LANDMARK DEMOLISHED

Southland Times, Issue 22768, 19 December 1935, Page 4

LANDMARK DEMOLISHED

EARLY INVERCARGILL HOME. An auction sale of old timber is usually a prosaic enough affair, but considerable historical interest attached to the disposal yesterday of the remains of one of Invercargill’s earliest homes. For more than 70 years it stood at the corner of Ness Street and Dalrymple Road and in it lived men who played no small part in the development of the town. It was built of Baltic timber and Tasmanian bluegum, with shingles from Tasmania for its roof. The bluegum seemed as sound yesterday as when it crossed the Tasman, and the shingles were also well preserved. The land that forms the western portion of what is known as the township of Appleby was acquired from the Crown in 1862 by the late Mr Peter Dalrymple, father of Mr Peter . Dalrymple who was for many years in the Lands and Deeds Office at Invercargill. In the same year he cut it up and laid it off into sections and blocks. In 1864 the late Mr F. Nutter acquired from Mr Dalrymple the. section upon which the house in question stands, the price paid as shown in the conveyance indicating that the section had no building on it. Mrs Nutter, it may be mentioned, was a sister of the late Mr T. M. Macdonald. There are those living who can remember when Appleby was largely covered by bush, and to reach Invercargill what was known as “The Flat” had to be traversed. This was mostly swamp and there were two boarded tracks—one leading to the town and the other to First Presbyterian Church. The former was a little wider than the latter, so the residents going to First Church had to tread the straight and narrow way. It is recorded that the father of Mr C. B. Rout carried Mr F. Nutter’s little girl from First Church to their new home with two narrow planks as a footway. A monument to the Nutter occupancy is the giant, gnarled bluegum on the north-east corner of the section which despite much cutting back is visible from many parts of the city. After the Nutters came Mr Patrick McCaughan, an early legislator, and then a clever and well-known lawyer named “Paddy” Finn whose mannerisms in court upset some of his dignified contemporaries. A Mrs Thomas and a Mr Turner were successive occupants. Then for 30 years the late Mr F. Brookesmith and his family lived in the old home. The section has now been acquired by Mr Rodan Thomson, whose property adjoins it. Although it was necessary to demolish the house Mr Thomson is determined that the bluegum shall be preserved.