Most historians put the founding of Hastings at around 1873. This was after the establishment of the towns of Napier, Havelock North (then called just Havelock), Waipawa (then called Abbotsford), Waipukurau and Onga Onga.
Mary Boyd in her 1984 Hastings City Council commissioned City of the Plains, a history of Hastings, says the site of Hastings was first and foremost determined by the main flow of the Ngaruroro River. She goes on to say in pre-European times the plains were unoccupied, with Maori pa sites (being the tribal territory of Ngati Kuhungunu) mainly positioned near the mouths of the local rivers.
Boyd says the lease of the Heretaunga Block by Thomas Tanner and his partners in 1867, and consequential purchase of said land in 1870, was the most notorious example of an 1865 government law allowing direct purchasing of land. The aim of the law was to overcome Maori resistance to land selling and to push lanes of white settlement into Maori districts thus peacefully amalgamating the two races.
Matthew Wright in his book Town and country: the history of Hastings and districts, published by Hastings District Council in 2001, describes the acquiring of the Heretaunga plains by Thomas Tanner and partners as one of the greatest scandals of the day. Although not illegal, he says, many settlers questioned this practice saying it was exploiting Maori debt.
Mary Boyd writes before settler Francis Hicks laid off sections in east Hastings, a township had sprung up at Karamu. The government had decided to route the Napier to Pakipaki section of the railway from Farndon to a national Karamu junction in the centre of the plains. The Karamu store/post office and proposed railway station were on Hick’s land which subsequently became the business centre of Hastings.
Local historian Martin Beck writes in his paper, From Hicks Karamu Junction to the establishment and development of early Hastings Township (available https://knowledgebank.org.nz), that Francis Hicks first leased 101 acres of swampy land at Karamu from Thomas Tanner. Later he purchased the land and Hastings Township was established around this land rather than Hastings being established in the best location. In 1870 Hicks erected a wooden two-roomed building opening a general store. Once the government had decided Karamu Junction was the best place for the station Hicks sold some of his land for a railway reserve.
He then employed Napier surveyor firm William Ellison and Sons to draw up the sale plan for the layout of 144 township sections. Needing a name for the plan Hicks chose Hastings after Britain’s first Governor-General of India, Warren Hastings.
Matthew Wright says several trends coincided to create the town. Government penny pinching put the railway through Karamu because it was the cheapest route and Tanner’s diminishing financial situation forced him to sell some of his land to Hicks. He goes on to say the name Hastings was probably to commemorate Sir Warren Hastings although there is some evidence the name was also intended to refer to the town on the south coast of England.
In the Hawke’s Bay Herald for 1st February 1884 (available on Papers Past) Thomas Tanner in his election speech said he was the father of Hastings. In 1906 the Hastings Standard published an obituary of the Rev. William Marshall which stated the Reverend had named Hastings. Three months later the Rev Whyte wrote in the same newspaper that Hicks had suggested to Tanner the land in question would make a capital site for a township which Tanner agreed. Wright adds Hicks’ idea was quickly taken up by his neighbours as it was a fast road to profit - more money could be made this way than in many years of tilling the soil.
So who named the town Hastings? Mary Boyd concludes there is no way of knowing. She writes that historically Karamu would have been a more appropriate name.
Posted by The Rummaging Bibliophile
Catalogue links:
City of the Plains, a history of Hastings by Mary Boyd
Town and country: the history of Hastings and districts by Matthew Wright
Matthew Wright in his book Town and country: the history of Hastings and districts, published by Hastings District Council in 2001, describes the acquiring of the Heretaunga plains by Thomas Tanner and partners as one of the greatest scandals of the day. Although not illegal, he says, many settlers questioned this practice saying it was exploiting Maori debt.
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| Francis Hicks in front of the Hastings Bank of New Zealand which was built on land once owned by Hicks. Circa 1910. |
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| Karamu Road South in 1904 |
Local historian Martin Beck writes in his paper, From Hicks Karamu Junction to the establishment and development of early Hastings Township (available https://knowledgebank.org.nz), that Francis Hicks first leased 101 acres of swampy land at Karamu from Thomas Tanner. Later he purchased the land and Hastings Township was established around this land rather than Hastings being established in the best location. In 1870 Hicks erected a wooden two-roomed building opening a general store. Once the government had decided Karamu Junction was the best place for the station Hicks sold some of his land for a railway reserve.
He then employed Napier surveyor firm William Ellison and Sons to draw up the sale plan for the layout of 144 township sections. Needing a name for the plan Hicks chose Hastings after Britain’s first Governor-General of India, Warren Hastings.
Matthew Wright says several trends coincided to create the town. Government penny pinching put the railway through Karamu because it was the cheapest route and Tanner’s diminishing financial situation forced him to sell some of his land to Hicks. He goes on to say the name Hastings was probably to commemorate Sir Warren Hastings although there is some evidence the name was also intended to refer to the town on the south coast of England.
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| Plan of the township of Hastings, 1873 |
In the Hawke’s Bay Herald for 1st February 1884 (available on Papers Past) Thomas Tanner in his election speech said he was the father of Hastings. In 1906 the Hastings Standard published an obituary of the Rev. William Marshall which stated the Reverend had named Hastings. Three months later the Rev Whyte wrote in the same newspaper that Hicks had suggested to Tanner the land in question would make a capital site for a township which Tanner agreed. Wright adds Hicks’ idea was quickly taken up by his neighbours as it was a fast road to profit - more money could be made this way than in many years of tilling the soil.
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Heretaunga Street East, Hastings, near Karamu Road corner,
circa 1885
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Posted by The Rummaging Bibliophile
Catalogue links:
City of the Plains, a history of Hastings by Mary Boyd
Town and country: the history of Hastings and districts by Matthew Wright
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