Annandale Street

Annandale Street in Lynmouth was formed in the early 1960s to provide access to a new 42 section subdivision. It was named after a local landmark, a house built in the early 1920s for William and Martha Thomson. 

‘Annandale’, a link with William’s Scottish ancestry, had been built on an old pā site on Devon Street. The pa is marked on early maps of New Plymouth and was known as both Taringamanga and Te Ringa Ringa.

William Wright Thomson came to New Zealand in 1880 with his parents and settled in Otago. While farming in Lumsden, William met Martha Treweek, the granddaughter of early New Plymouth settlers. The couple married in Whanganui on 5 April 1901 and the same day moved to New Plymouth. They had five children, three sons and two daughters. One son, Keith, was killed in Italy during World War Two.

William Thomson established a coal depot in 1921 and in the following years the business grew and diversified. By 1939 W. W. Thomson & Son were advertising themselves as agents for tyres, farm machinery, rubber products and even insurance. The business was located on the corner of Brougham and St Aubyn Streets and the building was one of those demolished to make way for Puke Ariki.

William Thomson was a borough councillor, a Justice of the Peace, and a foundation member of the Paritutu Bowling Club. He helped choose the site for the new club on the corner of Calvert Road and St Aubyn Street. This was only a short stroll down the hill from his house and is even closer for the residents of Annandale Street.

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.

Related Documents:

Letter to the editor "Family Fortunes" (Daily News 12 October 2017)

W. W. Thomson Obituary (Taranaki Herald 18 August 1952)