Change on cards for town named after cruel general
Robert Clive gave his name to Clive, in Hawke’s Bay
AHawke’s Bay historian has backed the suggestion that a town named after an “unstable sociopath” could revert to its original Ma¯ori name — but only if residents call for change.
Two British schools recently changed the names of their boarding houses — both of which were named after Lord Robert Clive, known as “Clive of India”.
The small Hawke’s Bay town of Clive was also named after the man credited with laying the foundation of the British Empire in India alongside Warren Hastings. The coastal settlement was known as Waipu¯ reku, before it was renamed after the first British Governor of the Bengal Presidency in the mid-1800s.
Scottish historian William Dalrymple described Clive as an “unstable sociopath” because his policies and actions led to famine and other atrocities in Bengal. Clive also looted the Bengal treasury, equivalent to $4.46 billion in today’s money.
Hawke’s Bay historian Michael Fowler said it would be possible to change the town’s name if locals were against Clive’s legacy.
“If there are enough people that want to change the name and they take it to council, then it could change,” he said.
Other areas in the Bay were also named after warring generals.
“If you look at Warren Hastings, Henry Havelock or Charles Napier closely, you’ll find various controversial things too,” he said.
Alwyn Corban, Hastings District councillor for the Heretaunga Ward, said it was the role of the New Zealand Geographical Board to consider a name change. “I would expect the community would have a strong voice in that, however,” he said.
Board secretary Wendy Shaw said a vast amount of evidence was needed before contemplating changing a place name.
“The board requires documentary evidence of consultation with the relevant local council before it will consider a proposal to alter the name of a populated place such as Clive,” she said. “To date, the board has not received a proposal to alter Clive to its original Ma¯ori name, Waipu¯reku.”
Waipureku means “the meeting of waters” — reflecting the fact that the Tukituki and Ngaruroro rivers once flowed together into a single outlet near the current overflow channels.
Merchant Taylors’ School for Boys in Northwood, England, renamed its “Clive of India” house this month because of his links to colonialism. After consulting past and present students, headmaster Simon Everson said the change was to avoid associations with the “foundation of the Empire”.
“Robert Clive has always been a controversial figure,” Everson said. “His actions in India were the foundations of the Empire, but were also questioned by his own contemporaries.”
Clive attended the school himself, but was expelled for fighting.
A vote was also held in Shropshire, England, last year on whether to remove a statue of Clive from Shrewsbury town centre — but the council voted to keep it.
Clive resident Lynn Coyle, 76, said she wouldn’t have a problem if the name changed.
“I think it’s a shame that so many places and names in New Zealand had their names anglicised,” she said.
Lifelong resident Ann Godwin, 84, didn’t want Clive’s name changed.
“I’ve been brought up with it as Clive — that’s how we know it and like it.”
Jaye Sanders, 26, works in Clive and doesn’t see why the name can’t be changed: “Our generation is trying to grasp onto Te Reo Ma¯ori instead of making it an extinct language.”
— NZ Herald
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