Lea Street ran into Town Belt from the intersection of Seine and Ribble Streets. It is shown on the 1879 Plan of the Township of Island Bay. Although never properly formed it was taken over as a public street by the Melrose Borough Council.
In 1905 Mother Mary Joseph Aubert wrote to the Wellington City Council asking part of Lea Street be closed to provide extra land for her proposed Home of Compassion. While this initial request was declined, in 1908 the full length of the Lea Street was 'stopped' (the process of changing the legal status of a road from a legal road to freehold land so it can be sold) under the Municipal Corporations Act 1900. The land was then sold to Mother Mary Joseph Aubert.
