Ask Phoebe: How Auckland landmarks got their names

Photo / Brett Phibbs

Suburb named after James Reddy Clendon who was given land after government took his.

I moved to Clendon Park last year, and I'm struggling to find much information about its history. The majority of housing stock is early-mid 1980s Hardiplank, so what was the area used for in the 1970s and earlier? Kathryn Jackson, Clendon Park.

It appears that the name Clendon came from a Mr James Reddy Clendon, JP. He was a merchant and ship owner, and American Consul from 1839-1841. He was given 15,000 and 10,000 acres (4046ha) as compensation for his 380 acres and buildings in the Bay of Islands that were taken in March 1840.

I cannot find anything about Clendon Park's more recent history, but would be pleased to hear from anyone who can help. There's quite a bit about Mr Clendon and his life in Te Ara (the Encyclopaedia of New Zealand). Go to tinyurl.com/l6whsmk

I would like to find out the location of Milford Tce on the North Shore where my great-grandfather Robert Sloan lived in the early 1920s. Neither the old North Shore Council nor North Shore Library could help. My mother Alice (nearly 98) remembers, as a little girl, visiting with her father and travelling part of the way in a steam tram. Ian Revell, Castor Bay.

I cannot find anything about this street, but would be delighted to hear from anyone who knows.

We sometimes wonder about the origin of Auckland street names. How did Ladies Mile in Ellerslie come about? John Campbell, Auckland.

There are two theories. The main theory (from the Timespanner website) is the one Jenny Carlyon and Diana Morrow used in their book, A fine prospect: A History of Remuera, Meadowbank and St John (2011), that the Ladies Mile was formed as a track to connect the properties of David and Robert Graham. The brothers were general merchants in Kororareka (later Russell) and Auckland.

David Graham's house was "The Tower", on Remuera Rd; Robert Graham's house, the farmhouse called Ellerslie House, was on Mainston Rd, just off Remuera Rd. Developing the Ladies Mile as a connection would have been pointless as both houses had a Remuera Rd frontage, and the slight line of Ladies Mile from Remuera Rd perhaps leading to Ellerslie House can hardly be called a "mile". In 1881 Robert Graham sold 101 acres of his Ellerslie property to the Auckland Racing Club.

Theory number two appears on the Wikipedia page for Ellerslie. Adjacent to Robert Graham's home was a track along which Mrs Graham rode her horse every morning. It is now a street called Ladies Mile. Quite why she rode this route remains a mystery. In either case, it might have been more grammatically correct to have called it Lady's Mile.

Tell us
Do you have a question for Phoebe? It can be about transport or any Auckland issue. Email askphoebe@nzherald.co.nz