Name: Visions for Dunedin
Start: 2026-07-29T07:30:00+12:00
Location: Dunedin Public Libraries

The Street Names of Old Dunedin, 1846-1901
Speaker: Seán Brosnahan
This talk will offer information, and speculation, on some of the names bestowed on Dunedin's streets from those that appear on the very first town plan of 1846 right up until the death of Queen Victoria in 1901. Three key maps provide a reference point; Kettle's 1846 town plan; Jeremiah Hartnett's directory map from 1863 and John Stone's directory map from 1888.
The latter provides details for the streets of the eight boroughs created in the late 1870s: Caversham, Maori Hill, Mornington, North East Valley, Roslyn, South Dunedin, St Kilda and West Harbour. Fiercely independent of each other, and from the City Council, each Borough had its own approach to street naming but was inspired by the same things. This made for lots of duplication in street names. Many names therefore had to be changed when the boroughs eventually amalgamated but this talk will focus on nomenclature before 1901.
Dunningham Suite | Level 4 | Dunedin Public Library
Koha welcome