing", or "to encircle". One story concerns Cook who, on pointing from the South Island side of Cook Strait to the land to the east and asking its name, was informed, "Terawhiti or "where the sun rises"; a compass direction rather than the name given to the coast across the Strait.

Thurleigh Grove

Named after Thurleigh, a small village in Bedfordshire. See Astor‑Street for details.

Tiro Street

The 1888 Section 34 subdivision plans provided for Tiro Street linking Messines Road and Duthie Street, but it was not fully formed. In 1983 the Wellington City Council formally took over the land without, as far as can be ascertained, any intention to extend it further. The origin of the name is not known for certain. One possible explanation is that, when View Road was renamed Messines Road in 1925, Hill Street, Tiro's original 1888 name, was given the Maori word for view which is "tiro". Hill Street duplicated the well known Thorndon street, amongst others. It is thought that Hill simply described the topography of the street rather than a person or family of that name.

Tisdall Street

This street was named after W.H. Tisdall, Karori Borough Councillor and Mayor in 1903‑04, when it was planned as one of the 1904 Bannatyne Subdivision streets. Tisdall was first president of the Karori Bowling Club. He built and lived in the house which is now 77 Hatton Street. Descendants of the family own and run the sports shops of that name and still live in the Karori area. The company celebrated its centenary in September 1989.

Tobruk Street

This street, continuing a tradition of Council‑named World War 11 streets in that part of Karori, was named after the Libyan Mediterranean seaport, the country's only natural harbour. It was the scene of fierce fighting and sieges involving Rommel's Afrika Corps and the British Eighth Army, under Montgomery, before it finally fell to British forces in November 1942.

Tringham Street

Tringham Street was named after Charles Winforton Tringham, one of the 1907 Lancaster Park Estate syndicate. Wellington born, he was a barrister and solicitor, being admitted a solicitor of the Supreme Court in 1893. His father was Charles Tringham, architect and later a Wairarapa farmer. Charles W. probably never lived in Karori although a daughter of his was baptised in St Mary's in 1905.

Vera Street

This street was named after the daughter of T. Kennedy Macdonald, one of the 1888 Section 34 subdivision syndicate members and also auctioneer for the enterprise. She married Joseph Parker, editor of The Evening Post in the late 1920s. Of three streets named after daughters of syndicate members, Vera is the only one which has survived unchanged. Amy (Lancaster) and Bella (Duthie) were the others, now Marsden Avenue and Cipps Street respectively.

Versailles Street

Versailles Street was one of three 'Trench" streets in the upper Campbell Street area, part of the Manchester Unity Subdivision of the late 1950s. This subdivision covered 159 sections including Bourbon Terrace, Versailles and Voltaire Streets, as well as parts of Campbell, Croydon and Kano Streets and Wrights Hill Road. Versailles is a city south of Paris which was the principal residence of the Kings of France and seat of government for more than 100 years. The peace treaty between the Allies and Germany at the end of World War 1 was signed there in 1919.

Verviers Street

Verviers Street was named after the woollen milling town in Liege Province, Belgium. It was part of the Allied line during World War 1. At the end of the war troops used the town as an assembly point to march into Germany, and New Zealand troops entered it after the Armistice. This street was known as Russell. Crescent until 1925 when it was changed to avoid duplication with Russell Terrace in Berhampore. G. Russell was a Karori Borough Councillor at the time of the 1904 Bannatyne Subdivision, serving from 1903 to 1906.

Victory Avenue

This street was one of several immediate post‑World War 11 developments above Sunshine Avenue, named by the City Engineer to commemorate significant wartime personalities and events, in this case the "victory" in Europe and the Pacific.

Voltaire Street

Another of the Manchester Unity Subdivision's 'Trench" streets. See under Versailles Street for details. Voltaire Street was named after the eighteenth century French writer, noted as a crusader against tyranny, bigotry and cruelty, and for his wit, satire and critical capacity.

