Ivan Sisarich wrote to the Taranaki County Council in 1955 to request that a new street in his subdivision off Frankley Road be named after "Mr Barry", a previous owner of the land. The question is, was this Patrick Barry or his father Denis?
Patrick and his wife Mary moved to Taranaki shortly after World War One, and bought land on Frankley Road. A little later, his father Denis, already in his late 70s, moved to New Plymouth from the South Island. Electoral rolls and street directories indicate that he also lived on Frankley Road. Given that Patrick and Mary moved to Wellington in the late 1920s, it seems more likely that the honour belongs to his father, Denis. In fact, Denis remained in New Plymouth for the rest of his life, dying here on 14 July 1936, aged 94. His obituary records that he was "a lover of poetry and had a remarkable memory for that type of literature". He was also able to "solve problems in arithmetic with great facility".
Nearly 20 years later, the Taranaki County Council agreed to Mr Sisarich's suggestion and the new street, and the lane that runs off it, were given the name Barry. In December 1955, the county council wrote to the Department of Lands and Survey advising it of the new street name. The county clerk described the road as being in the "Town of Tattonville Extension No 4". This quaint and little-known name for the area derives from the Tatton family, who were early settlers.
As one of the conditions for the subdivision, the council asked that land be donated for a community hall. Ferndale Hall, at the end of Barry Street, has been an important community venue since it was built in 1967.
This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.
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