Auckland nudist beach Ladies Bay set to unveil name options for historical signs
Is it a lady’s or is it for ladies – the history of an Auckland nudist beach’s names may soon be revealed for all to see.
Ladies Bay in the east Auckland suburb of St Heliers has long suffered from multiple spellings of its name – and a questionable reputation.
Now local politician Colin Davis is looking to solve the former with a new sign that spells out both of the site’s English names – and adds a Māori one.
While “Ladies Bay” is the name at present printed on an Auckland Council sign, the place has also been known as Lady’s Bay, prompting the question, who was the lady?
Davis, of the Ōrākei Local Board, citing a local historian and reports on a 1940s plan for a flying-boat passenger terminal at the bay, said she was Eliza, Lady Grey, wife of Governor Sir George Grey.
“… hence ‘Lady’s Bay’, which spelling is recorded in a local history and most often in newspapers in the late 1800s, even up to the 1940s,” Davis said in papers for this Thursday’s board meeting where he hopes to persuade colleagues to support his move.
“Sometimes, but not often, the plural spelling ‘Ladies’ – with an apostrophe – was written.”
He told the Herald that work being done, following subsidence, to build new steps down to the bay gave an opportunity to replace the current sign with one that said “Ladies Bay – Lady’s Bay”.
He wants a Māori name added too, in line with Auckland Council policy, and a separate sign explaining the history of the names.
Continued…Read full original article…
Source: New Zealand Herald
Original publication 14 May, 2019
Posted on NatCorn 6 days ago
