Editing Stratford, New Zealand (section)

==History and culture==
===Whakaahurangi===
The [[Māori language|Māori]] name for Stratford is Whakaahurangi, meaning to look to the sky. The name is taken from a story of the [[Ngāti Ruanui]] chieftainess/Puhi Ariki named [[Rua-pū-tahanga]] who fled her husband [[Whatihua]] from Waikato, travelling 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 Rua-pū-tahanga's tears), then camped overnight {{cvt|3|km}} east of the current town.  Being a clear night, Rua-pū-tahanga lay contemplating the stars when slumber overtook her.  Withdrawing in respect, her followers observed that their chieftainess slept "with her face to the sky". The site continued to be used as a camping place for Māori, the track she followed linking the [[South Taranaki District|south Taranaki]] tribes to those in north [[Taranaki]], and further north to Kawhia.  Each travelling party would recollect the story of Rua-pū-tahanga sleeping with her face to the sky.<ref>Gordon, W.F., Battersby, J.H., Richards, J.B., Kennedy, W.L., and Kelly, C.S.. Carved from the Bush: Stratford 1878-1928. 1928.</ref>

Whakaahurangi Marae, a ''[[marae]]'' (meeting ground) of the [[Ngāti Ruanui]] tribe and its Ahitahi sub-tribe, is located in Stratford. It includes a ''[[wharenui]]'' (meeting house), known as Te Whetū o Marama.<ref name="tkmentry">{{cite web|title=Te Kāhui Māngai directory|url= http://www.tkm.govt.nz/ |website=tkm.govt.nz|publisher=[[Te Puni Kōkiri]]}}</ref><ref name="maorimaps">{{cite web |title=Māori Maps |url=https://maorimaps.com/map |website=maorimaps.com |publisher=Te Potiki National Trust}}</ref>{{tertiarysourceinline|date=December 2024}}

===Surveying===
There is no record of Māori settlement in the vicinity of Stratford. Before [[British Empire|British]] settlement the area was covered in dense forest and swamp.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wagstaff |first1=Blyss |title=The King's Theatre |url=https://www.heritage.org.nz/list-details/9865/The%20King%E2%80%99s%20Theatre |website=[[Heritage New Zealand]] |date=9 September 2023}}</ref> The [[Julius Vogel|Vogel schemes]] of the 1870s provided the necessary impetus to lead to the construction of a [[railway line]] south of [[New Plymouth]], and the creation of road access at the same time, to open up access to the rich soils under the mountain.

In 1876, [[Taranaki Waste Lands Board]] assistant surveyor [[Edwin Stanley Brookes, Jnr.]] cut a meridian line from Waitara to the site of Stratford, and oversaw the subdivision of a block between the Manganui River and the [[Pātea River]]. The surveying of a new site for a town on the banks of the [[Pātea River]] was authorised on 11 June 1877, and the northern half of the town (above the Pātea River) was laid out by [[William Skinner (surveyor)|William Skinner]] in July. More lots were laid out by [[Peter Cheal]] in 1879, and in 1880 Skinner was directed to survey the southern half of the town.

===Naming===
[[File:Stratford clock tower Glockenspiel - Romeo and Juliet talking.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Stratford clock tower "glockenspiel"]]
On 3 December 1877, the name Stratford-upon-Patea was adopted, on the motion of [[William Crompton (politician)|William Crompton]] of the Taranaki Waste Lands Board.{{cn|date=December 2024}} The town was named after [[Stratford-upon-Avon]] due to similarities of the [[Patea River]] and the [[River Avon, Warwickshire|River Avon]] in Warwickshire.<ref name="heritagemag">{{cite magazine |last1=Martin |first1=Nicola |date=Summer 2024 |editor-last=Dunlop |editor-first=Anna |title=Work of art|magazine=[[Heritage New Zealand]] |publisher=[[Heritage New Zealand]] |pages=12–13 |issue=175 |issn=1175-9615}}</ref> The connection to [[William Shakespeare]]'s hometown led to the naming of 67 streets after Shakespearian characters from 27 of his plays.<ref name="heritagemag"/>

Today New Zealand's only [[carillon|glockenspiel]] clock tower plays the balcony scene from ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'' three times a day.  The spoken words are provided via external loudspeakers - there is no carillon (multiple bells) as would be more typical for glockenspiels in towers.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

===Settlement and growth===
Stratford was formally classified as a town in June 1878, and on 31 August 1878 an auction of 455 sections saw the first sections sold. By 1881 the population was 97, comprising 56 males and 41 females, with 22 houses. By 1891 this had grown to a population of 342 and by 1896 1,256. This growth continued steadily until the mid-late 20th century, and has since fluctuated between 5229 (2001) and 5664 (1996), numbering 5,337 at the last census.

===Institutional history===
The first Stratford Town Board was formed in 1882. The Stratford County Council was formed in 1890, and the Stratford Borough Council was formed on 22 July 1898. In the same year, Stratford became the third town in New Zealand to have electric street lighting, on the initiative of inventor and entrepreneur [[Alexander Walker Reid]].<ref>{{DNZB|last=Donald|first=Mary|id=2r12|title=Alexander Walker Reid|access-date=23 April 2017}}</ref> The county and borough councils amalgamated on 1 April 1989 to form the Stratford District Council, which was reconstituted on 1 November 1989 as part of the nationwide restructure in local government.

=== Historic building ===
The Kings Theatre was given Category I status by Heritage New Zealand in 2024.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ilona Hanne |date=2024-05-26 |title=Stratford’s 'Grand Old Lady' claims her heritage crown |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/tet-kings-theatre-in-taranaki-receives-category-one-heritage-status/22JU2CWIZRA63G7ID4WYFERKV4/ |access-date=2024-05-26 |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |language=en-NZ}}</ref>