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HISTORY : The Land, The People, The House
 Map
of town : Section owners c. 1850s -
Showing the land that became Fairfield. Section 1089, 7 acres and 2 roods (3.1 hectares)   Fairfield c.1880 showing cottage between Trafalgar Street c.1860. two-storied wings. Several of the poplars Section 1089 fenced and already part of the landscape in this photo survive. Fairfield has a seven acre woodland around the house. This woodland was initially planted by the Atkinson family in the 1870s. In addition to saving the house, FOOF has dedicated its energy to maintaining the 7 acre woodland. Old trees have been pruned and heritage trees have been registered. New trees have been planted, and a system of walking tracks has been made through the reserve. This is open to and is enjoyed by the public. The People 1872 - 1922 Atkinson, Richmond and Fell families. 1922 Nelson College for Girls Prep department 1926 Girl boarders housed in 'Chicken Coop' boarding block built behind house. 1930 - 1964 Boys College take over as Fell House 1979 - 2009 Friends Of Old Fairfield (FOOF) established to save and run Fairfield as Community asset   Three generations of Atkinsons, Richmonds The Fell family at Totaranui and Fells at Fairfield c. 1889   Portrait of Jane Maria Atkinson Fell-Atkinson
wedding 1881
Arthur Atkinson migrated to NZ with his brother Harry and friends, the Richmond family, in 1852. Arthur married Jane Maria Richmond in 1854. He settled and farmed at Hurworth, Taranaki, with the other members of the Richmond /Atkinson family. He became a Maori translator for the Government and was owner and editor of the Taranaki Herald. He was also active in the Taranaki Wars. Arthur moved to Nelson in 1868 and studied law. He went into partnership with Charles Y Fell (Nelson Mayor 1882-87) who married Atkinson's daughter Edith. Arthur was a keen amateur astronomer. He was also an arachnologist because of which he was locally nicknamed 'Spider' Atkinson. The Atkinson family injected a spiritual and forward thinking energy into the house as early as the 1880s. They were free thinkers who championed a number of social causes - the suffragette movement, education for women, and the development of astronomy. All the family were highly politically motivated and active in local and national politics.   Arthur
and Maria and daughters Ruth, Jane
Maria was always a prolific letter writer
Edith and Mabel relax on upstairs veranda and advocate for women's education and rights. Family home to Prep School (extract taken from 'The School on the Hill' by Karen Price) By 1920 increases in the school roll meant that Nelson College for Girls had outgrown the existing buildings which had been designated in 1883 for a maximum of 150 pupils. The Nelson College Governors were forced to evaluate options available including the possibility of moving the school to a completely new site. One solution they felt would be to move the boarding department to an adjacent area and in 1920 they inspected the property, owned by the Misses Atkinson at the end of Trafalgar Street, known as "Fairfield." In 1922 the property was purchased and the "preps" took possession initially. Known as Fairfielders they "enjoyed a warm little family life as well as having all the excitements of trees to climb, chestnuts to gather and roast and dozens of new games to play. In 1923 when the minister of education assessed the need for additional classrooms at the girls' college as very urgent, a plan was formulated to move the boarding department in entirety to the Fairfield site, so that the vacated dormitory rooms at the school could be used as classrooms. Following lengthy negotiations and planning, the first block of cubicles was built on the terrace above Fairfield house in 1926. The initial cubicle block was an open-air affair which housed 24 girls and a mistress. The cubicles each held two beds and were separated from each other by a partition. All the cubicles opened onto a wide verandah which was enclosed with wire netting - the wire netting eventually leading to the cubicles being known as the "chicken coops' by the girls.  Junior Class at Fairfield, 1922 - Photo credit: The Nelson College for Girls Collection  Nelson Colleges Boarding House 1926 - 1964 "The Chicken coop"  The original FOOF Caretakers, 25 years on (2005) The House Prior to 1871 - A two dormer cottage was built. 1872 - Two story wings built on either end of cottage by Atkinsons 1883/4 - Cottage and west wing removed and replaced by present two story addition with veranda and observatory tower. Designed by Nelson architect A.T. Somerville. 1985 - Registered under Historic Places Act. Now a 'Category 1 Historic Place'. Fell-Atkinson wedding 1881 - in front of original cottage. The wing to the left (1872) is the oldest remaining part.  Fairfield 1913 - present configuration. The tower was built by Arthur as an astronomical observatory in 1883. The Restoration In 1979 Alan Stanton took the initiative and squatted in the old house to prevent further damage to the property. This action galvanised support from the Nelson community that led to the forming of Friends of Old Fairfield Inc (FOOF). In August 1979, FOOF took up the challenge to restore the old house with the vision of making it a community resource.   A dilapidated Fairfield c. 1979, after it had been abandoned by Nelson College This was an enormous task, with fundraising, voluntary working bees, community work schemes and training courses all contributing to the effort. Over 500 people have worked on the place over the years and many new skills were taught and learnt in the process. As early as possible Fairfield House began to return gifts to Nelson by hosting functions and events.   Alan Stanton and the Friends The commitment wins community support and make a stand to save the House, June 1979 important chattels and fittings are returned All this work bore fruit: In 1990 the Department of Conservation gazetted Fairfield House and the 7 acres of surrounding woodland as a Local Purpose Reserve and appointed FOOF to control and manage it. From the imminent demolition and Historic Places Trust classification D, it now has the highest rating "National Heritage Classification 1".  June 1981   The Sanctuary was built on the foundations of Atkinson's stables  The Sanctuary 2009 Today, Friends of Old Fairfield continues to maintain and upkeep Fairfield House through self generated funds, community grants and voluntary work. If you'd like to support us in this ongoing work, click here.  Friends of Fairfield 2009 
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