Sages Lane is an enclosed alley that runs off Tory Street, opposite Francis Place.
It is named for Mr George Colston Sage, a sailmaker from Masterton, who came to Wellington 1870s. He appears to have owned property in Town Acre 236 in that area up until c.1879. Sage started a Sunday School in Tory Street, which was eventually taken over by St. John's Church and held in Mount Cook School. It seems that the area was developed specifically for low-end rental, with small cottages packed into a close area.
It may at one time have been a slightly rough area, as a couple of newspaper reports detail - in 1908 details that an Amy Robertson was arrested and charged with drunken and disorderly behaviour in Sages Lane. Another incident occurred there in 1911. A number of newspapers describe the unfortunate death of a resident of Sages Lane, John Long. Apparently, he was prone to violence in drink and attacked his wife, at which time another resident hit him over the head, rendering him unconscious. He subsequently died from the injuries sustained and a court case ensued. What is interesting is the poignant description of the lane and Long's family given in one (probably slightly fanciful) article. Long was resident at 17 Sages Lane and the area is described as “a miserable alleyway off Tory-street in the Mount Cook district crammed full of pokey little pill boxes where some of the submerged drag out a pitiful existence.”
