Know your town
The Lane – Roberts Road
The short road between Grey and Dublin Streets began as a lane down past the Manse to the Cemetery. It marked the boundaries of Cemetery and school’s, five acre blocks which were originally from George Waterhouse’s Station. In 1871 the Presbyterian Church people had purchased two five acre blocks from the JD Baird plan for a Manse and Glebe (cemetery).
The lane did not go right through to Dublin Street so for funeral services the people walked behind the hearse down Weld Street into Hirschberg Street along to Grey Street and the lane into the cemetery. In the patriotic fervour of WW1 the name Hirschberg Street was changed to Roberts Road after Field Marshal Earl Lord Roberts.
At the same time the two parts of Otaraia Road were changed. One to Kitchener Street honouring Lord Kitchener, Lord Robert’s Chief of Staff and featured in the famous WW1 recruitment poster. The other to Jellicoe Street in honour of Earl Jellicoe the First Sea Lord of the Admiralty. Along with these Bismark Street was changed to French Street after Lord French of Ypes the commander of the British Expeditionary Forces.
Following the school fire of 1919 the people of the District purchased five acres for a new school from the then owners, the Olivers, in 1920. Part of the purchase included a public walkway from Broadway to Grey Street. Later a slice was taken from the western side of the school block and eastern side of the Manse Cemetery blocks to widen the lane to form a stock route incorporating Roberts Road, this stretch was called Roberts Street.
There had been ongoing arguments with fences and with the new stock route came a new fence and footpath for the school and cemetery.
Historic Cemetery Week is held in April. This year a group is having historic graves and headstones done up – this work is still in progress. Climbing roses have been planted and the group is working with Council on having a new fence and Lychgate with a seat and notice board along with a small rose garden.
To save confusion; the restored George Pain grave site in the cemetery is not of the George Pain of Pain Estate Farm or Pain and Kershaws but the father of that man.
Mate Higginson
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