Glen Almond Street

The name Glen Almond has been linked with New Plymouth since the early days of European settlement, although the area was not developed until the 1920s. Land immediately outside the original town of New Plymouth was surveyed into 50-acre (20-hectare) blocks known as "suburban sections". It is thought an early settler, Scottish-born William Black, purchased one of these sections and named it Glen Almond. Presumably he was so taken with his purchase that he named it after a picturesque spot in the country of his birth.

Glen Almond (Glenalmond) is located in the valley of the Almond River, near the Scottish city of Perth. It is home to the public school Glenalmond College (formerly Trinity College), which was founded by William Gladstone in 1841. It is also notable for a large flat stone that marks the grave of Ossian, a legendary Gaelic poet.

New Plymouth's own "Glen Almond" quickly took shape. By the late 1850s a substantial home and garden had been established. Advertisements for an auction at Glen Almond appeared in the Taranaki Herald and numerous household items belonging to Mr H. Edmonds were auctioned, without reserve, on 12-13 August 1857. In 1867 the property, more recently occupied by William George, was advertised for lease and described as a "beautiful suburban retreat with a well trimmed lawn, flower garden tastefully laid out, together with an extensive orchard having the largest variety of fruit trees in the province."

As New Plymouth grew, so did the need for more residential land. In 1921 the owner of Glen Almond, Harry Greig, decided to cash in. Eighteen sections in the Glen Almond Estate were advertised for sale. The auction, on 2 December, attracted significant interest and nine sections were sold with a top price of £575. The original Glen Almond homestead is still on the northern side of the street, although as sections sold its extensive gardens gradually disappeared.

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.

Related plan:

Glen Almond Subdivision (1922) DP4196, ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)