Ngaio, New Zealand
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Ngaio is an inner suburb of
Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
, the capital city of
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. It is situated on the slopes of
Mount Kaukau Mount Kaukau () is a large hill in the northern suburbs of Wellington, New Zealand near Johnsonville, Khandallah and Ngaio. The summit is 445 metres above sea level and is the most visible high point in the Wellington landscape further acce ...
, 3500 metres north of the city's CBD. It was settled in the 1840s and many of its streets are named after early settler families. Ngaio was originally a logging community known first as ''Upper Kaiwarra'', then as ''Crofton'' until 1908. The area was administratively part of a separate local authority called the Onslow Borough Council which amalgamated with Wellington City in 1919. Ngaio takes its name from a New Zealand native tree, the Ngaio.


Facilities

Ngaio contains a library, multi-purpose hall, pharmacy, petrol station, café, Plunket rooms, dentist, medical center, tennis courts and a variety of small shops. Ngaio's dwellings are a mix of ages and styles, including original colonial buildings built in the 1860s, railway cottages and bungalows built in the 1920s and 30s, and 1960s weatherboard houses. The Tarikaka Settlement is a small area of former railway cottages built in 1928 on Tarikaka Street, Bombay Street, Carroll Street, Khandallah Road, Ngata Street, Raihania Lane and Pomare Street.


Library

Wellington City Libraries Wellington City Libraries is the public library service for Wellington, New Zealand. Wellington Central Library From 1840 onwards various organisations attempted to establish a public library in Wellington. The first Council-operated public ...
operates Cummings Park Library which is situated at the south entrance of Cummings Park on Ottawa Road. Opened in 1989, and refurbished in 2008, the library's entrance is paved with 850 tiles made by local potters Paul Winspear and Paul Wotherspoon and decorated by children from Ngaio and Chartwell Schools. The library's Māori name is Korimako, named after the Korimako stream that runs through Ngaio. The library offers internet access, free
Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...
,
word processing A word is a basic element of language that carries an objective or practical meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no conse ...
,
printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...
and faxing. The library collection includes a special collection of local
oral history Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people wh ...
, detailing the memories of prominent Ngaio locals. Regular preschool and educational programs are run during the week including Baby Rock & Rhyme for babies (aged 0 to 2 years), storytime for children aged 3 – 4 and Kōhunga Kōrero: Pakiwaitara i roto i te reo Māori – monthly storytime in te reo Māori for children aged 2–6 years old.


Town hall

The Ngaio town hall offers a venue for community services, sports, performances, cultural and private events. The hall contains a stage, kitchen, drop in center and the Ngaio toy library. The hall has a capacity of 300 people and has an accessible entry ramp at the front. The hall was opened in 1924 and was renovated in 1989. Groups that regularly use the hall include: *Bodh Gaya Buddhist Centre *Ngaio badminton club *Ngaio Drop In Centre *Ngaio Toy Library *Onslow table tennis club *Zumba There is also occasionally a book sale there.


Parks and reserves

Trelissick Park runs from the bottom of the Ngaio Gorge road and runs across the borders of nearby Wadestown and
Crofton Downs Crofton Downs is an inner suburb of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. It is situated between Ngaio to the northeast Wilton to the south-west and Wadestown to the south. Its border runs on the Korimako Stream that flows south into t ...
. The area acts as an ecological corridor between the Harbour and the northern suburbs. The park has historic gunpowder magazines built in the 1870s. While the park contains areas of original forest remnant, it is also under on-going restoration work led by the Trelissick Park Group that was set up in 1991. Since then, over 80,000 trees have been planted in the area, along with weed management, trapping and bridge building. Orleans Makererua reserve runs from Makererua street to Orleans street and has remnants of the native bush that was originally throughout Ngaio. Cummings park is off Ottawa road and has a children's playground and dog exercise area.


Transport

The suburb is served by the
Johnsonville Branch The Johnsonville Branch, also known as the Johnsonville Line, is a commuter branch line railway from the main Railway Station of Wellington, New Zealand to the northern suburb of Johnsonville via Ngaio and Khandallah. Transdev Wellington ...
commuter railway which connects it to the central city. There are two railway stations in Ngaio; Ngaio railway station and Awarua Street railway station. Buses operate two bus routes through Ngaio; numbers 25 and 26. Route 22 is operated by
NZ Bus NZ Bus is New Zealand's largest bus company, operating in Auckland, Tauranga and Wellington. Formerly a subsidiary of Stagecoach Group and later Infratil and Next Capital, it is now owned by Kinetic Group. History In October 1992 Stagecoach pu ...


