This cottage was probably constructed for/by M. J. Jones or Robert Baker in the 1900s. The section on which the cottage is located was first purchased by M. J. Jones in April 1899, who sold the section to Robert Baker in May 1908 - Baker owned the section until his death in June 1913 aged 92 years.
Robert Baker owned several cottages in Bracken Street (formerly Glen Road), and these were regularly advertised for let throughout the 1900s and early 1910s. Whilst some of the Bracken Street cottages owned by Baker have been demolished, numbers 18, 24, 24A, and 26 all survive. Numbers 240, and 242 Devon Street West were also constructed for/by Baker - these were demolished in 2022 after being badly damaged in a fire.
Following his death, this property was advertised for sale in September 1913 "with cottage let at 8s per week".
Baker's surviving cottages now form a rare group of surviving 1900s New Plymouth workers dwellings.
Related items:
Taranaki DEED45 Sheet 1 Town Belt B (1927), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)
Taranaki DP6071 Sheet 1 (1943), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)
Taranaki Land Deeds Index I14, page 321. (Archives New Zealand)
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