Wicksteed Street

Wicksteed Street in Vogeltown is named after a journalist known as one of the most entertaining gentlemen in the region.

John Tylston Wicksteed was born in Shropshire in 1802. Whilst editing the influential London newspaper The Spectator, he befriended Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who was in the process of organising British colonisation of Aotearoa by setting up the New Zealand Company. Wicksteed and his wife Emma bought into Wakefield’s vision and immigrated with their two young sons aboard the ship London in August 1840, arriving in Wellington that December. Also on board was Frederic Carrington, who would make his own mark on New Plymouth by mapping out the new town.

Wicksteed edited the New Zealand Gazette, the first paper printed in the colony and unofficial mouthpiece of the Company, for over a year before making his way to New Plymouth in 1842. As Resident Agent for the Church of England Society and the New Zealand Company, he selected and administered 4000 acres of land for the building of churches. Wicksteed carried out this role until 1847, writing monthly reports detailing the town’s progress, while his artistic wife painted charming scenes of local life.

The Wicksteeds bought land in Ōmata but by 1852 John was putting his journalistic skills to use again as editor of the Taranaki Herald, riding in from his farm once a week to write articles. Elected to the Legislative Council of New Ulster (the North Island), Wicksteed ran for Superintendent of Taranaki in 1853 but was unsuccessful so the family decided to move to Whanganui. When the Whanganui Chronicle started in 1856, Wicksteed was its first editor, once again journeying into town every week to stay at the Rutland Hotel and catch up on all the latest happenings.

John Wicksteed died at his home in Otamatea on 15 January 1860 at the age of 58 and is buried in the Heads Road Cemetery in Whanganui. His extensive library, “comprising many rare and expensive editions of ancient and modern works” was sold at a public auction a few months later.

This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.