The Vandeleur connection: It is widely believed that what is now Ponsonby Road was originally called Vandeleur Road, but this is not backed up by evidence. One of the earliest maps of Auckland (1841 by the Surveyor General, Felton Mathew), does show a Vandeleur Road in the general area. However it does not run in the same direction as the existing Ponsonby Road and it was probably never laid out - if it had been it would run north–south and sit between the existing Howe and Hepburn Streets (basically where Western Park is located).