Hursthouse Road (Tārurutangi)

It is approximately 18 kilometres from central New Plymouth to Hursthouse Road, which is located off Upland Road, Tārurutangi.

The road was named after Charles Wilson Hursthouse, who was born in Norwich, England on 26 July 1841. On 31 January 1843 he was 18 months old when he and his parents arrived in Wellington on board the Thomas Sparks. The family settled in New Plymouth in April 1843. In 1855, aged 14, Charles joined the Survey Department as a cadet. After his apprenticeship, he was appointed Assistant Surveyor for Taranaki District.

On 20 February 1860 Charles was chosen to go with Chief Commissioner of Native Affairs, Robert Parris, and Octavius Carrington, Chief Surveyor, to survey the disputed Pekapeka Block at Waitara. Their survey attempts were prevented by Māori removing surveyors' chains and pegs from their ancestral land. This is where the opening shots of the First Taranaki War were fired. When war was declared in Taranaki, Charles served with the Taranaki Rifle Volunteers for four years. He fought at the Battle of Waireka on the 28 March 1860 and again at the Battle of Māhoetahi on 6 November 1860.

In 1864, Charles joined the Taranaki Public Works Department as a surveyor and was employed to construct roads around Taranaki. In 1880, he was involved with the road survey for the Parihaka area. Charles was present at the arrest of Te Whiti o Rongomai, Tohu Kākahi, and Wiremu Hīroki at the invasion of Parihaka on 5 November 1881. Charles was an interpreter for the Crown and the only person Te Whiti would reply to when he was arrested that day. Charles helped survey the Main Trunk Railway from Taranaki through to Te Awamutu and was appointed Chief Engineer of the Department of Roads in 1901. He died on 25 February 1911.

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.