Mt Edgcumbe Street

Mt Edgcumbe Street in central New Plymouth - often confusingly spelt with a third 'e' (Edgecumbe) - is named after a hereditary British peer, Ernest Edgcumbe, who became the 3rd Earl of Mount Edgcumbe on the death of his father in 1839.

Born in 1797, Ernest was an MP and a patron of the Plymouth Company when New Plymouth was established. However it appears he had little else to do with New Zealand and in fact history doesn't record much more about him. Hansard records show that in his 12 years in parliament he never made a speech. He was a man who was, very briefly, in the right position, at the right time, and was rewarded with a street name on the other side of the world.

Today we know more about the street that was laid out by Frederic Carrington in 1841. Records show that until at least the 1930s it was intended that the southern end of Mt Edgcumbe Street would link, via Tamar St, to Morley St and Western Park. This never eventuated but the layout is otherwise as planned from the earliest days. The street's original sections have been sub-divided many times over the years. More intensive housing has replaced the original housing as the years have passed.

The street wasn't restricted just to housing. In the early 1900s the New Plymouth Tennis Club had several courts near the intersection with Vivian St. The club was New Plymouth's largest. Anthony Wilding, on the cusp of his greatest achievements in the game, competed in the 'Taranaki Championship' tournament held there in 1909. He won the title that year. Wilding then went on to win four Wimbledon titles from 1910 to 1914 and be regarded as one of the game's great players. With the downturn in members caused by World War Two the tennis club went into recess and their land was sold off for housing.

The title, Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, exists to this day, passed down through the family. But their grand ancestral home in Cornwall has long-since been sold off. One wonders, though, how many of the 3rd Earl's descendants today even know there is a street in New Plymouth named after him.

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.