History

In September 1857, William Wallis and his wife Catherine arrived in Wellington as a young, newly married couple fresh from England. Their story is similar to that of all new immigrants as they sought to use their skills to achieve what would not have been possible in their home country. William Wallis was a carpenter – a sought-after trade in the young colony – and quickly established himself in Wellington. He began building Nairn Street Cottage shortly after the couple’s arrival and completed it just before the birth of his first child. Catherine was pregnant with her first child when she arrived in Wellington and went on to have nine more children. By the early 1870’s, William Wallis had built a new home to accommodate his growing family. Situated adjacent to the original Cottage, ‘Royston House’ (named after the village he came from) occupied the site on which the Cottage Visitor Centre now stands. Nairn Street Cottage itself was to remain in family ownership for 127 years, but unfortunately Royston House would not. Over the years it became derelict and was demolished shortly before the Cottage was opened as a Museum in 1980.