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Tawa is named after a broadleaf tree that was once widespread in the area, and the most well known landmark is a “bucket tree”.
So when one hears of a street in southern Tawa called Redwood Ave, it is easy to conclude that it is named after one of the largest and tallest trees in the world.
However, that is not the case.
In 1852, Governor George Grey issued a grant gifting 108 acres of land to Bishop Viard, the first Roman Catholic Bishop of Wellington.
It was intended that a school be built on the land, under the control of the Catholic Church.
The Catholic Church held it in reserve for more than 100 years.
During this time, the Church leased the land for farming purposes.
Not until 1960 was the original purpose for the land fulfilled, when a Catholic school, Saint Francis Xavier School, was built.
The rest of the land was sold to the Tawa Development Corporation on the condition that the subdivision was named “Redwood” after the long-serving Archbishop of Wellington, Francis William Redwood.
This land is now known as Redwood, a southern part of Tawa, and Redwood Ave is the main street, connecting Redwood to Tawa’s Main Rd.
The Staffordshire-born bishop completed his early schooling in Nelson after his family immigrated to New Zealand in 1842.
He returned to Europe in 1855 for further education, and was consecrated in 1874 as Bishop of Wellington. He returned to New Zealand in 1874.
At the time, he was the youngest bishop in the world, and when he died, aged 95, he was the oldest.
Bishop Redwood was well known for his interest in education, and established numerous churches, hospitals and orphanages.
He founded St Patrick’s College, Wellington, in 1885, the first permanent Catholic boys’ secondary school in New Zealand, and lived to open the new St Patrick’s College, Silverstream, in 1931.
In 1934, his diamond jubilee and service was marked at the Basin Reserve with a function that drew many thousands.
He died in 1935 and is buried in the Karori Cemetery.
The Catholic connection is further highlighted in the Redwood area by several Catholic street names, including McKeefry Grove named after Cardinal McKeefry, and Lane Cres, which commemorates Fr John Lane, well remembered for his time in Tawa. Source: The Streets of Tawa, by Bruce Murray (2005).
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