The original portion of this house was probably constructed for Ralph Drayton Colson on Town Section 1030 about 1876. Ralph was the son of Thomas and Kathryn (nee Drayton), and was born in New Plymouth. He later married Emily Smith; they had two children - Gladys and Eric. Ralph operated a jam factory on several adjacent sections (cnr of Pendarves, Liardet & Gilbert Streets) from 1889 until about 1905-06, when the factory was destroyed by fire.
Ralph was gifted Town Section 1030 by his father in 1876 and a small house/cottage is indicated as being present on the section on a map of New Plymouth produced by Thomas Kingwell Skinner in 1880 - it is possible this forms part of the western portion of the first floor of the present house on the property. It is thought the eastern projecting gable was constructed slightly later, possibly during the 1880s or 1890s.
The house was originally single storey with a basement constructed of thick stone walls below. The basement was used to store some of Colson's jam products and a number of stencils for jam labels (now held by Puke Ariki) were found within the basement during the 1940s. In the 1990s the entire house was lifted up and an internal garage and extra rooms added underneath, at this time the house was re-clad and many of the original features were removed.
Town Section 1030, Taranaki Land Deeds Index I1 page 348.
Related items:
Kathryn Colson Obituary (Taranaki Herald 30 December 1912)
Thomas Colson Obituary (Taranaki Herald 31 December 1915)
Ralph Drayton Colson Obituary (Taranaki Daily News 8 November 1938)
Please do not reproduce these images without permission from Puke Ariki.
Contact us for more information or you can order images online here.
