Today in History

1901 Cornwall Park gifted to Auckland

At a civic reception for the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York, Mayor John Logan Campbell handed over the deed to land around One Tree Hill. The new park was named in honour of the royals.

The Duke and Duchess (later King George V and Queen Mary) were touring the Empire to express gratitude for the support given to Great Britain during the South African War. During their visit to New Zealand, Campbell – an early Pākehā settler widely regarded as the ‘father of Auckland’ – was asked to be honorary Mayor of Auckland. He used the opportunity to gift the land to the people of Auckland and asked that it be named Cornwall Park.

The park is centred on a volcanic cone which Maori called Maungakiekie – mountain of the kiekie (a climbing plant). The site of a pre-European pā, it became known to Pākehā as One Tree Hill after a solitary tree which grew on the summit when Europeans first settled Auckland.

Sir John Logan Campbell is buried beside the obelisk at the summit.