Pembroke Street (Pātea)

Pembroke Street in Pātea shares its name with a street in New Plymouth and with Pembroke Road in Stratford. Pembroke Road runs from Stratford town towards the mountain, ending at the Stratford Plateau car park.

The street in New Plymouth dates from 1958. City councillor at the time, Carl William Henry Frank, who for many years farmed on the Pembroke Road at Stratford, requested the name for this street.

Pembroke's origins are truly Welsh - Pembroke is a town in Pembrokeshire in West Wales and a Royal Navy dockyard was established at Pembroke Dock in 1814.

You'll find the name Pembroke attached to two Canadian settlements while the United States is riddled with Pembrokes. 

Closer to home, it is also the former name of Wānaka in Central Otago.

In the animal world, Pembroke is a breed of cattle indigenous to the old Welsh counties.

The Pembroke Welsh corgi is familiar as a favourite of the Queen. A herding dog, the corgi can work poultry, sheep and cattle.

While the reasons for its naming are lost to us, we know that Sidney Herbert, an MP and the younger brother of the 11th Earl of Pembroke, served briefly in February 1885 as Secretary of State for the Colonies, succeeding Sir George Grey in this role. He is remembered as a patron and ally of Florence Nightingale.

George Herbert, the 13th Earl of Pembroke, traveller and author, experienced life in New Zealand. He wrote the introduction to Old New Zealand, written by Frederick Edward Maning using the pseudonym, "A Pākehā Māori”.

On the other hand, it is likely that the name derives merely from the town in West Wales.

Evidence to support this view comes from the small settlement of Pembroke, where Pembroke School may be found at the meeting of roads all named for Welsh towns - Monmouth, Cardiff and Pembroke

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.