NAMING OF HAMILTON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18121, 20 June 1922, Page 9

NAMING OF HAMILTON.

, Sir, —I do not know what long residence in the Waikato has to do with the narne given to the tr;wn of Hamilton. I was in the Waitajto in the end of 1865, but never heard of say controversy about the name of Hamilton. Personally, I believe the rival parties —one backing up Captain Hamilton, of the 12th Regiment, and the other Commander Hamilton, of the Esk — are both at sea. I was working at a sawmill four miles from Alexandra, within view of the Maori fires which we saw at night across the Punui, and we risked trouble with the natives who had been driven out of Orakau in 1864 —12 of us without, a gun among us J The nearest help was at Alexandra, four miles away, and Te Awamutu, where the 40th Regiment was stationed. Alexandra was called after Princess Alexandra, now our beloved Queen Mother. Is it not probable that Cambridge was called after the Duke of Cambridge, Queen Victoria's cousin? The official name of Ngaruawahia was Newcastle. Might that not be after the Duke of Newcastle, and Hamilton after the Duke of Iljsmilton ? M the three first nomenclatures were correct the fourth would be probable. The despatches of that time would give the names. The Confiscation Act was passed m 1864, and it would be, no doubt, p&.rt of the work of officials to fix the sites of the proposed townships and name them. H done in England it is . hardly likely that the Captain Hamilton would be known. Who named the Waikato township? If it were done at Downin? Street, London, the nam-ws would be aristocratic. II in New Zealand the same wou'd take nifice. P. E. Oheai,. June 16. 1922. — '