The Town Acres and Reserves on Lower Shelbourne Street

The New Zealand Company surveyors divided the land in the town of Nelson into numbered one acre sections. The cottage at 19 Shelbourne Street is on Town Acre 485, which lies between Shelbourne and Collingwood Streets. It is bounded on the north by Acre 488 and on the south by Acre 484, beyond which is the Hallowell Cemetery. In addition to the cemetery reserve on the original plan, there were reserve areas for a gaol, and the Lutheran and Roman Catholic churches. These adjoined Acre 484 to the west. The Nelson Gaol was built in 1850 and occupied the site until 1901.