Corner of Manners and Herbert Streets

Henry Brittain never intended to make New Zealand his home. He came on a ‘pleasure trip’ in 1864, and was so struck by the ‘colony’s prospects’, that he settled in Auckland. Nine years later he came to Wellington and established a chemist shop on Lambton Quay. He later purchased the Te Aro Dispensary and made Manners Street his headquarters.

The chemist shop was originally an octagonal building on the corner Manners Street and Herbert Streets. It was known as ‘The Pill Box’ due to its original shape. The building had been a chemist shop since the 1860’s and Henry was the fifth chemist to occupy it. He made some alterations but it remained known as ‘The Pill Box’.

Henry was the only pharmacist permitted to act as a public vaccinator. In 1886, in addition to dispensing and vaccinating, Henry added dentistry. The prerequisite to his dentistry qualification was five years in practice.

In 1909, the chemist shop was demolished to make way for a more modern structure. The Pill Box was considered a Wellington landmark, but also out of date. It was replaced by a three-storey ‘ferro-concrete’ structure known as Brittain’s Building. It was designed by the architects Hoggard and Prouse, inspired by a visit to San Francisco following their 1906 earthquake. Brittain’s Building was reported to be the first steel framed structure in New Zealand.

Henry married Emily Short in 1870 and they had thirteen children. Two sons and six daughters survived Henry at his death in 1920. Emily died in 1919. Henry and Emily are interred at Karori Cemetery with many members of their family.

‘To the patrons of the old-established dispensary the advantages of being able to rely on one who had at heart the real welfare of the community was well known, and not a small portion of the deceased’s work was honorary’. (Evening Post, 15 October 1920)

Henry’s will stipulated that his trustees should carry on the business for as long as they thought appropriate. The building was purchased from his estate in 1934 for £17,000. Brittain’s was still trading in the 1940’s according to advertisements in the newspaper. Brittain’s Buildings and Herbert Street disappeared completely when Victoria Street was widened in the 1970s.

References:

New Zealand Gazette Dentist’s Register 1886

(1909, July 14). Evening Post, 8.

(1920, October 15). Obituary Mr H. Brittain, Chemist. Evening Post, 8.

(1920, October 16). Obituary Mr Henry Brittain. Dominion, 6.

(1934, October 27). Property Bought for £17,000. Dominion, 6.