Etymology
The suburb was originally called Dedwood in 1845, after a farm in Shelly Beach Road. The name was changed to Ponsonby in 1873. There are various people who might have inspired the name:
- Major-General Sir Henry Ponsonby (private secretary to Queen Victoria, 1870–1895)
- The Honorable Ponsonby Peacock, a member of the New Zealand Legislative Council
- Colonel Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby
- Major-General Sir William Ponsonby
Ponsonby Peacock was living in what was by then already called Ponsonby Road (later renamed Jervois road when Vandeleur Road was renamed Ponsonby Road in the 1880s). This fact alone would make it somewhat unlikely that he would have been the namesake for the new suburb.
The fact that part of what is now Ponsonby Road was called Vandeleur Road provides some basis for a derivation from either of the two latter men, who both fought at Waterloo. Major-General Sir John Vandeleur was a Divisional Commander at Waterloo and Colonel Frederick Ponsonby was a regimental commander under him. Neither Frederick Ponsonby or Vandeleur came to New Zealand but they are considered the most likely people the streets and the suburb were named after.
Read more about this topic: Ponsonby, New Zealand
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