European History
Taradale has a rich heritage stemming from its key role as the original gateway to the inland routes (including Taupo, Auckland and Taihape) and to the farms and settlements of its hinterland.
In 1851 Donald McLean purchased, on behalf of the Crown, the Ahuriri Block which included present day Taradale and Greenmeadows. By the mid 1850s settlers began flocking to the province. The census held in 1856 showed that in Hawke's Bay there was 1057 male and 458 female. The government purchased the Tutaekuri Block in 1856 which was subdivided, with Ahuriri Block, as the river Meeanee District and released for sale in April 1857.
William Colenso purchased several blocks of land, a large block in Puketapu, Meeanee and 364 near Otatara. This block stretched from Guppy Road to the Puketapu hills and was bounded by the Great North Road (now Meeanee/Puketapu Roads) and the Tutaekuri River. Henry Stokes Tiffen bought most of the land north of the road to Puketapu and west of Guppy Road and named it Green Meadows after the native danthonia grass which covered the region. Henry Alley came to the area and leased land from Colenso in 1858, naming the area Taradale.
Naming of Taradale
It was previously thought that Alley called the area Taradale after the hill of Tara, County Meath, Ireland, where he was supposed to have been born. However, death records show that Henry Alley was not born in County Meath but in Queen's County, Ireland. He emigrated to South Australia and then Victoria, Australia where he lived in the Victorian township of Taradale until circa 1855, where he and his sister purchased a number of blocks of land. Henry Alley built what was reputed to be the first house, somewhere in the vicinity of Alley Place and Lowther Place. Taradale High School retains a link with the early days of Taradale, its emblem incorporating the Tara Brooch.
Town Board & Borough Council
In 1886 a petition was sent to the Governor of New Zealand, Sir William Francis Drummond Jervois, asking him to proclaim the district of Taradale as a dependent Town District under the provision of the Town Districts Act 1881. The Hawke's Bay County Council confirmed the petition and the Town District of Taradale was proclaimed on the second day of December 1886. A Town Board was formed with Messrs John Drummond (Chairman), Robert Davidson, Richard Martin, Richard Neagle and George Bradley. Mr William Waterhouse became the first Town Clerk. Taradale was administered by a Town Board from 1886-1963, and by Borough Council from 1963-1968.
Military services
Taradale's military history is typical of an early New Zealand town. The nearby Battle of Omarunui on 12 October 1866 saw the settlers and local Maori join to defend an attack from the Hauhau faction during the land wars. The district volunteered its sons and daughters to fight in South Africa against the Boers, and again in World War 1, World War 2 and the subsequent engagements that New Zealand has committed to.
Greenmeadows
Greenmeadows is an area some two kilometres north of the Taradale town centre, and an integral part of the Taradale community. Greenmeadows from the beginning has been seen as an extension of Taradale rather than a separate community, Greenmeadows formally became a part of the Taradale Town District in 1941. This gives the Taradale and Greenmeadows area which is also known merely as Taradale, or Greendale for local facilities; a population of roughly 17,000.
Read more about this topic: Taradale, New Zealand, Early History
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