Kingwell Street

The name Skinner looms large in the history of New Plymouth and it is to that particular family that Kingwell Street owes its name.

Thomas Kingwell Skinner arrived in New Plymouth on the Oriental in 1841. On the same vessel was Prudence Veale, who was to become his wife that same year, and together they produced four children. The first son born was Thomas Kingwell who followed the relatively common practice, at that time, of father and son sharing the same name. Unfortunately, this makes life difficult for genealogists and historians who see the same name in records and have problems sorting out who is who.

For instance, we know there was a T. K. Skinner in the 1866 bowls team that played Auckland in the first interprovincial tournament, but we can't be sure which Skinner it was.

Thomas (junior) was born in 1849 in New Plymouth and went to school in Auckland. Then on his return to Taranaki in 1865, he began an apprenticeship with the surveyor Octavius Carrington. His surveying career culminated in his appointment to Borough Surveyor, a position he held for 19 years. He was also the first permanent engineer appointed to the Borough and County, a position later filled by his brother, John. He was known to take a great interest in the development of Taranaki and served on the Recreation Board and Preservation Society, and was a long time trustee of the Order of Oddfellows.

He died in 1925, aged 76 years, and is buried in Te Hēnui Cemetery. New Plymouth District Council records show the street name refers to well-known surveyor and engineer T. Kingwell Skinner.

So we can safely say it was the son and his contribution to the province that is celebrated in the naming of Kingwell Street.

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.

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