1. Hamilton's Hillcrest Suburb ON CREST OF A HILL  

Hillcrest is a suburb in south-east Hamilton that stretches from the Waikato River and Hamilton Gardens through to the University of Waikato and Ruakura Research Centre. The land was originally owned by Waikato-Tainui until it was confiscated in 1864 after the New Zealand Wars with British troops. This story traces from when militia settlers farmed Hillcrest's slopes (formerly known as Steele's Hill), orchards were established and the Government set up the Ruakura No. 5 State Farm. Parts of Hillcrest {renamed in the 1940s) were given back to Tainui in 1995 in the Tainui Deed of Settlement. Nowadays Hillcrest is 'home' to thousands of University students and family homeowners. 

2. Icons on Hillcrest

3. Hillcrest's beginnings - confiscated Waikato-Tainui     land

Kirikiriroa (Hamilton) was one of several Ngāti Wairere settlements along the Waikato River. They had developed the Kirikiriria Pā between London Street and Bryce Street. Early settlers also called the surrounding area Kirikiriroa. During the Waikato Land War, Ngāti Wairere abandoned the Pā before the arrival of British troops and relocated to Hukanui (Gordonton) where they are today. Under Governor Grey's New Zealand Settlements Act 1863, large areas of Waikato-Tainui land (1.2 million acres) were confiscated by the Crown in 1864.   

4. Militia settlers recruited for 4th Waikato                      Regiment 

The Government decided that the settlement of the confiscated Waikato-Tainui land would be by free land grants to militia men who would be able to defend it in case of future hostilities. Lieutenant William Steele was sent to Sydney to enlist men for the 4th Battalion of the Waikato Regiment who were required to serve for three years. Their settlement at Kirikiriroa was renamed "Hamilton" by Colonel William Moule in honour of Captain John Fane Hamilton, Commander of H.M.S Esk, who was killed in Battle of Gate Pā, Tauranga. 

5. MILITIA SETTLERS ARRIVE IN HAMILTON, 1864 

The 4th Battalion of the Waikato Regiment arrived on 25 August 1864 on the vessel ‘Rangiriri.  

6. MILITIA SETTLERS RECEIVE FREE LAND GRANT 

The township of Hamilton East was first surveyed by William Australia Graham in 1864. A map showing land grants can be viewed on History of the University of Waikato Campus, p.2 (pdf).  A 'corridor' of land was set aside for a proposed tramway which did not eventuate and became Ruakura Road and Silverdale Road.  A Gazette notice of 3 August 1863 had set out the terms under which grants of land were made to settlers: the militiaman had to be “not above 40 years of age, have to be able to produce certificates of good character, good health, and general fitness for service as required”. The terms of enlistment in the Waikato Regiment stated: "free grants of land were to be made on the scale of 400 acres for each field officer, 300 acres for each captain, 250 acres for the surgeon, 200 acres for each subaltern, 80 acres for sergeants, 60 acres for corporals, while each private was to be allocated 50 acres. In addition, each man was to be allocated a town section and 1,000 feet of timber to build a house. For the first year, until they received their land, they were to receive rations."      

7. Town sections developed

Military outposts were built on both sides of the Waikato river, now the sites of St Peter's Cathedral and the Hamilton East end of Anzac Parade. Within a year there were huts and stores around the redoubts and a ferry service connected both settlements. In December 1877, the towns of Hamilton West and Hamilton East  were merged to form the Borough of Hamilton. The first traffic bridge between Hamilton West and Hamilton East, known as the Union Bridge, opened in 1879. Three remaining buildings of that time - Beale Cottage, Nickisson House and Masonic Centre - are located in Hamilton East. 

8. Farms & Orchards developed at Steele's Hill     (HILLCREST) 

The Hillcrest area was initially known as Steele's Hill which was named after Captain William Steele whose land grant was on its western slopes. Later Steele's Hill was renamed Hillcrest in the 1940s when the Borough of Hamilton became a city.  In his history of Hamilton Astride the river (1977), P.J. Gibbons writes, "... within the projected township and beyond were clumps of forest, very wet underfoot, dominated by tall kahikatea pine... There  were considerable areas of fern and manuka scrub.. Beside the terraces deep wide gullies marked the immediate landscape, the clearer places were bogs and swamps. The climate was mild and pleasant by day and cold by night." Whereas some settlers farmed their land, many did not finding it too swampy and either abandoned or sold it after the required three years of military service were completed.

