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A home built of wood
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The Colonial Cottage Museum is central Wellington's oldest original cottage. Built in 1858, its construction is of the elegant late-Georgian style and is similar to many houses built from that date through to about 1870.
Building with wood in early Wellington was a natural choice as there was an abundance of native timbers. Another factor was the 1848 earthquake - the first since European settlement in 1840 - which had resulted in a number of deaths in brick buildings. The local newspaper, the New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, reported in its November 8,1848 issue that the consensus was to build wooden well-constructed buildings and preferably no more than one storey.
However fire was a danger, especially when fanned by Wellington's winds. This led to the destruction of many early building constructed prior to the Cottage.
Wallis family history
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Catherine became pregnant with her first child during the four month voyage from Gravesend, England. They went on to have 10 children, seven of whom lived in the Cottage.
The Wallis' aim typified that held by colonial immigrants. This was to implement the skills and enterprise necessary to achieve what would probably not have been possible had they stayed in their home land.
William Wallis was a carpenter, a sought after trade in the young colony. In the early 1870's he built the larger Royston House on an adjacent site for his growing family. Unfortunately Royston House (named after the village he came from) did not remain in the family's ownership and became derelict. The original Cottage, however, remained in family ownership for 119 years and was kept in fairly original condition.
Early Wellington
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Wellington was changing dramatically during the time the Wallis family lived in the Cottage. Contrasting the Barraud painting (right) to Bragg's 1875 photograph (above) highlights the phenomenal growth in Wellington between 1860 and 1875.
Two major events contributed to this.Firstly, Wellington became the capital when this was shifted from Auckland in 1865. Secondly, Julius Vogel, the Public Works Minister, instituted a public works scheme in the early 1870's which included the building of roads, tunnels, and the beginning of the main trunk railway line.
However growth in Wellington had been relatively slow before this period which is why Wallis had been able to purchase this lot, known as a 'town acre', 18 years after the 1840 map was drawn up. Prospective buyers purchased sections while they were still in England on the basis of this map, which had a major flaw - it did not show Wellington's topography. Consequently, many irate settlers found their newly purchased sections were part of a steep hill, making building extremely difficult.
Colonial Cottage Museum
In the 1970's the Cottage was earmarked for demolition. There were plans for the site to become part of the Council housing complex. However this was averted thanks to the tenacity of Winifred Turner, a grand-daughter of William and Catherine.
Winifred, by this time a formidable woman in her 70's, was unwilling to move and successfully fought the demolition with the help of the newly formed Colonial Cottage Museum Society. The Society was looking for a house such as this where the building style typified the immigrant to New Zealand.
The restoration process was a joint project between the Society, the Historic Places Trust and the Wellington City Council. The Cottage is owned by the Wellington City Council and is registered with the Historic Places Trust as having 'outstanding significance'.