Waikare Street

Waikare was one of two Maori names suggested by R.H. Scott for this Pulley subdivision of part of the original Homewood Estate. See Hauraki Street for details. Waikare is a village south of Opua in the Bay of Islands and also gives its name to a nearby inlet. Translated, Waikare means "rippling water".

Wavell Street

This street was named after Archibald Percival Wavell (1883‑1950). He was a British Field Marshal whose victories against the Italians in North Africa were offset by his inability to defeat Rommel's Afrika Corps and the Japanese in Malaya and Burma. He was Viceroy of India between 1943 and 1947 and was created an Earl in 1946. At the time of the original 1907 Lancaster Park Estate Subdivision it was named Brown Street after one of the partners in the auction­eering firm retained for the sale, but it was not developed for many years.

Wendouree Way

Wendouree Way was formed just before World War II when an Australian builder named Terry subdivided a Messines Road property into five sections requiring a right‑of‑way. He named the right‑of‑way after Lake Wendouree, situated in his native state of Victoria. Terry lived on one of the sections and      another was occupied by Sir Roy Jack, Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Whitehead Road

The City Council formed this street in 1988, linking Curtis Street to the top of Old Karori Road. The lower part of Old Karori Road is now a public walkway. Whitehead is named after Arthur Whitehead, an assistant surveyor of the New Zealand Company. He arrived in Wellington in February 1842 on the Brougham with Samuel Brees, who was taking over from William Mein Smith as principal surveyor. Whitehead was a foreman in charge of parties surveying, amongst other areas, Karori and Makara. He is referred to in one of Judge Chapman's letters. After completing his 3‑year contract in 1845, he received no gratuity, was not re‑employed, and returned to England. The Karori Historical Society suggested the name to the City Council.

Williamson Way

This cul‑de‑sac off St Albans Avenue was named by J.T. Williamson, the subdivider, together with Swadel Way.

Woodhouse Avenue

Woodhouse Avenue, part of the Parklands Subdivision, was named after the Karori Borough Council's, and later the City's, "nightsoilman" or "nightman", Joe Woodhouse who lived at 423 Karori Road, in the area now subdivided by the street. The need for this service ended in 1926 when Karori, after joining the City of Wellington in 1920, was linked into the main drainage and sewerage system. Woodhouse was known as a man of great physical strength and one of "nature's gentlemen". At Christmas time many residents used to find a card from "The Pilgrim of the Night left in their outside toilets. The street was originally named Canson by consultants to the developers. The Wellington City Council were under the impression that this was the name of a small French town, but in fact it was (and is) a brand name for tracing paper and other paper products used by surveyors and others. The name was changed in 1967 because the first resident complained he was forever having to spell it out on the telephone. The name Woodhouse was suggested to the resident by a local Karori person, and was submitted to the Council who selected it from a short list.

Wrights Hill Road

It is generally accepted, although actual proof has not been located, that this street was named after John Fortescue Evelyn Wright (1827‑1891) who owned land in the vicinity of the hill in the 1860s. Wright owned a great deal of land in the southwestern part of Wellington including Happy Valley, and gave his name to Wright Street, Vogeltown, where the whole suburb was developed on his land. He made a brief visit to New Zealand in 1842 and returned later to settle, arriving in Wellington on the Blenheim in 1854. In 1866 he was named as a resident of Owhiro. He married a widow, Jane Symons, who owned Goathurst Farm and, after her death, married Jane Porteous, producing four children.

Wright's only sister married E.W. Mills, and their son, John Fortescue Wright Mills, married Dr Daisy Platts; they lived in Karori for many years. The family is descended from John Evelyn, the English diarist and friend of Pepys. J.F.E. Wright was a Wellington Provincial Councillor being the member for Wellington Country, 1861‑63, and for Karori and Makara, 1873‑76. The road was first cut to provide access to the World War 11 gun emplacements sited on the top of Wrights Hill.