Potter Cottage
Maker and role
William Potter, Attributed to
Production date
1854
See full details
Object detail
Accession number
1969.408
Maker
Production period
Description
This stone house was built in Manukau Road by William Potter, but neither he nor his immediate family ever lived in it. The building was constructed on Potter's farm, known in the area as 'Potter's Paddock'. The front wall of the house was built of squared stones of basalt while the other walls were made from rubble and lime mortar. The walls are about 350 mm thick. The hipped roof is made of slate and the floor is kauri timber.
The original cottage had 2 rooms with a sash window on either side of the front door. Immediately below was an excavated cellar, the same size as the cottage and with plenty of headroom. A tiny window high up in one corner lighted this. At a later date, a double storey wooden addition with a staircase was built at the back, but this was removed when the cottage was shifted to MOTAT.
As of 2004 (the time the photos were taken) there is no guttering. In January 2015, plastic guttering was replaced with metal guttering. See attached photo of cottage before the new metal guttering was fully installed.
The original cottage had 2 rooms with a sash window on either side of the front door. Immediately below was an excavated cellar, the same size as the cottage and with plenty of headroom. A tiny window high up in one corner lighted this. At a later date, a double storey wooden addition with a staircase was built at the back, but this was removed when the cottage was shifted to MOTAT.
As of 2004 (the time the photos were taken) there is no guttering. In January 2015, plastic guttering was replaced with metal guttering. See attached photo of cottage before the new metal guttering was fully installed.
Brief History
This cottage represents an early New Zealand dwelling and is unusual for Auckland in that it is made of stone. It was built at 457 Manukau Road, Epsom in the 1850s - and before 1855 - on William Potter’s farm.
William Potter (1803?-1878) was born in Nottingham, England and became a merchant seaman. He worked on trading and whaling ships. The earliest known date for his being in New Zealand is 1826 when he was in the Bay of Islands. It is likely that he began to live permanently in New Zealand in 1833 but continued to work as a mariner. He bought land in the Bay of Islands.
By June 1844 Potter had moved to Auckland where bought some land in Manukau Road, Epsom the site of the Prince Albert Hotel. In July 1844 he bought 50 acres more from Weteri, a Waikato chief of Ngati Moko hapu. This came to be known as Potter’s Paddock. Potter farmed the land. The farm was also used for race meetings and Agricultural and Pastoral shows and is the site of the Alexandra Park racecourse and the Greenlane Hospital.
The stone cottage, known at MOTAT as the Potter Cottage, was built on a corner of Alba Road and Manukau Road. It was not lived in by the Potter family who had a large house nearby in Potter's Paddock. From 1855-59 the tenant was Joseph Bycroft, a millwright. John Lennard lived there from 1881-87. Lennard was a dairy farmer and horse breeder and trainer who leased Potter's paddocks. A Mr White lived in the cottage in 1892, and from 1894-1904 the section was leased to Ah Chee, Ah Chong, Ming Ling and Ah Hing (along with some nearby land) for use as a market garden.
In September 1969 the section was taken by the Auckland Regional Authority for extensions to Greenlane Road. The cottage was offered to MOTAT for what was then called the Pioneer Village, was taken apart, stone by stone, by volunteer workers from John D. Davison Constructon Company and moved to the museum where it was rebuilt and opened to the public on 21 August 1971.
Win Russell, 'Potter Family History and Family Tree', 1989
New Zealand Woman's Weekly, 8 September 1969
William Potter (1803?-1878) was born in Nottingham, England and became a merchant seaman. He worked on trading and whaling ships. The earliest known date for his being in New Zealand is 1826 when he was in the Bay of Islands. It is likely that he began to live permanently in New Zealand in 1833 but continued to work as a mariner. He bought land in the Bay of Islands.
By June 1844 Potter had moved to Auckland where bought some land in Manukau Road, Epsom the site of the Prince Albert Hotel. In July 1844 he bought 50 acres more from Weteri, a Waikato chief of Ngati Moko hapu. This came to be known as Potter’s Paddock. Potter farmed the land. The farm was also used for race meetings and Agricultural and Pastoral shows and is the site of the Alexandra Park racecourse and the Greenlane Hospital.
The stone cottage, known at MOTAT as the Potter Cottage, was built on a corner of Alba Road and Manukau Road. It was not lived in by the Potter family who had a large house nearby in Potter's Paddock. From 1855-59 the tenant was Joseph Bycroft, a millwright. John Lennard lived there from 1881-87. Lennard was a dairy farmer and horse breeder and trainer who leased Potter's paddocks. A Mr White lived in the cottage in 1892, and from 1894-1904 the section was leased to Ah Chee, Ah Chong, Ming Ling and Ah Hing (along with some nearby land) for use as a market garden.
In September 1969 the section was taken by the Auckland Regional Authority for extensions to Greenlane Road. The cottage was offered to MOTAT for what was then called the Pioneer Village, was taken apart, stone by stone, by volunteer workers from John D. Davison Constructon Company and moved to the museum where it was rebuilt and opened to the public on 21 August 1971.
Win Russell, 'Potter Family History and Family Tree', 1989
New Zealand Woman's Weekly, 8 September 1969
Media/Materials
Collection
Credit Line
William Potter. 1854. Potter Cottage, 1969.408. The Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT).
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