"Essendon", Coleman's Gill Street Cottage (1864 - 1960)

This cottage on Gill Street resisted the tide of progress until September 1960 when it was finally demolished. In a photo published by the Daily News just prior to its demolition the cottage is dwarfed by the nearly completed new department store built by the Farmers' Co-operative Organisation Society of New Zealand.

The cottage was built on Town Section 884 by the George family in 1864 as a two-storey, six-roomed house. In the 1890s it was purchased by Robert Coleman for £212, including a quarter-acre section - later another room was added. The cottage was named "Essendon" after the Melbourne suburb that Coleman lived in before leaving for New Zealand. 

The final occupant of the cottage was Robert Coleman's daughter, Mrs McKee. 

Related items:

Town Section 884, Taranaki Land Deed Index I1 page 286. (Archives New Zealand) 

Taranaki DP3404 Sheet 1 (1915), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)

Taranaki DP5574 Sheet 1 (1935), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)

Robert Coleman Obituary (Taranaki Daily News 22 February 1943)

"Essendon" Coleman's Gill Street Cottage (Taranaki Herald 19 July 1960)

Cottage To Be Demolished (Daily News 27 September 1960)

Old House Demolished (Taranaki Herald 27 September 1960)

Old Cottage in Gill Street (Taranaki Daily News Supplement 1991)