Streets of Wellington

New Zealand Listener, Volume 20, Issue 514, 29 April 1949, Page 16

Streets of Wellington

THE STREETS OF MY CITY: WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND. By F. L. IrvineSmith. A. H. and A. W. Reed, Wellington. 20/-. OME as like some gen- | erals, die in the hour of victory. Such a one was Miss F. L. Irvine-Smith, who lived just long enough. to see her life’s work, The Streets of My City, in such

‘demand during the Christmas season of (1948 that the first edition was quickly ld out. Such a sale of a book about historical origins may have surprised many, but this was a book with a special local appeat, pleasantly written and well printed, with ,a_ dust-cover showing Wellington from the air that was an inspiration. If. ever a_ jacket helped to sell a book, it was this one. The book caught Wellington’s eye and touched its pride just at the right moment. « Miss IrVine-Smith

| was a teacher of | history, and to the study of Wellington’s place-names she brought a scholar’s | disposition and training as well as a | lover’s devotion. The caution to beware | of obvious derivations applies to this | kind of research as well as its etymology. |The book has faults. At times the style /is loose and over-sentimental, and the | story over-discursive. These faults, how- | ever, cannot be entirely separated from its virtues, for this is a lively, gossipy historical record, not a dry-as-dust list of origins. Miss Irvine-Smith always had an eye to the human side of her: story. She was interested in the man or the thing that provided the name, and in the folk living in the street that bore it. And she was able to convey her pleasant personality to the reader. ~ In a measure, therefore, this is a political, social, and economic history of Wellington built up round its placenames. If you are imaginative, enough to look for it, most place-names have an interest. They are sign-posts in history. Dips into the obvious like View Roads and Prospect Avenues may be ignored, but a Brown or a Smith Street may have a history of human endeavour that is worth preserving. South Africa has two Smith names that recall one of the great personal romances of war. In this country Wellington provides the best material. It was the first city to be founded, and its sponsors were organised and distinguished. The central name opens out a pageant of history from Assaye to Tennyson’s Ode, and there

are a string of other names associated with the Duke. In Lambton Quay one is in touch with a key event in the development of the British Commonwealth. Wakefield and Pencarrow, Baring and Somes, Hutt and Willis, recall the vision and rashness of the Company, which had such momentous consequences for New Zealand. But Miss Irvine-Smith does not stop at the great

or the prominent. She connects hundreds of names with ships, governors, mayors, politicians, lawyers, merchants, teachers, tradesmen, all sorts of people, many of them long forgotten. Here is a memorial to them, The photographic illustrations are firstrate. The only possible criticism of them is that they show the city only in her best dress, and even ‘her lovers must admit that she is at times and in places, dowdy and drab. A. H. Messenger’s sketches provide a touch of homeliness here and

there. The Streets of My City comes upon a wave of interest in New Zealand history. Other cities, and towns, however small, should take note of this fine production. There is widespread need of similar research. And let everyone heed the author’s advice to choose placenames wisely, so that they will recall

what is worthy.

A.

M.