Thomas Hird, an uneducated young man who came to the United States from England in 1818, was hired to manage 320 acres of the Richard Lord estate near W. 117th Street. Thomas fell in love with the wealthy landowner’s niece, Hope Randal Lord, but the family disapproved of the courtship because of Thomas’s lower-class upbringing and lack of education. To prove his devotion, Thomas studied at night and made himself worthy of Hope’s affection. The family allowed them to marry, and Richard Lord’s wedding gift to the couple was the 320 acres that Thomas had managed. Thomas later won a medal from the State Board of Agriculture for raising the best wheat in the state. When the land was ultimately subdivided, Hird Avenue was so named for the successful and persistent immigrant.