This cottage was moved to MOTAT from 3 Akaroa Street, Parnell. It was built by William Bagnall, who was a ship’s carpenter and cabinet-maker.
Built out of Kauri the house is typical of a skilled tradesman’s dwelling in the mid 19th Century. The original floor and ceiling can still be seen in the house, it has four rooms; a parlour, two bedrooms and a kitchen-living room, with plenty of windows and attractive cove ceilings (ceilings that curve down towards the walls). The front porch was added in 1880 and the cottage had a lean-to on the rear which was not transferred to MOTAT.
The Bagnalls were among the first immigrants to Nelson, arriving in 1842 on the ship Olympus, before moving to Auckland in 1847. William and his wife Lydia had two children, Mary Elizabeth and Lydia Ann. Mary Elizabeth married John White, scholar and author of ‘The Ancient History of the Maori’. Lydia Ann married Thomas Algar Johnson, the owner of the New Windsor Hotel in Parnell. Descendants lived in the house until it came to MOTAT in 1964, when it became known as Willow Cottage.
Specifications
| Manufacturer | William Bagnall | |
| Address | 3 Akaroa Street, Parnell, Auckland | |
| Date | c. late 1800s | |
| Materials | Kauri Timber, slate tiles, brick | |