NORTHERN slopes of HILLCREST - RUAKURA AREA: 

Blocks of land were granted on the northern slopes of Hillcrest-Ruakura to Ensign John Crawford, Ensign Rivers and J.C. Pearson. All three sold their land to Yorkshire settler Isaac Coates who had arrived in Hamilton in 1868.  From 1878-1892, Coates was involved in local politics and a range of businesses, including flaxmilling, land drainage and operating mowing machines, reaper and binders and threshing machines (see NZETC: Cyclopedia of New Zealand).  

The Government also acquired acres in 1886 and additional land in 1901, including Coates' farm at Ruakura, with the intent of setting up a training and research centre under the Waikato Agricultural College Model Farm Act (1888). (See AgResearch: Ruakura Campus)    

For an audio account of growing up in Hamilton as a teen during the 1930s-40s and studying a farming course at Ruakura, see interview, "Teenagers at Woodlands in the 1930s and 1940s: an interview with Jack Riddell and Margaret Harris" held in Hamilton City Libraries Heritage Collections.

From 1922-1968, part of Ruakura was used to establish the Hamilton substation and switchyards for the supply of electric power from the Waikato River hydro schemes.

Eastern Slopes of Hillcrest area:

Farming:

Land was granted on the eastern slopes to Captain William Steele and the area became known as Steele's Hill (renamed Hillcrest in the 1940s). Later in 1899, Steele's land was sold to Yorkshire farmer Isaac Coates who had already begun purchasing land from other militia settlers. Coates had been Mayor of Hamilton from Jan 1888 - Oct 1889 and Dec 1889 - Dec 1892. After selling his land, Steele was a land agent and valuer, and served on Waikato County Council and many local organisations. Sydney Park in Hamilton East was renamed Steele Park after Steele's death. 

Sunnyside (McMiken) Orchard:

The block of land granted to W. Powell on the corner of Hillcrest and Silverdale Roads was purchased by farmer Frank Clifton Litchfield. In 1910, Litchfield's property was sub-divided and sold in separate lots to farmers, including the McMiken family (Lot 6) who established an orchard. Further land was purchased by McMiken in 1925 (part of Lot 5) and 1943 (Lot 9).  Access to the Orchard's homestead was off Silverdale Road which was originally named Knighton Avenue in 1943. It was changed by the Hamilton City Council in 1962 who named it after Silverdale Farms, owned by Captain C.A. Davis.   

Over the years, a variety of apples and pears were grown, according to adverts in the Waikato Times (1925), which won prizes at several Waikato Winter Shows.  In 1958 all of the Sunnyside Orchard's land was transferred to W.J. McMiken Ltd. In 1962, a satellite orchard was set up on 20 acres in Newstead and fruit trucked to McMiken Orchard. (See Eureka Express, July 2014 and History of the University of Waikato Campus, p.9)    

Orchard becomes part of University of Waikato:

In 1979, McMiken's Orchard was acquired under the Public Works Act for the University of Waikato. Part of the land was leased back to the Orchard over the following decade. In 1991, Sunnyside Orchard moved to Newstead and was known as J.W. McMiken & Co. The University removed the grove of apple trees behind a privet hedge that bordered Hillcrest Road and the public walkway to Scotland Place which lies next to Gate 7 (see Campus map). The Waikato Management School and carparks were built, followed by the Faculty of Law building. 

Other facilities were also established off the Silverdale Road entrance to the former orchard - University student accommodation at Orchard Park and the Silverdale Road Apartments, TKKM o Toku Mapihi Maurea, Te Kōhanga Reo o Ngā Kuaka,  NIWA, Landcare Research, Aquatic Research Centre, Huataki Waiora School of Health, and carparks. See Campus map.

Western slopes of HILLCREST - KNIGHTON - claudelands: 

Grants of land to militia on Hillcrest's western slopes between the Hamilton East Town belt, Ruakura and Hillcrest Road changed ownership over the years. The history of the land now occupied by the University of Waikato Campus can be traced through a series of plans held by Land Information New Zealand (LINZ). Research was carried out by Evelyn Stokes, Professor of Geography, which was completed by Max Oulton, the University of Waikato cartographer. Copies of the plans are held in the New Zealand Collection of the University of Waikato Library. (Source: History of the University of Waikato Campus (July 2017) compiled by John Robson.)

Farming:

Joseph Mullins grew potatoes on his block of land (Lot 224) which was between the Timber Reserve in Claudelands and Peacocke's farm. Peacocke sold his land to Samuel Seddon who named his 350 acre farm 'Knighton Farm'.  Seddon had arrived from Howick in 1869  & bred prize-winning shorthorn herd & Lincoln sheep.Army doctor William Raynor’s land (Lots 229-231) was located between the Hamilton East town belt and Hillcrest.

