Hankey Stream Place Name Proposal Report

This report is also available in PDF Hankey Stream Place Name Proposal Report (PDF 1.82MB).

• Spelling alteration
• West of Dalgety Range, South Canterbury

General Background

The Proposal

The submitter is seeking to have the spelling corrected for a stream situated on the western side of the Dalgety Range in the Mackenzie Country area of South Canterbury, from Hawkey Stream to Hankey Stream. The submitter provides supporting evidence that this feature was named after several members of the Hankey family, who took a prominent part in directing the affairs of several land associations or syndicates based in the United Kingdom during the 1860s and 1870s. The syndicates acquired sheep stations in Canterbury, Otago and Southland as a financial investment, including the Hakataramea Staton in Canterbury, which in the 1860s extended over the area where the Hawkey Stream is situated.

NZGB Archive Records

The archive records of the Board show that Hawkey Stream is an official geographic name – NZ Gazette 1968 page 268.

Research

The submitter argues that a typographic error in William Vance’s book High Endeavour: the story of the Mackenzie Country published in 1965, rendered the name ‘Hankey’ to ‘Hawkey’. The submitter reasons that there was very likely a cause and effect relationship between the misprint in 1965 and the subsequent gazetting of the name Hawkey Stream in 1968. The submitter refers to two other writers, Robert Pinney (Early South Canterbury Runs) and Gordon Parry (Hakataramea Hundred) whose local histories or historical studies of the Mackenzie country referred to ‘Hankey’. The submitter has provided documentary evidence of reference sources to help verify the spelling of Hankey.

Further searches of reference sources show no evidence of anyone by the name of Hawkey having association with the Mackenzie country during the 19th century when European settlement took place.

Location of Feature

The submitter cast some doubt on the location depiction of the naming of this stream in William Vance’s sketch-map. However, official maps and plans consistently show the stream named as Hankey/Hawkey in the same location as it is currently shown on official maps.

NZGB Frameworks

The submitter has requested that the Board exercise its responsibility to examine cases of doubtful spelling, in terms of Section 11(1)(b) of the New Zealand Geographic Board Act 2008. In regard to misspelled place names, item 16.5 of the Board’s Frameworks document notes that names in long term local usage normally take precedence, but subject to safety concerns, may be subject to spelling correction or alteration if the correct version is discovered. The use of Hawkey Stream has been a relatively recent occurrence (1960s).

Historical Maps/Plans

Cadastral and Topographic maps have shown the following through the years:

In early survey plan shows the following:

Early historical maps/plans show:

Duplication

There are no other geographical features or Crown protected areas in New Zealand with the name of either ‘Hawkey’ or ‘Hankey’. A small number of streets and roads are named ‘Hawkey’ or ‘Hankey’:

Hawkey Stream is not located within a Crown Protected Area.

Consultation

The views of Ngāi Tahu as to whether an original Māori name exists for this feature may be brought to the Board’s meeting on 16 September 2009.

Emergency Services

Changing Hawkey Stream to Hankey Stream could cause confusion for emergency services, as there is a significant phonological distinction between the current and proposed names.

Map

A printable version of this map is available in the PDF Hankey Stream Place Name Proposal Report (PDF 1.82MB).