Bluff Street Names

Date: [unknown] [unknown]
Location: Bluff, Southland, New Zealand

Surnames/tags: bluff_new_zealand street_names

Profile manager: Kylie Fowler

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This profile is part of the Bluff, Southland One Place Study.

Bluff is referred to as Bluff or The Bluff and was officially named Campbelltown until 1917. It was the first town surveyed in Southland by John Turnbull Thomson. His plan for Bluff Town is dated 1 November, 1856.

A fire in Bluff Borough Council offices in the early 1900's has meant a lot of information has been lost. Fortunately, in the 1960's Frank Pearce did significant work in researching the origins of Bluff's street names which has been compiled by Wendy McArthur into the book What's in a Name?

There are, at least, 44 streets in Bluff and 12 of them are named for Irish rivers, in honour of James Spencer's homeland, others are simply descriptive of the place they accessed like Gunpit Road and Flagstaff Road, or their location, ie; Foreshore Road, or Marine Parade.

The streets below are named after people.

1 Streets
- 1.1 Unofficial
- 1.2 Paper Roads
2 Sources

Streets

Ann Street
Ann Spencer - Ann Street bounds a piece of land known as Spencer's subdivision.

Bradshaw Street
Charles Bradshaw - The name Bradshaw Street appears on a plan dated 1896, the same year Charles Bradshaw moved to Wellington after residing in Bluff since 1880. His brother Edward did not settle in Bluff until 1900 precluding it from being named after him.

Budd Street
Ernie Budd - Long term councillor and one term deputy mayor of Bluff

Burrows Street
Betsy Burrows - Nicholas Burrows and his wife Betsy owned £2,000 worth of land in 1882. A subdivision in the east end of Bluff was known as Betsy Burrows subdivision.

Doyle Street
Joe Doyle - Bluff Borough Councillor and mayor from 1937-1938.

Elizabeth Street
Elizabeth Henderson - Walter and Janet Henderson who owned the land and subdivided it and named the street after their daughter.

Gore Street
Thomas Gore Browne - Governor General of NZ who declared a town in the south was to be named Invercargill. The town of Gore is also named after him. The Bluff Borough Council declared it be named at a meeting held on 14 December 1928,^[1]however, the name Gore Street can be seen being used in 1897^[2].

Gregory Street
Jack Gregory - Early settler of Bluff and whaler who owned a parcel of land between Marine Parade and Elizabeth Street with Gregory Street as one of its boundaries. Officially declared a public street on 9 January, 1934^[3].

Henderson Street
Walter Henderson - Early town maps showed a Kinross subdivision which Walter Henderson owned. Kinross was his wife's maiden name. He advertised quarter acre through to two acres sections for sale in 1880. The Kinross name for the area is no longer used but the street name survived.

Kirk Crescent
Ewan Kirk - The land was owned by Ocean Beach Freezing Works. It was named for a father, manager in 1950's and 60's, and son (Bill) that managed the freezing works in the 1970's

Mason Street
David Mason - Designed and saw constructed Island Harbour.

McDougall Street
James McDougall - A long standing borough councillor and mayor from 1915-1924.

McGorlick Street
Norman McGorlick - The majority of the houses on the street were for Ocean Beach Freezing Works employees. Norman was chief engineer at Ocean Beach as well as a long standing councillor and mayor of Bluff.

Nichol Road
George Nichol - His family had their home, Glenfoyle, on this road.

Onslow Street
Sir William Onslow - b.1853 4th Earl of Onslow and also Governor of NZ

Palmer Street
Edwin Palmer - The boundary of his property was deemed the east boundary of the original township.

Pearce Street
Frank Pearce - Councillor for nine years and deputy mayor for three years.

Pilcher Avenue
Jack Pilcher - Cecil Godfrey 'Jack' Pilcher owned a dairy farm on Bluff Hill and subdivided it in 1954, putting in Pilcher Avenue, and building many of the houses. He was also a borough councillor for many years.

Raymond Street
Sarah Raymond - Charles Rout, trustee of Betsy Burrows estate, asked that a street in the subdivision be named after Betsy and Nicholas' only child, Sarah, whose married name was Raymond.

Ron's Place
Ron Lowe - Mayor of Bluff from 1973-1984. Prominent Sea Scout leader. The Sea Scout Hall is on Ron's Place.

Spencer Street
James Spencer Jnr - Spencer Street was graded, drained, metalled, and gravelled in 1904 and charged to the estate of James Spencer Jnr who died in 1903. Ann Street is named after his wife.

Theodore Street
Capt. John Theodore Thomas Boyd - He owned the land the street is on. A Boyd Street exists above and parallel to Theodore Street, but only on paper.

Walker Street
James Walker - Foreman of works at Bluff Harbour Board and Bluff Borough councillor.

Ward Parade
Sir Joseph Ward - Bluff Borough councillor and mayor of Bluff 1882-1886 and again in 1898. Member of Parliament and Prime Minister of New Zealand.

Stirling Point Signpost

Stirling Point
William Stirling - While not a street, the area known as Stirling Point is the most eastern area of Bluff. The iconic Bluff Signpost is located there.

Unofficial

Wiig's Hill
A portion of Elizabeth Street that is a steep piece of road is colloquially known as Wiig's Hill. Presumably because they lived there but unconfirmed.

Paper Roads

There are some streets that appear on maps that have not been created (as at 26 Feb 2023). While how they were named is not known definitively, it seems likely that they were named for the people below.

Map with paper roads included.

Boyd Street
Capt. John Theodore Thomas Boyd - He owned the land the street is on - see Theodore Street.

Hunter Street
John Hunter - It may be that it was named for his father, John Clarke Hunter, or the collective family, however given the names of the other paper roads, the son is of a more comparable generation to the others, whereas John Clarke Hunter died in 1901 and the map was published in 1922. The son was referred to in newspapers as a significant member of the community in Southland Rowing competitions '57 years ago' in 1932^[4] and was already in his 70's by that time.

Nichol Street
Samuel Nichol - Given his brother, George, already had Nichol Road named after him it may have been named for Samuel, businessman, councillor, and two time mayor.

Tucker Street
George Tucker - Brother in law and business associate of the Nichol brothers and Bluff Borough Councillor.

Waddel Street
George Waddel - One of the inaugural councillors of Bluff and a member of the Bluff Harbour Board.

Warren Street
Timothy Warren - Councillor and one term mayor.