Farmland on western slopes subdivided in 1900s:

In the 1900s the land on the western slopes of Hillcrest was surveyed and subdivided. By 1901 there were two main owners - the Ruakura State Farm and the land lying to the west of Hillcrest Road which was owned by Auckland solicitor Edward Robert Nolan Russell. During 1906-7, the Russell property was purchased by various people for residential sections and to lease to farmers. Lots 15-17 and 19-24 were bought by Joseph Croke Darby who also acquired the northern part of Lot 18 in 1922. Darby was a Roman Catholic Priest and leased his land to farmers.  

Hospital proposed in 1940s:

In July 1941 the property owned by Darby was transferred to the Public Trustee and in May 1947 transferred to the Waikato Hospital Board. In November 1949, the southern half pf Lot 18, which had successive owners, was acquired by the Crown. (See History of the Waikato Campus, pp. 7, 8).  However, the proposed chest hospital was not built as the decline in tuberculosis cases had reduced demand for the hospital.

No.5 Dairy Farm & Cowshed established in 1950s:

 During the 1950s, the "No 5 Dairy Farm" was established on the Hospital Board Land by the Ruakura Research Station. 

Present-day: Housing & University Campus & St. John's College:

Nowadays some of this land on the western slopes of Hillcrest forms the Knighton Road / Old Farm Road / Ruakura Road area, part housing, part University campus, and the St. John's College whose front entrance is off Hillcrest Road. A new road was constructed in 1930 which was named Knighton Road in 1947 by the Hamilton City Council. The University moved to the site in 1964 after the land was made available to the University and Hamilton Teachers' College under the Public Works Act 1962. 

Southern slopes of Hillcrest - Waikato River:

Farming:

Highlander Captain James McPherson farmed his allotted land along the eastern slopes to the banks of the Waikato River from Riverlea to the Hamilton Gardens near Cobham Bridge. The homestead is featured in a Waikato Times article: Memory box:  Riverlea. McPherson also set up a flax-dressing mill on Manaonua Stream, near Tamahere. He became involved in local and national politics - Kirikiriroa Highway Board Secretary (1868), first Member of Parliament for Waikato (1871), and Clerk and Treasurer to the newly-established Waikato County Council (1876-1905).  

Bretton Orchard:

Bretton Orchard was established on Hillcrest's southern slopes along the Cambridge Road which adjoined the Hamilton Borough Boundary. The original homestead was built in 1869. According to Waikato Times adverts the orchard grew a variety of apples including Jonathan, Pearmain, Delicious and Winesaps. The orchard was advertised for sale in 1919 - it had been subdivided into sections of 2.5 to 14 acres in size and there were c3000 fruit trees. (see Papers Past: Waikato Times).  Bretton Orchard's "7-roomed house, implements and sundries" were offered for sale by Mr W.F. Sinclair in 1922 (see Papers Past; Waikato Times).  Bretton Terrace was named in 1950 after Bretton Orchard by then owners J.P. Flynn and R.A. Forster who also named Flynn Road in 1940.

9. HILLCREST ROAD WAS NAMED IN 1904

The road running atop the crest of Steele's Hill was named Hillcrest Road by the Waikato County Council in 1904.

(For a list of all the street names in the Hillcrest suburb, including year named, if named by owner and named after, see: Wikipedia: List of street names in Hamilton, Waikato - Hillcrest )

10. STEELE'S HILL RENAMED HILLCREST in 1940s

As Hamilton's population increased and its boundaries extended, the Waikato County Council renamed Steele's Hill as Hillcrest in the 1940s. Today, the Hillcrest suburb spans both sides of the hill with views overlooking the Hamilton City basin on one side and farmland stretching to the Kaimai Range and Mt. Te Aroha on the other. The hill's slopes are gentle rising as can seen from these photographs of the western slope looking up towards the University Science block and the eastern slope looking up to the School of Management building. The Hillcrest roundabout at the southern end near Hillcrest Normal School provides the gateway into Hamilton from Cambridge (State Highway 1) and Morrinville (State Highway 26) and further afield.    

