Boulcott Street

Dr Henry Pollen was born in Dublin in 1853 and studied medicine at Trinity College. In 1876 he emigrated to New Zealand and settled first in Gisborne. He moved to Wellington in 1890 and set up his medical practice in Willis Street.

In 1901, Dr Pollen set about building a new house and surgery on Boulcott Street, designed by Thomas Turnbull & Son. Perhaps this was to anticipate the arrival of his bride, Sybil Amy Hunter Brown, who he married in Nelson in February 1902. This was Henry’s second marriage. His first wife Katherine (nee Bourke) died in 1894 and there were two daughters from his first marriage: Effie Henrietta (born 1879) and Dorothy Desmond (born 1881).

His new house was a grand, three-storey timber building, fitted into a small and awkwardly shaped site. In true ‘Upstairs Downstairs’ style, the kitchen, wash house and service rooms were in the basement below street level, with access to a yard to serve as a tradesman’s entrance. A ‘dumb waiter’ lifted the meals from the kitchen to the ground floor butler’s pantry located behind the dining room. The grand reception room and ‘best bedroom’ were located on the first floor. Four further bedrooms were squeezed into the attic behind the mansard roof. For their comfort, there were two bathrooms each with a toilet. Patients arriving to see Dr Pollen used a separate side entrance tucked under the entry portico which led to a waiting room. His surgery and dispensary were located in the room beyond.

His new house was clearly fitted up in style, with everything new for his bride. He auctioned off all of his household contents from his former Willis Street house – dining table, couch, mirrors, wire mattresses, carpets, cooking utensils, curtain poles etc. This was clearly a fresh start.

Dr Pollen was medical referee to the New Zealand Government Life Insurance Department, a physician at Wellington hospital and during WWI he was a member of the Military Pensions Board.

With the end of the war and the arrival of influenza in Wellington, Dr Pollen continued his role as Port Health Officer. This was likely how he contracted influenza himself and he died on 23rd November 1918. He was 65 years old. His second wife Sybil had died in 1908. Neither of his daughters married. Henry is buried at Karori Cemetery with his first wife.

After Henry’s death, the house had a succession of owners and uses. In 1988 it was moved by crane to the corner of Boulcott and Willis Streets to make way for the construction of the Majestic Centre high rise building. The house was also re-orientated on its new site such that the portico which was previously a side entrance to the house, now faced Boulcott Street. Since its relocation, the house has been used as a hospitality venue.