Veale's Building (1913)

This two-storey concrete building, built in 1913, replaced a more modest wooden structure, John Veale's grocery shop. A building permit was issued to Mr.A. Veale on 30 May, 1913 for commercial premises on town section 665. The estimated cost was £2,090. It was designed by local architects Sanderson and Griffiths.

It appears that after the new building was erected Mr.C.H. Drew obtained the lease and opened a watchmakers & jewellers shop. The ownership remained with the Veale family, and the words "Veale's Building 1913" were prominently displayed on the outside.

The Taranaki Herald noted that the building is "...somewhat of a pecuiarity so far as New Plymouth is concerned, for it is one of the first buildings to be erected here composed almost entirely of ferro-concrete". It is also one of the first buildings in New Plymouth originally constructed with a post-less veranda. 

About 1920 Mr Virtue Dalgleish bought the business and ran it for over thirty years until his death in 1951. His son Ian then returned from overseas and took over the business. After a failed attempt to buy the building from the Veale family in 1956, Ian moved Dalgleish Jewellers to a shop on the flat in Devon Street. When the Veale family finally agreed to sell in 1959 the business moved back to 85 Devon Street West.

In 1967 local architects, Bowering, Thomson, Boon & Associates drew up plans for significant internal renovations to the fifty-year-old building. The work went ahead and was supervised by Mr Brian Chong.

Dalgleish Jewellers was sold to Gary & Heather Hutchings in 1992. However, four years later they re-located to smaller premises in Devon Street. 

In 2003 the Indian restaurant "Pankawalla" opened on the ground floor. In 2017 it was rebranded as Koi, a Malaysian and Indian restaurant. This has now merged with India Today and moved to premises at 36-38 Devon Street East. 

Related documents:

History of this Site (Dalgleish Archive ARC2008-081)

History of Dalgleish Jewellers (Betty Dalgleish, 1997)

Dalgleish Jewellers Advertisement (TNL Centennial Supplement 1976)