11. HAMILTON CITY (1945) & HILLCREST A NEW SUBURB (1949)

At first the growth in population in Hamilton was slow with only about 250 people by 1868. The numbers increased to more than 2100 by 1906, with a further 800 people living outside the boundary in Claudelands and Frankton. The borough of Hamilton continued to expand, taking in Claudelands in 1912 and amalgamating with Frankton  in 1917.  The 1945 census showed Hamilton’s population reached 22,000, enabling the borough to become a city. The city’s boundaries expanded with the development of new suburbs including Hillcrest (1949), Enderley, Beerescourt and Melville.  (See Hamilton New Zealand)   

Audio recordings on living and/or working in Hillcrest

For a trip down memory lane, hear former residents and workers in the Hillcrest area being interviewed about their lives in the 1930s, 40s and 50s as part of the Hamilton City Libraries' Oral History project in 1996-1997.

See webpage.: https://hamiltonlibraries.co.nz/heritage/archives/oral-history The audio recordings are included on its Heritage Collections webpage.

12. Stores & Homes

On 29 November 1961, Abel’s Supermarket opened in Hillcrest - it was one of New Zealand’s earliest supermarkets, and Hamilton’s first. Wynn Abel (1911-1995) was a Tamahere resident from 1968 to 1989, owning with wife Jean, Malabar Farm on Airport Rd. They bred thoroughbred racehorses, including Van der Hum who won the Melbourne Cup in 1976. (See Tamahere Forum.) 

13. Schools

Hillcrest School: 1923 -

Hillcrest School (now Hillcrest Normal School) was officially opened on 4 April 1923 with two classrooms and a headmaster’s room.  

Hillcrest High School: 1972 -

Hillcrest High School opened in January 1972. 

ST JOHN'S COLLEGE: 1962-

When the Russell  property west of Hillcrest Road was subdivided in 1906-7,  Lots 13-14 were acquired by farmer James Moroney. Later in September 1919,  Moroney transferred this land to The Institute de Notre Dame des Missions Trust Board, who transferred it to the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Auckland in 1960. A Roman Catholic boys' secondary school, St. John's College, was built and opened in 1962. The College had initially opened at Marist School (now Marian Catholic School) in 1961 and transferred to its new site in October the following year. See aerial flyover of present-day buildings and grounds.

14. Hamilton Teachers' College - WaikAto school of           education

The Hamilton Teachers' College was first located in Melville at what is now Melville High School; then moved to its current Hillcrest site in 1964. The College merged with the University of Waikato in 1991, to become New Zealand’s first fully professional School of Education.   

15. University of Waikato takes shape

In 1964 the University of Waikato was officially opened and shaped development of the area over the next decades. The Ministry of Works, led by  Assistant Government Architect J.R. Blake-Kelly, laid out a masterplan in which the academic buildings stood on the high ground, halls of residence on the low ground on the opposite side of the campus, with student facilities located between them. As the University grew so did the need for student accommodation. Infill housing and student accommodation blocks began to overtake the acre sections that were a character of Hillcrest.  (See University of Waikato: History)  

Growth of Faculties and buildings:

• 1964: Initially, the University comprised the School of Humanities and a School of Social Sciences 

• 1969: School of Science (now the Faculty of Science and Engineering) was established  

• 1972: Centre for Māori Studies and Research was set up in the School of Social Sciences

• 1972: School of Management Studies 

• 1973: Computer Science and Computing Services (which became the Faculty of Computing and Mathematical Sciences)

• 1987: Te Kohinga Mārama Marae opened  as part of the College of Education 

• 1991:  Law School officially opened on 3 May (now Te Piringa - Faculty of Law sited in a new building since 2016 at Gate 7) 

• 1991: School of Education which became Te Kura Toi Tangata Faculty of Education 

• 1992: New School of Management Studies building (MSB) opened

• 1996: Four-storey extension to the MSB building opened

• 1996: School of Māori and Pacific Development was established (now Te Pua Wānanga ki te Ao - Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Studies)  

• 1998: School of Management Studies (MBS) officially changes its name to the Waikato Management School (WMS)

• 1999: Schools of Humanities and Social Sciences were merged to form the School (later Faculty) of Arts and Social Sciences

• 2001: Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts built alongside Knighton Lake  

• 2010: The tertiary partnership was widened to include Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi in the Eastern Bay of Plenty

• 2011:  Te Kotahi Research Institute 

• 2016: Te Piringa - Faculty of Law sited in new Law and Management building at Gate 7. The extension includes a new ‘glass box’ entrance for the Waikato Management School (WMS), a Management Student Centre (MSC), Executive Education teaching spaces, and computer labs. The extension between the existing Management building and the new Law building is one storey underground of which the roof is covered in grass to create a lawn garden. 

