Picturesque view of Lyall Bay beach Wellington- 1925

Picturesque view of Lyall Bay beach Wellington- 1925

Shows two women with three children playing on the beach at Lyall Bay, Wellington. In the background, at the water's-edge, some people are paddling. Photograph taken by Sydney Charles Smith in 1925.

The road, and the suburb that shares its name, honour Dr David Lyall, a Royal Navy medical officer and naturalist who took part in a survey cruise of the area in 1847.

Lyall, a Scot, was an inveterate traveller who visited both the Arctic and Antarctic - adventurous stuff for the 1800s.

Before Lyall lent his name to the area, it was known as False Bay, after several shipwrecks had occurred when sea skippers misjudged the rocky outlets and the tides.

Colourised By Brendan Graham 2016 from an original black and white Image courtesy of the Alexander Turnbull Library.