James Dingle was a single man when he arrived in New Plymouth on the William Bryan in March 1841. When the Amelia Thompson arrived six months later, Hannah Veale was on board. They would marry and go on to have ten children. It was their fourth son, Richard, who would have a road named after him.
Leaving home as soon as he was old enough, Richard Dingle went farming in South Taranaki. Eventually he bought land in the Ōtākeho area. The settlement had been surveyed in 1878.
On the survey, a road was planned to provide access to the beach. There had been a fishing station established in a near-by inlet to the west. After Dingle purchased his land he built the first house in the area and the road was named after him. Dingle Road was never completed to its original surveyed length and public access to the beach was controversial at times when future landowners blocked the road.
Dingle went on to own farms in several other parts of Taranaki. Most notable was the one on East Road in Stratford. Today, that land is the Stratford Demonstration Farm.
From very early in his career, Dingle was prominent in the Taranaki dairy industry. He was involved in starting several co-operative dairy companies and spent sixteen years as chairman of the Stratford Dairy Company. He was also a Stratford borough councillor. He retired to New Plymouth in 1919.
Richard Dingle died aged 79, after a long illness, in 1930.
This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.
Related plans and documents:
SO406 Block V Waimate Survey District, ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)
A Model Dairy Farm (Waikato Times 9 March 1918)
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