NAME:
Selkirk Rd was “Possibly named after Alexander Selkirk, the original of the book ‘Robinson Crusoe'” (Auckland Libraries, n.d.). Selkirk is the name of a town in Scotland.
No link has been found to anyone with the surname Selkirk in the extended family of Arthur Blundell Wright, who subdivided the land. He did, however, spend part of his childhood with his grandparents in Fife, Scotland. This is not geographically close to the Scottish town of Selkirk.
A family named Selkirk was living in St Lukes Rd in 1922, but no evidence has been found that they lived in the area around 1913 when the land was subdivided.
The words Highlands Estate are written in pencil on the plan, but this was not the name of this subdivision.
DESCRIPTION:
Selkirk Rd runs off St Lukes Rd.
On the east side lie numbers 1 to 23.
FACTS ABOUT THIS STREET:
This street was part of Alan Kerr Taylor’s land, which was sold after his death. In 1891 engineer and surveyor Arthur Blundell Wright purchased it from the Taylor family (Deed 121387, R41/731). He subdivided it, with a subdivision plan being lodged in July 1913 (Deed 68). This was not called the Highlands Estate in any advertising – Mt Albert’s Highlands Estate subdivision was on the slopes of the Mountain between Vinter Tce and Mt Albert Rd . The surveyor who drew up the plan was Percy Spencer. The history of land transactions is recorded in the Index to Deeds volume 17A Folio 296.
SOURCES FOR THIS PAGE:
Auckland Libraries. (n.d.). Auckland city street names. http://www.akcity.govt.nz/dbtw-wpd/streets/streets.html
Davenport, John. (1990). Street names of Auckland: Their story. Auckland: Hodder & Stoughton.