Ngaio Gorge

Ngaio Gorge is the main road between Ngaio and Wellington city and is a key transport route in the event of an earthquake. The road is described as a "primary access road for the Onslow area" and a "critical escape route from the city should Ngauranga Gorge become impassable” by Onslow-Western Ward Councillor, Simon Woolf. Heavy rains in July 2017 resulted in a large landslide, with boulders and rubble completely covering the road. In the following weeks, 3500 cubic metres of rubble were cleared and a temporary 42 meter long shipping container wall was installed to protect the road from further slips. A temporary road next to Trelissick Park was created to handle uphill traffic when the main road was reduced to one lane. The Wellington City Council planned to extend the shipping container wall in preparation for construction of a permanent solution in late 2019.


Demographics

Ngaio, comprising the statistical areas of Ngaio North and Ngaio South, covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2. Ngaio, comprising the statistical areas of Ngaio North and Ngaio South, had a population of 5,634 at the
2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the sho ...
, an increase of 135 people (2.5%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 375 people (7.1%) since the
2006 census 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...
. There were 2,127 households. There were 2,742 males and 2,892 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.95 males per female, with 1,260 people (22.4%) aged under 15 years, 840 (14.9%) aged 15 to 29, 2,982 (52.9%) aged 30 to 64, and 558 (9.9%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 89.1% European/Pākehā, 6.4% Māori, 1.7% Pacific peoples, 7.9% Asian, and 3.1% other ethnicities (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities). The proportion of people born overseas was 23.4%, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people objected to giving their religion, 60.6% had no religion, 29.2% were Christian, 0.7% were Hindu, 0.5% were Muslim, 0.9% were Buddhist and 2.8% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 2,448 (56.0%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 204 (4.7%) people had no formal qualifications. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 2,664 (60.9%) people were employed full-time, 657 (15.0%) were part-time, and 126 (2.9%) were unemployed.


Education


School enrollment zone

Ngaio is within the enrollment zones for
Wellington Girls' College Wellington Girls' College was founded in 1883 in Wellington, New Zealand. At that time it was called Wellington Girls' High School. Wellington Girls' College is a year 9 to 13 state secondary school, located in Thorndon in central Wellington. H ...
,
Onslow College Onslow College is a state co-educational secondary school located in Johnsonville, a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand. It had a student population in 2020 of 1250 students. The current principal is Sheena Millar. History Onslow College opened i ...
, St Oran's College, Raroa Normal Intermediate and Ngaio School.


Primary school

Ngaio School is a coeducational contributing (years 1–6) state primary school, established in 1908. In 1928 it was moved to its current location at 45 Abbott Street. It has a roll of as of The school does not have a uniform. Its school song is Tūrangawaewae,
Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
for "A Place to Stand". The school acts as a
Civil defense Civil defense ( en, region=gb, civil defence) or civil protection is an effort to protect the citizens of a state (generally non-combatants) from man-made and natural disasters. It uses the principles of emergency operations: prevention, miti ...
centre set up by the Wellington Regional Emergency Management Office (WREMO) to provide support and information to their surrounding communities. They do not store emergency food, water or other supplies.


Pre-school

Preschool education is provided by Ngaio Kindergarten, Ngaio Playcentre, Ngaio Childspace, Grace Kindergarten, Trelissick Preschool. and Te Kohanga Reo o Ngaio.


Churches

Ngaio has three churches. The Ngaio Union Church has modern buildings and serves the Methodist and Presbyterian community. The nearby
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
All Saints Church, with its distinctive brick tower visible from most places in the suburb was designed by renowned church architect
Frederick de Jersey Clere Frederick de Jersey Clere (7 January 1856 – 13 August 1952) was an architect in Wellington, New Zealand. Biography He was born in Walsden, near Todmorden, Lancashire and trained as an architect before emigrating to New Zealand with his family ...
and built in 1928. In 2011, the All Saints Church was closed after engineers deemed the church a serious earthquake risk following the
2011 Christchurch earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...
. Also the Onslow Community Church which has a recently built modern hall in Ngatoto Street near the Ngaio/Khandallah boundary.


History


Pre 1840: Tarikākā

The area that modern day Ngaio occupies was originally called 'Tarikākā' by Māori, which means 'nest of the
kākā The New Zealand kākā (''Nestor meridionalis'') is a large species of parrot of the family Nestoridae found in New Zealand's native forests. The species is often known by the abbreviated name kākā, although it shares this name with the rece ...
', named after the noisy parrot that lived in the area. The area was not occupied by Māori, but many Māori tracks ran through the area, including what became the
Old Porirua Road The Old Porirua Road in the 19th century was the main road north up the west coast from Wellington to Porirua in New Zealand. It ran from Kaiwarra (now Kaiwharawhara) up the Ngaio Gorge to Ngaio, New Zealand, Ngaio (then called Crofton), Khandallah ...
. And a track to the ancient Ohariu on
Mākara Beach Mākara Beach, previously spelled Makara Beach, is a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand consisting of a small seaside village and its surrounding countryside. The Wellington City Council regards it as a separate suburb to Mākara. Features The ...
, from today's Awarua Street.


