New Zealand - Stratford - A street view of the main thoroughfare of Stratford, Taranaki. - Stratford was the centre of a rich dairying district. - 15/3/1923 - S. C. Smith Photographer - Originally published in "The Auckland Weekly News" #336331 Stratford - Stratford lies beneath the eastern slopes of Mount Taranaki/Egmont, approximately halfway between New Plymouth and Hawera. - The Māori name for Stratford is Whakaahurangi, meaning to look to the sky. The name is taken from a story of the Ngati Ruanui chieftainess/Puhi Ariki named Ruapu-tahanga who, fleed her husband Whatihua from Waikato, she travelled the track known as Te ara tapu o Ruaputahanga which stretches from Urenui down through Tariki, and ends near Patea). Here she stopped at the side of the Kahouri river near a fresh water spring. It is said she sat distraught and cried into the spring, naming it Te Puna Roimata o Ruaputahanga The spring of Ruaputahangas tears hear camped overnight 3km east of the current town. Being a clear night, Ruaputahanga lay contemplating the stars when slumber overtook her. Withdrawing in respect, her followers observed that their chieftainess slept "with her face to the sky". - There is no record of Māori settlement in the vicinity of Stratford. Before British settlement the area was covered in dense forest and swamp. - On 3 December 1877, the name Stratford-upon-Patea was adopted, on the motion of William Crompton of the Taranaki Waste Lands Board. The supposed similarity of the Patea River to the River Avon in England led to the adoption of this name, and Crompton was known to have a literary turn of mind.