Davidson Street (Hāwera)

Davidson Street in Hāwera is a right-angled cul-de-sac running off Waihi Road, opposite Hicks Park and the TSB Hub.

The road was surveyed in 1960, one of several new developments in the town at the time which aimed to significantly lift the amount of housing stock. In 1971 another six sections were created at the end of the street, forming what is now a useful turning circle.

Davidson Street is named after James “Baldy” Davidson, a successful businessman and former Mayor of Hāwera. Davidson was born in Dumfriesshire, Scotland in 1836 and immigrated to New Zealand in 1865, settling first in the Turakina district before opening a general store in Hāwera in the early 1870s.

“Baldy” quickly established himself as an important figure in the growing town. He almost immediately became active in politics, first as a member of the newly formed Hāwera Town Board in 1875 and later on the Pātea County Council and the Hāwera Borough Council. The popular shopkeeper was elected mayor of the borough in 1888, holding the role until 1892.

The list of other civic and community work that Davidson contributed to is impressive: memberships of the Charitable Aid Board, Pātea Harbour Board, Egmont A & P Association and Egmont Racing Club as well as president of the Farmers’ Union and the Bowling Club.

Davidson never married and in 1897 he retired to Taiporohēnui, where he lived with his sisters, Isabella and Elizabeth, both also unmarried. But “Baldy” did not slow down in retirement, keeping busy exhibiting stock and breeding horses. At the age of 70, he even wrote a song, “Where the Auld Folk Lie”, which he described as an “emigrant’s story”. It was sung at a Caledonian Society concert on New Year’s night 1907 by Miss Winks, set to music by Professor Higham of Hāwera.

“Baldy” Davidson died in July 1916 and his obituary in the Hawera & Normanby Star recorded that “he served Hāwera well… [and] in private life he was a reliable and good friend”. His sisters had predeceased him, Isabella in 1913 and Elizabeth in 1915, and the trio are buried together in Hāwera Cemetery.

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.

Related items:

Taranaki DP8676 Sheet 1 (1960), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)

Taranaki DP10500 Sheet 1 (1971), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ) 

Davidson elected unopposed (Hawera & Normanby Star 19 November 1891 p.2)

182 new sections to be laid out in Hawera area (Daily News 9 May 1961 p.5)