1840–1858: Upper Kaiwharawhara

The area was named Upper Kaiwharawhara or Upper Kaiwarra in the 1840s by Captain Edward Daniell who purchased 2,500 acres from the NZ company after selling his commission. In 1845, Daniell built a house in the area near the current Trelissick Crescent and called it "Trelissick" after his old family property in England. Daniell built the 'Bridle Trail' (now part of the
Old Porirua Road The Old Porirua Road in the 19th century was the main road north up the west coast from Wellington to Porirua in New Zealand. It ran from Kaiwarra (now Kaiwharawhara) up the Ngaio Gorge to Ngaio, New Zealand, Ngaio (then called Crofton), Khandallah ...
, the original road north) from his property down through current
Kaiwharawhara Kaiwharawhara is an urban seaside suburb of Wellington in New Zealand's North Island. It is located north of the centre of the city on the western shore of Wellington Harbour, where the Kaiwharawhara Stream reaches the sea from its headwaters ...
to the harbour. An agreement was made between Daniell and four sawyers in 1842 to allow them to build the Kaiwara saw mill on his property. The mill was built close to the present day junction of Crofton Road and Kenya Street. A recent subdivision built off Old Porirua road honored Daniell by naming the road leading to it 'Captain Edward Daniell Drive'. The mill was described by
Edward Jerningham Wakefield Edward Jerningham Wakefield (25 June 1820 – 3 March 1879), known as Jerningham Wakefield, was the only son of Edward Gibbon Wakefield. As such, he was closely associated with his father's interest in colonisation. He worked for the New Zealand ...
in his book, "Adventure in New Zealand from 1839 to 1844: With Some Account of the Beginning of the British Colonization of the Islands": ''"In the bottom of a thickly wooded valley, only accessible over a steep ridge, a natural fall in the narrow rocky gully of the stream afforded great facilities for erecting a dam. A platform and rough shed extended from side to side of the gully over the dam-head; the wheel and machinery were working underneath; and two or three circular saws were kept in constant employment. The open sides of the workshop displayed this curious work of art in the midst of nature's wildest scenery... The stern craggy sides of the gully might be imagined to frown upon so strange a neighbor as the fretting wheel. Two or three log-huts under the forest sent up their curl of smoke; while the neat housewives, with their flaxen-haired children, stood at the doors to receive with joyful pride the praises bestowed by visitors on the untiring industry of their husbands."'' The mill was taken over by John Chew in 1863, who built a cottage made of local
totara ''Podocarpus totara'' (; from the Maori-language ; the spelling "totara" is also common in English) is a species of podocarp tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows throughout the North Island and northeastern South Island in lowland, montane a ...
,
rimu ''Dacrydium cupressinum'', commonly known as rimu, is a large evergreen coniferous tree endemic to the forests of New Zealand. It is a member of the southern conifer group, the podocarps. The Māori name ''rimu'' comes from the Polynesian ...
and
kauri ''Agathis'', commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of 22 species of evergreen tree. The genus is part of the ancient conifer family Araucariaceae, a group once widespread during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, but now largely res ...
. Chew Cottage still stands today at 19 Ottawa Road which is the now the main road in Ngaio after starting life as the track for John Chew's timber.


1858: Crofton

In 1858, the area was renamed Crofton, after the house built by Sir William Fox on Kenya Street (at the time called Daniell street). Sir William Fox eventually became New Zealand Premier on three separate occasions. In 1863, a school for boys, called Crofton College, was built and boys were taught by Mr W.L. Martin. The college was later sold to Wilson Littlejohn, who would eventually become mayor of Onslow Borough Council. Crofton College is still occupied at 21 Kenya Street, having survived two fires.


1886: the railway arrives

The opening of the railway to Wellington in 1886 (see
Johnsonville Branch The Johnsonville Branch, also known as the Johnsonville Line, is a commuter branch line railway from the main Railway Station of Wellington, New Zealand to the northern suburb of Johnsonville via Ngaio and Khandallah. Transdev Wellington ...
) enabled people to commute into Wellington, and the line was electrified with more frequent and faster trains in 1938. .


