Howick finds road to union

[Kahu]

Howick finds road to union
Eastern Courier | Friday, 21 September 2007

This is the second in a series of articles by Howick historian Alan La Roche on the streets of Howick that were named in 1847.

Lieutenant Colonel Mundy recommended to Governor Grey in 1847 that streets in the military settlement of Howick should be named after celebrated military heroes and battles.
Union Rd was one of the streets named according to that recommendation, but which union was it named after?

It was probably not named after the union of Ireland and England, which was not popular with many Irish, especially those in the southern counties.

About half the fencibles who came to Howick were Catholics from Ireland.
There was the union of 1707, 1800 and even with Irish emancipation in 1829 and tithes abolition in 1838, union was not popular.
This was especially so for the Howick Irish who had escaped from the Irish potato famine of 1846 to 1849.

The British appeared to do little to address the hunger in Ireland, and there was little love for England.
The union between Scotland and England in 1707 was again enforced after the Battle at Culloden in 1746 when about 5000 Highlanders fought valiantly but lost to the Duke of Cumberland's 10,000 troops.
Even the wounded Scots were shot as they lay on the wet fields.

The Scotsmen in Howick would not have wanted a street to commemorate that forced union.
Union Rd was named after the famous Union Brigade's charge in the Battle of Waterloo in April 1815.
The Union Brigade of the English Royal Regiments, the Scots Greys and Inniskillens from Ireland under Sir William Ponsonby were a fearsome force of more than 1200 on large horses wielding sabres.

They thundered from a ridge and annihilated Napoleon's French troops.
In its day it was the most famous battle charge, killing more than 2000 French troops, and was hailed a brilliant military manoeuvre.
It was Lord Tennyson's famous poem The Charge of the Light Brigade of 1854 in the Crimean War we often remember today.

But in 1847 when the names for Howick streets were listed, the Union Brigade's charge of mounted cavalry at Waterloo would have been well known.
Two Howick fencibles Robert Roycroft and John Paton were in the Battle of Waterloo.
Paton Rd used to go to as far as Patons' farm.
Union St was the southern boundary of the fencible village.

In the 1980s Union St became Union Rd due to common usage.
Originally all the streets of Howick were 'streets' and those beyond the village were 'roads'.

Today this distinction has been largely lost.