BRAIN’S COTTAGE (EST. 1879) 30 SECOND AVENUE, TAURANGA

Article by Debbie McCauley

According to the 1880 Tauranga Directory, there were five sections on the south side of Second Avenue between Devonport Road and Cameron Road. The section closest to Devonport Road was the private residence of contractor Joseph Denham Brain, his wife Kate Ellen Brain (née Bishop), and their children.

It wasn't long before Joseph and Kate Bishop married in Auckland in October 1871. The couple moved further north from Auckland to Whangaroa where their first three children were born. The family then moved to Tauranga where Joseph purchased a boatyard and slip at the north end of The Strand from Charles Wood. Situated just below Taumata-Kahawai | Monmouth Redoubt, Brain’s shipyard was on the foreshore as it existed before reclamation.

Joseph likely built this four-roomed cottage in Second Avenue from rough-sawn kauri weatherboards to house the family while he established his business

In 1863 Joseph arrived in New Zealand on board the Aloe. He had been trading throughout the Pacific as a merchant mariner, and soon after arriving in New Zealand joined the Water Transport Corps, which some describe as New Zealand’s first Navy

Joseph served as a ship’s carpenter and mate on board the gunboat Pioneer, purpose-built in Sydney in 1863 for the New Zealand Colonial Government and used when British and Colonial troops invaded the Waikato region. He later served on the Rangiriri; another gunboat built in Sydney in 1864.

Joseph worked in the Naval Dockyard in Auckland and became quite well-known for his boat building skills.

In September 1881 the cutter Dream arrived from Tairua with timber for the larger family home that Joseph would build on the corner of Cameron Road and Elizabeth Street and that is known today as the Brain Watkins House Museum. The family moved into their new residence and the little cottage on Second Avenue was advertised as being available to let in 1881 It was sited opposite the residence of Captain Norris

In October 1882 the Council received a complaint that the briars in Second Avenue meant residents had little or no means of access to their homes for carts or drays

By 1889 Mr Lundon is reported as selling a small allotment with a four-room cottage and orchard It is most likely the cottage was purchased by the Leslie family who lived in Third Avenue. In 1914 Mrs Leslie advertised the Second Avenue cottage to let.

The cottage has had various incarnations over the years, being used as a jewellery shop in the early 2000's and more recently shared by The Cottage Café and The Cottage boutique store.