Street stories 4: The 1929 and 1932 changes

See also Street Stories: 2 "Lucus a non lucendo"

Updated 30 December 2021.

Avondale Borough amalgamated with Auckland City in September 1927. In June 1929, a list of suggested changes in local street names was published under "Corporation Notices" in the newspapers. Primarily, the changes were to Maori or Maori-sounding names. After a round of submissions, further changes were made, and in 1932 the names were altered again in many cases and this time became official.

I've included here the 1929 name suggestions in green, while the 1932 names are in red. In addition (2021 update) I've added the 1939 changes as well.

Avondale
Aorangi Avenue - Ahiriri Avenue from 1939
Argyle Street – Arran Street (Scottish town on Firth of Clyde)
Beatrice Street – Ronaki Street – Beatrix Street
Blake Street (part of New North Road for a time, 19th century) – Paparau Street – St Judes Street
Bollard Avenue – Booth Avenue – Bollard Avenue (retained name. The Bollard Road in Pt Chevalier lost out, renamed Boscowen Street. Bollard Avenue in New Lynn later became Delta Avenue.)
Brown Street -- Kanuka Street – Brunel/Pembroke Street -- Rosebank Road

The 1932 list left the "e" off the name Brown Street, so the changes could have been for either the Avondale or Waterview Brown(e) Streets.

Church Street – Chalmers Street
Cracroft Street – Kura Street – Crayford Street (model town in Kent)
Elizabeth Street – Ripeka Street – Plane Street
George Street – Taramea Street – Aspen Street Taramea later used for another street on Rosebank Peninsula
High Street – Kotae Street – Highbury Street Now southern part known as Community Lane
Kelvin Grove Terrace -- Kelvinside Terrace (1939)
Kitchener Road – Puroto Street – Holly Street
Old Windsor Road -- Wingate Street (1939)
Princess/Princes Street – Pahure Street – Elm Street
Palmer Street – Ngaio Street – Donegal Street
Park Avenue – Patiki Road
Pine Park Avenue -- Pinewood Street (1939)
St Georges Road – Nota Street – St George’s Road (retained name)
Seaview Road – Taimati Road – Birch Street – now Saltaire Street
Sinclair Square -- Himikera Avenue (1939)
Station Road – Costley Road – Blockhouse Bay Road
The Avenue – Kopiti Street – The Avenue -- Astrolabe Street from 1939, now Mead Street
Victoria Road – Rarangi Road – Victor Street
Walton Street – Waenga Street – Walsall Street
Wharf Road – Kaupapa Road – Ash Street
Wicklow Avenue -- Wairau Avenue (1939)
Wolseley Road – Bancroft Street – Wolverton Street
Wilson Street – Seaforth Street – Larch Street

Blockhouse Bay
Ayr Street – Puanga Street – Alleway Street. Now a stopped road, part of a reserve. Alleway is a Scottish town in Ayrshire.
Bartley Street -- Barton Street from 1939.
Bedford Street – Hertford Street Town on River Lea, England
Boylan Street – Takau Street – Whitby Road -- Wade Street
Clifford Street – Colombo Street Now part of Blockhouse Bay Reserve
Connell Street – Paraki Street – Connell Street (retained name)
Dilworth Street – Tahapa Street – Ulster Road
Esplanade Street -- Esparto (1938) -- Endeavour Street from 1939
Exeter Street – Towai Street – Exminster Street
Gore Street – Makenu Street – Govan Street – Gore Street now stopped and part of Blockhouse Bay Reserve
Hill Street -- Heaphy Street from 1939
Karaka Street – Titongi Street – Bolton Street
Mackay Street – Mahara Street – Marlow Street – Crowther Street
Manukau Road – Wairaka Road – Blockhouse Bay Road
Marine Terrace – Koluga Terrace – Taunton Terrace
Matai Street -- Matata Street (1939)
O’Neill Street – Hinau Street – Connaught Street
Porter Street – Rakau Street – Kinross Street
Puriri Street – Puketea Street
Rangihoua Street -- Railway Street -- Rangihoua Street (1939). Part of Section 76, now stopped from c1947.
Richmond Street – Mamaku Street – Rathlin Street part now stopped and included in reserve
Taylor Street – Wharepape Street – Taylor Street (retained name)
Thomas Street -- Terry Street (1939)
Whitby Street -- Wade Street (1939)
Williamson Street – Haretu Street – Armagh Street
Wynyard Street – Karewa Street – Windermere Street now vanished, although there is a Windermere Crescent nearby. Part of Wynyard Street is in the Blockhouse Bay Reserve, part is close to Crudge Street, the remainder (off Donovan Street) now just an accessway to Exminister Street.
Wynyard Road – Manukau Road – Blockhouse Bay Road

New Windsor
East Road – Marangai Street – Munster Road -- now Maioro Street
Garnet Street – Takarangi Street – Tiverton Road
Glenside Avenue – Haunui Avenue – Leinster Street
Myers Road – Kakariki Road – Margate Road
Whittaker Street – Raumanga Street – Whitney Street
Willow Avenue – Mahora Avenue – Dundale Avenue
A formerly nameless road – Holbrook Street

Waterview
Albert Road – Mariwai Road – Alford Street after an eminent theologian and writer, Henry Alford Alexander Street – Alverston Street named after Richard Webster, 1st Viscount Alverstone, First Lord Chief Justice.
Argyle Street – Tutuki Street
Bedford Street – Pokapu Street – Hertford Street
Browne Street – Mamangi Street – Brunel/Pembroke Street -- Dale Street – Fir Street See above for Avondale's Brown Street
Cameron Street – Karamu Street – Middlesex Road
Dale Street – Manapau Street – Fir Street
Hillcrest Avenue -- Hadfield Avenue from 1939
Norman Street -- Saxon Street (1939)

From 1939, for at least 14 years, Mr. K. F. Haszard of Auckland City Council’s town-planning staff was the man behind the naming and re-naming of the city’s street names. He was interviewed by the NZ Herald 16 July 1953.

Unless he is requested to select a name of an incident or person, Mr. Haszard looks for pleasant-sounding names, names that conjure pleasant thoughts like Hazelmere, Heathcote or Meadowbank. He does not believe that commemorative names are of particular merit. In a very few years the names of most famous people and incidents become closely identified with streets, but their meaning conveys nothing to most people. “It can be comparatively simple to choose a name, but one must be careful,” he said yesterday. “It must be simple and euphonious, it should not duplicate or be closely similar to any other street name in the metropolitan area, and particularly in the case of Maori names, it must not have an objectionable meaning.” Changes of existing names are the second big group handled by Mr. Haszard. A name is not changed unless it is requested by an overwhelming number of residents in a street. Confusion with other street names is the chief reason. But Mr. Haszard likes the reason to be a good one. He is not in favour of the suggested change of Karangahape Road to Elizabeth Street. “It would be a great pity,” he said, “if we gave up our old Maori names, particularly those that have become worked into the fabric of the city. Karangahape is not difficult to say. We could learn from England, where half the charm of poking around the towns is in the odd little place name one finds. “Karangahape Road is in our tradition and background, and I do not see why it should be altered just for the convenience of newcomers.”

Sources: Auckland Star, 18 June 1929, p. 20 NZ Herald, 17 July 1953, p. 11 Auckland City Archives, file reference ACC 275/30/332