Broadmore Street

George Broadmore lent his name to Broadmore Street in the heart of New Plymouth's Vogeltown. As one of our earliest settlers, Broadmore arrived on the Oriental with his wife Alice, both aged 30, in 1841. He shared his voyage with the "friend of Keats", Charles Armitage Brown. Broadmore's friendship and ongoing connection with Brown is mentioned in the book Friend of Keats: a life of Charles Armitage Brown. We guess then that George became the friend of the friend of Keats.

George could be quite formal as we can see from a trespass notice in the Taranaki Herald: "In consequence of the losses of Poultry sustained by the undersigned by trespassers on his home Farm, he feels obliged to give notice that all PERSONS found TRESPASSING there after this date will be prosecuted according to law. Signed, George Broadmore, Carrington Street, June 5, 1868.”

Broadmore was also involved in a court case, Broadmore vs. O'Brien, which was detailed in the Taranaki Herald in "a more lengthy form than is generally reported". It is an interminable tale with Broadmore claiming costs for overdue rent, broken windows, damaged sashes, abandoned boxes of furniture and a contentious distinction between house guest and boarder.

He went on to serve New Plymouth on the Town Board, having been elected in June 1865 with a show of hands.  

Broadmore set up a timber mill and became the first bridge, boat and ship builder in Taranaki. He worked on the schooner Taranaki that was launched at 10.30am on a fine Taranaki morning in 1855. He was also responsible for the building of a fleet of cargo boats that were used in the lightering service, ferrying goods at the New Plymouth roadstead.  Broadmore and Co would later be sold to become Henry Brown Ltd.

George Broadmore died in 1872 and is buried in the Wesleyan section of the Te Hēnui cemetery.

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.