Legal history
- 1851: Part of RS 40, landowner: Rev. Benjamin Woolley Dudley. Dudley sells several sections of land to Rev. John Albert Fenton.
- 1866: Fenton sells one rood and one perch of land, including the site of 10a Bridlepath, to Hugh McIlroy for £20.
- 1878: William Williams pays £60; it is then that the first house is built.
- 1889: Widow Mary Williams inherits the house; she then divides the land and sells 31 perches to Captain Robert Hatchwell for £290 on 19th November 1889. Captain Robert Hatchwell came from Devon UK arrived in NZ on Ionic in 1883. Captain Hatchwell was the local manager of the NZ Shipping Company; he conducted a navigation school for officers and cadets in the Navy over almost 50 years at the family home ‘Devonia’; his daughters taught signalling here where they had panoramic views of Lyttelton’s harbour. From this vantage point they could also watch the school of seven whales that came into the harbour as far as Quail Island, by 1930 only three whales remained. The family owned the launch Onawe. Mrs Ellen Louisa Hatchwell, his wife, was a volunteer nurse during the 1918 flu epidemic. The family were very involved with Lyttelton’s St John’s Presbyterian Church.
- 1932: Transmitted to widow: Ellen Louisa Hatchwell.
- 1941: Transmitted to Winifred Mary Hatchwell.
- 1964: Transmitted to Margery Kate Hatchwell.
According to Miss Margery Hatchwell her parents named it Devonia after their home county in England. They altered the house when they bought it in 1889.
Architectural features
Devonia is a 2-storey weatherboard house with large gables and carved bargeboards; Similar in style to a house close by: 2 Cunningham Tce also 34 Cressy Terrace (on the corner of Pages Rd).
The Hatchwells added a larger bay window on the front and a bull nosed veranda, the original bay window was moved to the side facing the Bridlepath entrance. An inside bathroom and new north facing bedroom was added to the house in 1918.
This historic house would greatly benefit from some conservation work.
