Where the streets have prosaic names

DUSTY: High Street, Carterton circa 1905.

PAKEHA New Zealanders are not prone to flights of fancy when it comes to naming things. Maori might describe islands as being the home of greenstone or the fish hauled out of the briny by a mythical semi-god, but we prefer to go for something more prosaic - North Island and South Island. And, of course, West Coast and East Coast, Southland and Northland.

In Wairarapa, it was the good people of Greytown who came up with the most prosaic set of street names. When trying to decide on a name for the main street through the town, they laboured mightily before finally settling on - Main Road. They then turned their minds to the street that ran parallel to the main street but off to the west and east - and came up with West Street and East Street. And, of course, North Street and South Street.

It is not as though they were unaware of it. There was a failed attempt in 1895 to rename the streets after local settlers and, then in 1901, another proposal was made to change the street names. After the death of Queen Victoria, the council elected to change Main Street to honour the late queen, then East Street was to be called Queen Street and West Street named Princess Street. It was all set in place, but a month after accepting the changes, the council changed its mind and reverted to the geographical nature of its names, saying the change would be too disruptive.

Many of the other streets in the town are named after early settlers (Cotter and Hastwell streets) and others recall the town's mayors (Loasby Place and Horton Street). Very unusually for Wairarapa, there are also streets named after women and Maori. Papawai leader Tahamahu Mahupuku is recalled in a street, as are Clara Ann Sugrue and Awhina Southey.

In common with many towns, German-named streets were purged in the years after World War I, but Greytown seems to have gone a step further than that, and renamed any streets with foreign-sounding names, so as well as Bismark Street, Hirschberg Street and Great Frederick Street being renamed Mahupuku, Massey and Jellicoe respectively, other streets were unaccountably changed too. Prime Minister Julius Vogel's name was removed from what is now McMaster Street and the euphonious sounding Belgrave Street, named after a suburb in London rather than an eastern European country, was renamed Stock Street. Fortunately, the latter name did not stick, and after World War II it was re-renamed, this time to Reading Street, honouring the English city of that name. During the war, Greytown residents had sent food and clothing to Reading and a close relationship developed.

Carterton has an unusual set of street names, perhaps reflecting the radical nature of some of the early settlers. In common with many towns, a good percentage of the streets are named after mayors and early settlers. In some cases, the settlers' names were changed, perhaps fortuitously sometimes. What was once Hooker's Line, named after Thomas Hooker, came to be known as Belvedere Road in honour of his sawmill.

One unusual set of names in southern Carterton has had local historians a little puzzled over the years, the cluster of Philip, Charles Frederick, Rachel and Gertrude streets being recorded as the names of Queen Victoria's children (which they are not) and even as her children-in-law (which they are not). Instead, they are named after the children of the developer, Wellington businessman Joseph Nathan.

However, the most interesting set of street names in Carterton are those given in a shake-up in 1904. Then mayor George Augustus Fairbrother wanted the street names of his town to truly reflect those who had deserved such a high honour, and he wanted to commemorate those whose liberal politics, scientific discoveries, or philanthropic natures had led to a better world.

He started with the prosaically named Library Street. This he renamed in honour of Thomas Holloway, an English maker of patent medicines, but it was not to ensure people remembered Holloway's pills and potions. Holloway endowed a sanatorium and a ladies' college in his will, and it is for this he is remembered.

Collingwood Goodin would have been less pleased with the mayor's aspirations as he changed the name of a street Goodin was developing and was modestly calling Collingwood Street, to commemorate William Garrison, and anti-slavery and women's suffrage campaigner from America.

Howard Street was named after William Howard, the penal reform campaigner, while Plimsoll Street recalled Samuel Plimsoll, famous for his work in making shipping safer by insisting on a line on each ship (the "Plimsoll line") to indicate its safe loading level. Other scientists honoured include Charles Wheatstone, Michael Faraday, Sir Humphrey Davy and Alfred Nobel.

Carterton's Costley Street recalls Edward Costley, an Auckland businessman who amassed a large fortune.

However, the street with the most interesting name is Rexwood Street - interesting because its origin is unknown. The street was developed by Alfred King, a businessman, in 1907. His home was called Rexwood and old Cartertonians can recall the name being planted out in one of the gardens around the house, but just where the name came from has passed out of knowing.