Newspaper Article 2016 – Early sections snared by dignitaries

Early sections snared by dignitaries

Michael Fowler
Historic Hawke’s Bay

HAVELOCK was surveyed by John Hughes in 1859, and this plan of the suburban sections was created for the sale in January 1860 by Augustus Koch.

What is notable about the early town planning is the number of reserves created – with only the Domain, fully, and the Havelock North Primary School, partly, on original reserve land.

Property investors purchased many of the early Havelock suburban sections shown.

Notables were premier (prime minister) Sir Edward William Stafford buying two sections and William Colenso of Napier securing section 47 – which is now a carpark behind the Village Rest House in Middle Rd.

This section became a pound for stray animals, and was looked after by the proprietor of the Village Exchange Hotel across the road (old Happy Tavern site).

The roads named are Middle, Te Mata, and Te Aute. Te Aute Rd on the map forms part of what is now Napier Rd.

Havelock Rd and Joll Rd were planned for, but not yet named. Curiously, two beginnings of roads are marked, although the land behind them was privately owned.

These are now Karanema Drive – which can be seen at the top left of the map, and Duart Rd off Te Mata Rd. A road at the bottom of the map was later called Cemetery Rd when the cemetery was created.

This was changed to Lucknow Rd when William Beecroft bought the surrounding land around 1896 in what he would call Lucknow Estate.

William Beecroft’s original buildings still survive, being his old coach stables on Middle/Lucknow Rd and his house Dilkhoosha (named for the British palace in Lucknow, India) in Given St.

Section 48, where the cenotaph now stands, was given in perpetuity to the Havelock North Borough Council by Napier merchants Ellison and Duncan who had a store on part of that section. A small connecting road between Te Mata and Napier roads was made (since removed) and the cenotaph erected in 1924. A condition of the land use was apparently that the cenotaph must remain there.

This Havelock town plan has been part of a project by MTG Hawke’s Bay which has digitalised 301 plans. Nicola and her team are now working on a second book which contains about the same number of plans.

These plans are often used by the public, and to stop their deterioration they have been digitalised and made available online for perusal or for purchase in higher resolution.

Michael Fowler ([email protected]) is the heritage officer at the Art Deco Trust and trainer in accounting for non-accountants. Website: [financialfitness].co.nz

“These plans are often used by the public, and to stop their deterioration they have been digitalised and made available online for perusal or for purchase.”

Photo captions –

GALLANT FIGURE: Sir Henry Havelock, for whom Havelock is named – the hero of the siege of Lucknow.   PHOTO/HAVELOCK NORTH COMMUNITY ARCHIVE

BLUEPRINT: Augustus Koch’s 1860 plan of Havelock’s suburban sections.
PHOTO/COLLECTION OF HAWKE’S BAY MUSEUM TRUST, RUAWHARO TA-U-RANGI, M4.37.1.111