1870–1890: Toll gate dispute

The Kaiwara Road (also known as the Ngaio Gorge Road and Kaiwharawhara Road) was built in 1850 to allow for
bullock Bullock may refer to: Animals * Bullock (in British English), a castrated male bovine animal of any age * Bullock (in North America), a young bull (an uncastrated male bovine animal) * Bullock (in Australia, India and New Zealand), an ox, an adu ...
trains to transport wool and wood. In the mid 1870s, the
Hutt City Council The Hutt City Council is a territorial authority in New Zealand, governing the city of Lower Hutt. Lower Hutt is the country's seventh largest city. The city borders Porirua to the north, Upper Hutt to the northeast, South Wairarapa Distric ...
constructed a
toll gate Toll Gate or Tollgate may refer to: * Toll gate, a barrier across a toll road or toll bridge that is lifted when the toll is paid Entertainment * "Tollgate" (Hale single) * ''The Toll-Gate'', a 1954 novel by Georgette Heyer * ''The Toll Gate'', ...
at the harbor end of road, which was the only road in or out of the area. Funds collected from the gate – one
shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...
for vehicles and half for saddled horses, were supposed to be used to repair the road, however residents believed the toll was being used to pay for roads further north, such as the
Rimutaka The Remutaka Range (spelled Rimutaka Range before 2017) is the southernmost range of a mountain chain in the lower North Island of New Zealand. The chain continues north into the Tararua, then Ruahine Ranges, running parallel with the east c ...
road, due to the poor condition of Kaiwarra road. The toll dispute started when a group of
firemen A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...
were forced to pay the toll when returning from a fire. A petition was signed by 150 people, and a number of people ended up in court after refusing to pay the toll. The toll gate was destroyed twice by angry mobs until 1890 when the residents broke away from the Hutt City Council to form Onslow Borough Council, made up of Kaiwarra, Khandallah, Wadestown and Ngaio.


1890: Onslow Borough

Ngaio was part of the new Onslow Borough from 1890 until 1919, when the borough was amalgamated with Wellington City following a
referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
on 31 March 1919. The Borough was named after Lord William Hillier Onslow, who was
Governor of New Zealand The governor-general of New Zealand ( mi, te kāwana tianara o Aotearoa) is the viceregal representative of the monarch of New Zealand, currently King Charles III. As the King is concurrently the monarch of 14 other Commonwealth realms and l ...
of the time. This was to placate his family who were appalled with the city's sanitation after his young son Cranley caught typhoid shortly after moving to Wellington. The Borough included the townships of Kaiwarra, Khandallah, Crofton, and Wadestown. In 1896, the Borough had an estimated area of 2,870 acres, a population of 1,530 and 276 dwellings.


1908–present

As a suburb in Marton was already called "Crofton", the suburb's name was changed to 'Ngaio' in August 1908. It is possible that Ngaio was chosen as the Ngaio tree was the symbol used by the local Kilmister family for their wool bales. Ngaio school was first opened in 1908 above the Ngaio railway station. It was subsequently moved to Heke Street in 1911 and finally its present site in 1928. The opening of the railway to Wellington in 1886 (now the
Johnsonville Branch The Johnsonville Branch, also known as the Johnsonville Line, is a commuter branch line railway from the main Railway Station of Wellington, New Zealand to the northern suburb of Johnsonville via Ngaio and Khandallah. Transdev Wellington ...
) enabled people to commute into Wellington, and the line was electrified with more frequent and faster trains in 1938. The population of Ngaio increased from 905 in 1916 to 2,280 in 1938. In 1940 state houses were built over Casey's dairy farm in Cockayne Road.


Notable people

*
James K Baxter James Keir Baxter (29 June 1926 – 22 October 1972) was a New Zealand poet and playwright. He was also known as an activist for the preservation of Māori culture. He is one of New Zealand's most well-known and controversial literary figures. H ...
, New Zealand poet and playwright. *
Leonard Cockayne Leonard Cockayne (7 April 1855 – 8 July 1934) is regarded as New Zealand's greatest botanist and a founder of modern science in New Zealand. Biography He was born in Sheffield, England where he attended Wesley College. He travelled to Austra ...
, botanist and namesake of Cockayne Road. * Sir William Fox, Second premier of New Zealand


References


Further reading

* *


External links


Crofton (as it was then called) in the Cyclopaedia of New Zealand, 1897

Ngaio School websiteNgaio Playcentre website (preschool)Ngaio Progressive AssociationNgaio Medical Centre
* * * * * * * * {{coord, -41.250, 174.773, type:city_region:NZ_source:nlwiki, format=dms, display=title Suburbs of Wellington City