A permit was granted to Henry Blackburn Leatham on 4 November 1924 for the construction of a house on Part 7, Wallace Place - Frank Amoore was the builder, and the estimated construction cost was £1500.
The home was designed by New Plymouth architect William Newton Stephenson - plans dated August 1924 by Stephenson for a residence for Dr H. B. Leatham in Wallace Place are held by Puke Ariki and probably relate to this home (ARC2008-167). However, the plans are slightly different to the final build so some changes may have been made to the original plans during construction.
Dr Henry Leatham was one of Taranaki’s most respected medical practitioners of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Born in New Plymouth in 1857, he travelled to England to complete his medical studies at St Thomas’ Hospital in London during the 1870s, returning to New Zealand in 1879 aboard the Wanganui, on which he was appointed surgeon. His first appointment in New Zealand was a temporary role as chief surgeon at Wellington Hospital for a short period in 1880, before returning to New Plymouth later that year.
He initially established a private practice on Devon Street, before relocating to a large house and practice at the corner of Liardet and Courtenay Streets in 1882 (present site of the city's fire station). From the time he commenced practicing in New Plymouth, Leatham acted as consultant and honorary assistant to hospital surgeon and superintendent Dr O’Carroll. In 1886 he was officially appointed an honorary surgeon on the New Plymouth Hospital staff, before being appointed deputy surgeon in 1895. In 1896 Leatham became chief surgeon, before being promoted to superintendent in 1900. He retired as superintendent in 1910, although remained at the hospital as radiologist, a position he held until his retirement in 1933 following 54 years of continuous hospital service. Dr Leatham resided at this house until his death in 1939.
The house was sold in 1987 for $125,000 and in 1999 for $245,000. The asking price in June 2021 was for offers over $1,050,000.
Related items:
Taranaki Land Deeds Index I4 page 389 & 390. (Archives New Zealand)
Taranaki Deed30 Sheet 1 (1924), ICS Pre 300,000 Cadastral Plan Index (Imaged by LINZ)
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