REVIEW: Mr Ward's Maps -Elizabeth Cox (Massey University Press)
Massey University Press have just published my new book, a must-have for all passionate Wellingtonians: Mr Ward’s Map: Victorian Wellington street by street - a fascinating and lively street-by-street social history of Wellington in the pivotal years of growth from 1890 to 1900, all documented in 88 sheets (roughly A1 in size) drawn for the city council by surveyor and engineer Thomas Ward. The map stretched from Thorndon in the north to Berhampore in the south, taking in the teeming inner-city areas of Te Aro and Newtown, the grand homes of Thorndon and The Terrace, the remnants of Māori kāinga (settlements), the Town Belt, Basin Reserve, the ‘lunatic asylum’ and hospital, the city’s emergent suburbs, reclaimed land, and every street in between. It recorded the exact footprint of every building in the city — every commercial building and every house, every garden shed, stable and outdoor toilet. As well as a building’s shape, Ward recorded the number of its rooms and storeys, and what...
