The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 13, Issue 11 (January 1, 1939)

New Zealand Place Names — Wellington Once Named Britannia

New Zealand Place Names
Wellington Once Named Britannia

(Rly. Publicity photo.) A recent view of the Wellington-Auckland “Daylight Limited” crossing the Makohine Viaduct. The viaduct, which is on the Main Trunk Line, is 238 ft. high and 750 ft. long.

( Rly. Publicity photo.)
A recent view of the Wellington-Auckland “Daylight Limited” crossing the Makohine Viaduct. The viaduct, which is on the Main Trunk Line, is 238 ft. high and 750 ft. long.

Every schoolboy knows why this country is named “New Zealand,” but perhaps the fact has been forgotten that about a hundred years ago it was seriously proposed that the name should be changed. One reason advanced was that Tasman did not land in New Zealand, and therefore could not have taken possession of it in the name of his country.

It was also argued that the Dutch did not follow up the discovery, and that in any case it was doubtful whether Tasman was the first white explorer to discover New Zealand. Though the evidence to support the claim is far from conclusive, it is possible that Portuguese navigators knew of the existence of this country long before the time of Tasman.

However, the crowning reason was that a British colony ought to have a British name. Various names were suggested, including New Britain, but no official notice was taken of the proposal, and in time it was forgotten.

The names, North, Middle, and South Islands persisted for a long time. As J. A. Bathgate says in his book, “Colonial Experiences,” “The individual who first gave the names … must have possessed a mind somewhat resembling that of the worthy minister of the Cumbraes (two small islands in the Firth of Clyde) who used to pray for a blessing on the Great Cumbrae, and the Little Cumbrae, and the adjacent islands of Great Britain and Ireland.”

Naming of Dunedin.

Dunedin has been Dunedin ever since the first settlers arrived there from Scotland, but the name of the town when it was only a plan on paper was New Edinburgh. This was chosen after such names as New Reekie, Edina, Ossian, Bruce, Burns, Duncan-town, Napiertown, Holyroodtown, and Wallacetown had been rejected.

(W. W. Stewart Collection.) An excursion train leaving Auckland.

( W. W. Stewart Collection.)
An excursion train leaving Auckland.

In 1843 William Chambers, one of the editors of the well-known “Chambers Journal,” wrote to the “New Zealand Journal” (a paper published in London for the purpose of promoting interest in emigration to New Zealand) and suggested that the old Celtic name, Dunedin, was infinitely superior to New Edinburgh. This happy suggestion was adopted, but it was not until 1846 that the projected settlement became known officially as Dunedin. The same idea was used when the river Clutha was named. Clutha is the ancient name of the Clyde.

Objection to “Invercargill.”

Invercargill was named after Captain Cargill, one of the leaders of the Otago pioneers. The name was suggested by Colonel Thomas Gore Browne, Governor of New Zealand from 1855 to 1861. He also suggested the name Southland, neither a happy nor a brilliant idea, considering that the beautiful Maori name, Murihiku, might have been used.

When Southland separated from Otago in 1861 some of the southern settlers who had no great love for Cargill, suggested that the name of their principal town should be changed to Clinton, the family name of the Duke of Newcastle, who had taken a great interest in the welfare of New Zealand. However, the suggestion was vetoed on the ground that Invercargill was a very suitable name for a Scottish settlement.