Origin of Bluff street names – part 7
USING additional sources, further street names have been traced.
Researched and compiled by Duncan Du Bois
Read here: A-Z the Origin of Bluff Street Names
AIRLIE ROAD: No trace specific to the area. Of Scottish origin, it is a variant of the name ‘Errol’.
ALDEN ROAD: No trace specific to Durban. Name has Anglo-Saxon origins, meaning “old one”.
ALISON ROAD: Possibly a mis-spelling of Allison. Rev James Allison was a Methodist missionary who settled near Pietermaritzburg around 1850.
ANDORA ROAD: No specific historical link traced. Given its proximity to the ocean, it may be named after a town on the Italian Riviera.
ARMSTRONG ROAD: Francis Armstrong was a trader at Port Natal who along with 16 British soldiers and nine other traders was held captive by the Boers briefly in May and June 1842, when they were freed following the arrival of British troops as a result of Dick King’s epic mission to Grahamstown. Armstrong Road could also be named after the Armstrong family who resided on the Bluff a century ago.
ARUM ROAD: Again, no particular historical link. A botanical name for a lily.
AURORA ROAD: No trace specifically to the area but may be part of a nautical theme in that neighbourhood as the Aurora was one of the ships which brought the 1820 settlers to the Eastern Cape.
BADENHORST ROAD: Named after a magistrate who saw service in Port Natal in the 1840s.
BAUDRY ROAD: Father Alexandre Baudry was a Catholic missionary who headed the mission station which opened in July 1880 in the vicinity of the present Bluff Catholic Church.
BEAUMONT ROAD: Named after Sir William Beaumont who arrived in Natal in 1871 and became a judge on the Supreme Court.
BENJAMIN ROAD: Named after a family who lived in the Fynnland area and conducted the ferry service across the Bay.
BINGHAM PLACE: Thomas and Richard Bingham 1850 Natal emigrants.
BISLEY ROAD: No trace found but given the proximity of military property, it would seem to refer to target rifle shooting.
BOSHOFF ROAD: Two Boshoffs – JN and JC were prominent in early Natal colonial history. Both were Voortrekkers. Jacobus Nicolaas was a member of the Volksraad in Pietermaritzburg. In 1844 he was briefly editor of the first newspaper in Natal, Natalier. He served on the 1852 Native Commission. Subsequently he left Natal and became president of the Orange Free State. Johan Christoffel was a respected member of the Natal Legislative Council who represented Umvoti County until the 1870s.
BOYNES ROAD: Named after Robert Boynes, an 1850 Natal settler.
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