Another of life’s mystery solved
I live in a suburb where I was told the streets were named after Pacific islands. I live on Tupia Street and have wondered about the origin of the name for some 30 years.
I hate unsolved mysteries as I had never heard of a Tupia Island but it turns out some of the streets are named after Pacific Islanders of note, including mine.
I recently won a book on ebay by Alan Moorhead, The Fatal Impact, where he details the impact of Western civilization, in the form of one James Cook amongst others, on the islanders.
As Cook was making his plans for departure from Tahiti he was beseiged by Tahitians who wanted to sail with him and at length he agreed to “take a chief and a priest” named Tupia who would be useful as an interpreter and as a guide on the other islands. Tupia was allowed to bring with him a servant, a boy named TayetoEureka! I have found out the source of the name, I thought. It turned out that the ships crew thought highly of Tayeto and little of Tupia as John Marra, one of the crew, remarks;
Tupia was, he says, ” a man of real genius, a priest of the first order and an excellent artist; he was, however, by no means beloved by the Endeavours crew, being looked upon as proud and austere, extorting homage, which the sailors, who thought themselves degraded by bending to an Indian, where very unwilling to pay; and preferring complaints against them on the most trivial occassion. On the contrary his boy, Tayeto, was the darling of the ships company from the highest to the lowest, being of a mild and docile disposition, ready to do any kind of office for the meanest in the ship, and never complaining but always pleased.”236 years later I live on a street named Tupia. Maybe I should petition the Brisbane City Council to rename it Tayeta Street. Ahh…the joys of reading and the pleasures and knowledge it brings.
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that is a very interesting story, my last name is “tupia” and for years now i have wondered about my last name i believe it didnt come from that story. My grandpa was left on a door step when he was a baby and no information was giving to him other than his name. i have been looking for information on the name for a long time. and cant seem to find any anywhere. it is a very unique name. where is tupia street anyways?
Tupia Street is in Taigum, a northern suburb of Brisbane, Australia. Brisbane is on the eastern seaboard of Australia and very much a part of the Pacific where James Cook met Tupia.
I’d be surprised if there wasn’t some Pacific contact with your family over the preceeding generations as I have never come across the name other than in Cook’s case.