Kōpiri Place is situated off New Plymouth’s South Road, providing access to a new subdivision on the city’s western boundary.
The infill subdivision of 18 new sections was created by New Plymouth Developments Limited and is located behind a group of shops and Woolworths supermarket, with three schools and a kōhanga reo nearby.
The busyness of the site, particularly at school pick-up and drop-off times, is reflected in the choice of name. Kōpiri means to be crowded together, with piri meaning to keep close, support or stick together.
The suburb of Spotswood was part of Te Ātiawa’s rohe but “purchased” by the Crown as part of the Grey Block in 1847. The area was surveyed in 1903 and named after Louisa Jane Spotswood, Australian-born wife of Premier Richard Seddon.
The land surrounding Kōpiri Place was one of a considerable number of New Plymouth sections purchased as crown grants by Peter Imlay (1791-1881), a prosperous Australian whaler, landowner and cattle breeder.
Born in Scotland, Peter and his younger brothers Alexander and George arrived in Australia between 1829-33 and began to purchase land to breed stock, becoming well known for their business pursuits. Some of their interests included boring for coal, transporting salted provisions between the mainland and Tasmania, steam navigation and developing a wool trade.
Peter based himself in Twofold Bay, New South Wales, where he started a shore-based whaling station. He also began breeding stock and trading cattle and horses with New Zealand. In 1846 he survived being shipwrecked near Samoa while on a trip looking for oil.
The three brothers owned 388,000 hectares of the colony’s best land before their fortunes started to decline. By 1844 much of their holdings been sold or surrendered to creditors. George committed suicide in 1846 after contracting an uncurable disease and Alexander died a year later.
Keen to start afresh, Peter immigrated to New Plymouth. Here he purchased 19 town sections between 1851-57 and became known for importing top quality Australian cattle, horse and sheep stock.
He also built commercial premises on Devon Street West in 1854-55 which stood until 1934 when replaced with the Deare’s Building, which still stands.
Peter, his wife Ann and four daughters left for Whanganui after the start of the First Taranaki War. He owned a large section of land adjacent to the river and the Imlay Freezing Works were later built on this site.
This story was originally published in the Taranaki Daily News.
Documents
Australian Dictionary of Biography, biography - Peter Imlay
Whanganui Midweek, 3 November 2016, Imlay, the man behind the name
Taranaki Herald 29 May 1917, Death of Miss Imlay
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