Christensen Family of Manawatu, NZ

Their Old Cottage in Napier Road, Stoney Creek

The only photos the family has of the old cottage the Christensen family lived in, in Napier Road, are these two taken in the 1960s by Michael Christensen. In the early days, of course, it been located close to the road, but the site would certainly have been flood-prone. By this time though (1960s), it was a derelict car shed behind the McCool house (in turn built by Celaeno shipmate, Nils Christian Christiansen). Not long after the photo was taken, the old cottage was demolished and replaced by a new car shed.

The lower two photos of more complete 'Colonial' style cottages with similar origins, are included to assist with comparisons. Both were taken by Val Burr (the author of this website) for inclusion in her book Mosquitoes & Sawdust: A history of Scandinavians in early Palmerston North & surrounding districts (Scandinavian Club of Manawatu, Palmerston North, 1995), where biographies of all the families mentioned on this webpage are featured.

The left hand end of the cottage (from its original 'front' aspect). This reveals that it was a single storey 'Colonial' cottage, and that it was attached to a fairly small lean-to. This, in turn, had vertical exterior boards, rather than horizontal ones like the rest of the building. There is no indication that a chimney was ever attached at this end of the cottage. Similarly, there is nothing to show that it ever had a verandah along the front (right side of photo) either, but that does not mean that none ever existed. Note that the boards on the front (right of photo) and end (closest) are of different types, although whether this was an attempt at a classier facade or the result of an original wall having been replaced at some point is not known.

The old front door and one of its two front windows. Evidently the upper front of the house has rotted badly enough over the years to require it to have tin tacked over it. There was very little roof overhang to protect this upper area from driving rain. Doubtless it also had only a shingle roof in its early life. The mark on the lower right of the photo is the remains of sellotape on the original photo.

This view of the old Eng family cottage in Taonui Road, Colyton, between Bunnythorpe and Feilding (photographed summer 1992-3) gives an idea of how the Christensen cottage would have looked. Built in about 1882, this cottage served as a hayshed in its latter years and is shown here partly demolished. The shingle roof, hidden for many decades beneath an iron roof, has again been exposed. The lateral boards on the roof were associated with the iron roof. The extension to this house is a duplicate of the 'main' house, rather than a basic lean-to as with the Christensen cottage. The Eng cottage's chimneys had long since been demolished. The rest of the cottage has also gone now I think. Andrew Eng was a Norwegian who had migrated to NZ as a single man on the Shakespear along with the Dahlstroms (and numerous others) in 1876. His wife was English-born.

The Hansen Cottage in James Line, around the corner from the former site of the Christensen farm, shows how the cottage might have looked if it had been maintained as a dwelling. This one was built in about 1884, opposite the site (since 1927) of Kelvin Grove Cemetery, by Niels Christian Hansen and his new wife. Hansen had arrived from Denmark in 1871 as a single man aboard the England, and subsequently married a Danish woman, Ragnhild Gudmundsen, who arrived in 1883. The couple operated a plant nursery in the district and later a garden supplies shop in town. This photo was taken in August 1993, when plans to restore the cottage had stalled. At that time it had a rotting lean-to at the back not unlike the one on the Christensen cottage. In the latter 1990s, the lean-to was demolished and a new larger one was built, incorporating modern fittings. The original front portion of the cottage is now fully restored and the house is a normal private home once again.