John and Fritz

Down Wellington’s Lambton Quay people were used to seeing the dapper man accompanied by his little dog.
It was so common that even now, the man, John Plimmer and the dog Fritz, who was his constant companion, are still there at the entrance to the Plimmer steps, life-sized and cast in bronze.
In the colder months it's not uncommon for Fritz to end up yarn bombed, with a wool coat or scarf. And it’s one of the most popular and photographed pieces of street art in the capital.
Plimmer is sometimes called the father of Wellington.
Plimmer was born on June 28, 1812, in what was called Upton-under-Amon in Shropshire, England.
He was the second youngest of 12 children to Isaac Plimmer and his wife Mary.
Initially he was going to be a teacher but instead trained to be a plasterer and master builder.
In 1841 he came to New Zealand on the Gertrude and his first home was a raupo hut.
Local Maori thought he might be a bit nuts when he told them he intended to live in what would become Wellington.
He built his own hut at the top of what would be Ingestre Street and worked as a carpenter and builder and started a brick and lime works.
In 1851 the ship Inconstant wrecked in Wellington, running aground. Plimmer saw an opportunity and bought the hull for £80 which he turned into a wharf which was linked to the shore by a bridge and served as one of the first piers with the interior serving as a warehouse and auction room. It became known as Plimmer’s Ark.
It also served as a bonded customs store, immigration pier and office for the first Wellington harbourmaster. A light mounted at the seaward side of the ship became the first harbour light in Wellington.
Gradually the hull became landlocked as buildings and land were built up around it. It was discovered again in 1990 and is visible now as an archeological dig beneath the Old Bank Arcade.
Plimmer was a member of the Wellington provincial council, the first town board and then the Wellington City Council and organised the Wellington and Manawatu Railway company.
The suburb of Plimmerton is named after him.
Plimmer built the Albert Hotel in 1877 at the south corner of Boulcott and Manners streets and decorated it with carved figureheads of prominent Wellingtonians, including Plimmer himself.
The Albert Hotel was demolished in 1929, and was replaced by the St George hotel.
Plimmer planted an oak tree in his garden in the mid-1800s and it still stands, on the left near the top of the steps.
He had married Mary Rodden in 1833 who died in 1862 and remarried to Janet Anderson He died on January 5, 1905, and is buried in Bolton St Cemetery.​
​Picture from Te Papa's collection.