Named after Alfred Ludlam, a landowner in Woburn in 1845. Ludlam’s Gardens eventually became McNab’s then Bellevue. He was a local member of the Wellington Provincial Council 1853-61, 1865-76, General Assembly 1853-56, 1866-70, and ‘father” of the Wellington Botanic Garden.
He had purchased the Waiwhetū farm from fellow pioneer Francis Molesworth in the mid-1840s, calling it Newry after his home town in Ireland. Ludlam built a large house at Newry in 1848, replacing the farm’s first homestead. The farm also boasted an orchard, a spacious barn often used for public functions (such as an official dinner held there for the governor, Sir George Grey, in 1851) and a stone windmill that had been erected by Molesworth in 1845.
The garden was established by Alfred Ludlam in the 1840’s when his house was built there, next to Francis Molesworth’s property. The latter, after Molesworth suffered a serious accident, was joined to Ludlam’s own property under the title of “Newry”. About 8 acres of this were developed with plantings of Ludlam’s collection of exotic trees etc. Dubbed “Father of the Wellington Botanic Garden”. Ludlam was a nominated-foundation Governor of the N.Z. Institute. He died in 1876 and his property became McNab’s Gardens, named after its new owner. Subsequently, it changed hands again and was renamed Bellevue Gardens. Open to the public, it was a popular tea garden for a number of years. The garden was offered to the nation and to the Hutt Council but the purchase lapsed for want of funds. The property was finally subdivided, but many fine trees and plants still survive’. i