About Eden Terrace

Eden Terrace is an inner city suburb of Auckland, located 2 km south of the Auckland CBD, in the North Island of New Zealand. Eden Terrace is one of Auckland’s oldest suburbs, and also one of the smallest, at just 47 hectares (ha) is second only to Newton (43.2 ha).[1]

Eden Terrace is under the local governance of the Auckland Council. According to the 2006 census, Eden Terrace has a population of 1,965.[2]

History

Origins

Plan of Surrey Hills, Arch Hill and Eden Terrace, circa 1880s[3]

David Burn (c.1799 – 1875) was the first landowner in Eden Terrace to start subdividing farmland up for residential development. David (in 1863) was the first editor of The New Zealand Herald[4][5] (then called the Herald). He was also a playwright, journalist, and author of the first Australian drama to be performed on stage, The Bushrangers.[6]

Scottish-born David immigrated to Auckland in 1847 and in 1849 bought land at the top of Symonds Street from William Smellie Graham, who in turn had bought the land from the Crown in December 1848. David built his house, Cotele, on this property. The house was located at the intersection of Symonds Street, Mount Eden Road and New North Road, enjoying views north to the harbor and west to the Waitakeres. He later moved to Emily Place and leased Cotele to various tenants.[7]

In 1861 then again in 1863, David subdivided the land around Cotele into hundreds of small building allotments and sold them off at a considerable profit.[8] New roads appeared as the land was subdivided; David was always “warmly attached to the navy and nautical matters”[9] which could explain his choice of road names: Basque; Dundonald; andExmouth – all associated with famous sea battles.