Calmady Terrace

Calmady Terrace is an unformed legal road on the west bank of Te Hēnui Stream, forming part of Te Hēnui Walkway. It was laid out by Frederic Carrington on his original map of New Plymouth in 1842, curving alongside the stream at what was then the far eastern edge of the new town and the wilderness beyond. One of the few roads forced to stray from the surveyor’s grid pattern to accommodate the contours of the local terrain, Calmady Terrace now runs from the end of Courtenay Street, underneath Northgate and past Te Hēnui Cemetery to Avery Park, ending near the site of what was once Puketarata Pā.

Carrington named the pathway after one of the directors of the Plymouth Company, which was formed in England in 1840 to encourage migration from Devon and Cornwall to Taranaki.

Charles Biggs Calmady came from one of the oldest families in the southwest counties. His surname was of Saxon origin and first appeared in print in the 13^th century, by which time his ancestors already owned substantial lands in Devon.

Directly descended from Edward I, Calmady was born in 1791. He and his wife Emily had five daughters and one son and lived at Langdon Court, an Elizabethan mansion just outside Plymouth. Charles was active in public life in Devon. As well as his role in the Plymouth Company, he served as President of the Plymouth Free Trade Association and even stood for parliament in 1847.

The 1851 England Census gives Charles’ occupation as “Magistrate farmer” and his household staff included a cook, a butcher, a coachman, a footman, three maids and two dressmakers – presumably essential when one had so many daughters.

Charles Calmady and his wife died within a few days of each other in January 1855 and were buried in the family vault.

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.