Mabey Road in Avalon takes its name from the Mabey family, who owned this land in the 1863. Job Mabey, had leased the land from absentee owner John Stancliffe since the 1840s, and in 1863, Job Charles purchased three acres from him on the western side of High Street, where Mabey Road is today. i
Job Charles Mabey was born in a cottage in the area in 1858, and married Elizabeth Annie Benge at St John’s Church, Trentham, Upper Hutt on 19 June 1889. They had seven children and farmed this land. Elizabeth was also active in the community and a supporter of women’s rights. In 1893, she signed the Women’s Suffrage Petition, which called for women’s right to vote in New Zealand. The petition was a crucial step in the country’s women’s suffrage movement, which led to New Zealand becoming the first country in the world to grant women the right to vote in national elections in 1893. Elizabeth’s signature on the petition is a testament to her commitment to women’s rights and her belief in gender equality.
Job Charles Mabey continued to live on the land after his father’s death in 1896, raise his own family, and farm the land. In 1907, he was elected to the Taita School committee. Job Charles Mabey sold a portion of the land, abutting the southern boundary, to his nephew David Mabey.
In 1922, a group of residents held an informal meeting to establish a hall for the community, and they approached Job Charles Mabey for the site on which to erect the Avalon Public Hall. He agreed to sell a quarter of an acre of land to the committee, and the hall was built. Job Charles Mabey was elected as one of the three Hall Trustees, and he remained involved with the hall committee until his death in 1952.
