Hume Street (Waitara)

Hume Street runs off Broadway in Waitara and was named in the 1860s after a British naval officer. It originally ran parallel to Wood and Norman Streets (both of which were also named after “bluejackets”) before its course was altered a century later to more closely follow the coastline north of town.

Hume Street was named after Francis Alexander Hume, who served as First Lieutenant on the Royal Navy ship HMS Iris then as Commander of HMS Cordelia during the First Taranaki War.

Hume was the son of a solicitor, born in London on 20 July 1830. He joined the British Navy in 1851 and was sent to New Zealand to fight on behalf of the Crown during its campaign at Waitara in 1860 and 1861. Both his ships plied the coast throughout the conflict, transporting men, weapons, despatches and mail between Wellington, Taranaki and Auckland.

Hume married Hannah Charlotte Clara Gold in Auckland on 28 November 1860, presumably on one of these supply runs. Hannah was the eldest daughter of Major-General Charles Gold, who had previously commanded all British troops in Taranaki, and the ceremony was conducted by none other than the Bishop of New Zealand, George Selwyn.

Eventually promoted to Captain, Hume was later involved in a scandal that led to his dismissal from Her Majesty’s service. While sailing on board HMS Immortalite in 1877 he was accused of assaulting ordinary seamen William Rogers, attempting to kiss the other man “and suchlike acts” according to the British press. Hume denied anything improper had occurred, admitting only to being “too familiar” as a result of his “kindly and free manner towards those under him”. He was arrested and charged all the same. Character witnesses testified to Hume’s hitherto “noble and blameless life” while a naval surgeon claimed he was suffering from “mental depression and nervous debility”, but the captain was found guilty and dishonourably discharged.

Interestingly, one of the men on the court martial that heard Hume’s case was Vice-Admiral Frederick Beauchamp Seymour, who also has a street named after him in Waitara.

Francis Hume survived his disgrace to die a childless widower in London on 12 June 1916.

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.