• 2019: University of Waikato opens its $50 million new Tauranga campus, offering the Bachelor of Business and Waikato MBA

• 2019: Demolition of the former Law School building and W block and the gutting of A block

• 2020: Six murals were painted on buildings during a week-long Boon on Campus: A street art festival at the University 

• 2022: Waikato Management School's front entrance on Hillcrest Road has a mural painted by Miriama Grace-Smith, from the Boon on Campus collective.

• 2023: The Pā officially opened in July to provide the new main entrance to the campus: Ko Te Tangata: The University Wharenui (ceremonial meeting house), Vice-Chancellor & Faculty offices, The Canopy (staff club, staff club, café and bar), Te Āhurutanga: The Student Hub (including food outlets and social learning spaces), Te Kōpūroa (2 multi-function teaching rooms and commercial kitchen), and Te Pua Wānanga ki te Ao — Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Studies. The Pā has since won awards  at the 2024 New Zealand Architecture Awards, the 2024 Property Industry Awards,  and the Resene Colour Award at the 2024 New Zealand Institute of Architects Waikato and Bay of Plenty Architecture Awards. See: https://www.waikato.ac.nz/about/the-pa/

  See current list of divisions, faculties and schools:The University of Waikato: About us and the Campus map.

For a snapshot history of the design of each Campus building, see The University of Waikato 1964-2014.

THE ICONIC COWSHED:

The Cowshed was originally built in 1953 on Ruakura's No. 5 Dairy Farm. Over the years it once housed the Waikato Students' Union administration, the president's office, NEXUS and Radio Contact 89FM (the transmitter was set up on the top of the Library).

THE STATION:

The Station on Hillcrest Road is the former main railway station built in 1879. The building was relocated from Victoria Street after 1967 when the Hamilton Central underground train station was built.  Vice-Chancellor Don Llewellyn initially planned to use it as a temporary Student Union building; then it was set up as the Common Room for staff. It became known for a number of years as the Station Café and Bar which was used by staff and students. 

Student accommodation:

The University Library:

University lakes - Knighton, Oranga & Chapel Lakes 

The Campus Lakes Knighton, Oranga and Chapel were formed to help drain the wet, swampy land the Unversity was sited on.

Campus grounds and walkways:

Staff and students:

16. Waikato-Tainui regain land (1995)

 Waikato-Tainui settled grievances with the Crown with the 1995 Waikato-Tainui Raupatu Claims Settlement Act.  

Ruakura Superhub with inland port being developed in stages

When Tainui Group Holdings proposed building an inland port, the heritage values of Ruakura – land, buildings and trees – were raised with the Hamilton City Council as part of the 2015 submission process to the Ruakura Variation - Plan Change 1. The history of the land to be developed is included in the following report prepared in by Wiremu Puke for NaMTOK Consultancy Ltd: An assessment of the potential impact that any expansion and development of the Ruakura Estate might have on cultural values and manawhenua; A report prepared for Tainui Group Holdings Limited & Chedworth Park Ltd by NaMTOK Consultancy Ltd, Nov 2011.

The Ruakura Superhub opened in August 2023 and work is being completed in stages for industrial, commercial and residential development. The Ruakura Inland Port is located within the Superhub and lies adjacent to the East Coast Main Trunk rail line and the Waikato Expressway; thus at the nexus of the triangle of Tauranga, Auckland and Hamilton. The Ruakura Inland Port is to be managed by the Port of Tauranga through its subsidiary Quality Marshalling.

Find out more: Tainui Group Holdings:  Ruakura Superhub and Ruakura Inland Port.

17.  Got some photos of Hillcrest, Ruakura &                          University of Waikato to share?! 

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Further information:

• History of the University of Waikato Campus (pdf) (July 2017) compiled by John Robson

• University of Waikato celebrating 50 years

• Gibbons, P.J. (1977). Astride the river: a history of Hamilton. (Christchurch : Whitcoulls for the Hamilton City Council) 

• Hamilton City Libraries Heritage Collections

• Norris, H.C.M. (1956). Armed settlers: The story of the founding of Hamilton, 1864-1874. (Hamilton: Paul's Book Arcade)

• Stokes, Evelyn. History of the Land (Appendix C, pp. 274-300) In  Day, Paul (1984). From the ground up: An informal chronicle of the genesis and development of the University of Waikato, 1964-1984 (University of Waikato)

• Tainui Group Holdings, URL: https://www.tgh.co.nz/

(This DigitalNZ story was compiled in 2019 and updated in March 2025)