Historic Golder Cottage

Imagine bringing up 12 children in a tiny colonial cottage in the late 1800s.  This was the life of Jane Martin and John Golder who married in 1877.  Jane was the first white girl child born in Upper Hutt.  John built the cottage himself, adding to it over the years as the babies kept coming.  He also made much of the household furniture.  We visited this very interesting little time capsule today with our SLG friends.  Yes, we have visited before some years ago, but we always seem to find something new to see at these sort of places.

That’s me walking through the door at Golder Cottage

The tiny rooms were crammed with furniture, mementoes and family photos.  The inside of the cottage has not been redecorated and the walls are still covered in scrim.   The beautiful timber dining table is just one of the many items of furniture made by the talented John Golder.  Two wooden mantles in the house were decorated with crotched lace edging with patriotic sayings such as  “God bless our soldiers in the trenches and our sailors on the sea”.

Sitting room

Cooking was done on the coal range

The tiny scullery

Two tiny bedrooms were up the top of a very steep and narrow staircase.  Goodness knows where all those children slept at night.  Lovely vintage nightgowns and undies were displayed, and hand made rag rugs were scattered about the floors.

One of the tiny upstairs bedrooms

Sadly, John Golder was killed in 1902 when his horse bolted and the trap overturned.  Jane was left a widow with a very large family and there was no such thing as a Widow’s Pension to help out in those days.  Their eldest son Alexander never married, and helped with bringing up the family.  Jane Golder died in 1942, and the cottage stayed in the family for another 40 or so years when Miss Theresa Golder moved into a rest home at the grand old age of 92.  Ownership of the cottage was transferred to the Upper Hutt City Council to preserve it as part of the city’s heritage.

Our group outside Golder Cottage

We admired the gardens and commented that we remembered a huge kowhai tree in the front lawn from our earlier visit.  This had to be removed as the tree trunk was rotten and in danger of falling down.  But a new kowhai tree has been planted in it’s place and is now in full flower.

Young kowhai tree in flower

It was a very informative morning, and I helped out with the fundraising with the purchase of a couple of jars of home made jam from the sales table.  The cottage is staffed with volunteers who work hard to keep it going, so every little bit helps.