The Hocken Blog

Soldiers, ships and the ‘Waimana scandal’

2012-02-10T15:42:00.001+13:00

Among the treasures in a box of odd bits and piecesdiscovered during one of the Hocken’s building manoeuvres is this 1919 blueprintof the TSS Waimana, showing “accommodationfor Australian families”. We don’t know the provenance of this plan, but alittle research on the wonderful Papers Past website revealed its link to anevent labelled by newspapers “the Waimanascandal”.

The blueprint, MS-3755

The Waimana, atwin-screw ship, was built in Belfast in 1911 for Shaw, Savill and Albion, tocarry immigrants and cargo on the New Zealand run. In 1914 the Waimana took on a new role as troopship,for which she was “altered out of recognition”. She was one of the largest ofthe steamers that departed New Zealand in October 1914 with the main body ofNew Zealand Expeditionary Force troops. After a rapid conversion, the Waimana could carry around 1500 men, 62officers and 500 horses. Through the war, the ship returned to its more usualduties, transporting cargo to and from Britain, but in 1919 troopships wereagain needed. In June 1919 the Waimanaarrived in Auckland with 1675 returning soldiers, whose “behaviour during thevoyage was excellent”.

Troopships were not renowned for their comfort, but soldiersgenerally tolerated some degree of privation without too much complaint. Whenit came to their wives and children, though, they had higher expectations. InOctober 1919 the Waimana was fittedout, as per our blueprint, to carry a group of 500 or so returning Australianservicemen from London, together with 400 women and 100 children under three.As soon as the passengers arrived, complaints began about overcrowding andinadequate facilities and supplies. The final straw for some may have come whenone of the many babies aboard had its toe bitten by one of the ship’s largecomplement of rats. The military hierarchy agreed that the complaints werejustified and the passengers disembarked while better transport was sorted out.

The origins of the blueprint remain a mystery – perhapssomebody kept it as an example of how notto fit out a steamer for families on long haul voyages.

Waimanaat the Cross Wharf, Dunedin, 1922. Otago Harbour Board collection, S04-167a

Blog post prepared by Ali Clarke, Reference Assistant

Hocken Collections on Radio NZ Summernights

2012-01-06T14:55:00.000+13:00

A very short post this time, you might like to listen to a podcast of Hocken Librarian, Sharon Dell, talking about the Hocken Collections with Emma Smith on Radio NZ Summernights. Here is the link.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/summernights/20120105

And here's a picture of Sharon.

Remembering Victorian polar exploration

2011-12-16T17:14:00.000+13:00

Less well known than the Hocken’s New Zealand and Pacific material are our collections relating to Antarctica. We recently catalogued a letter with interesting links to Victorian Antarctic exploration and one of history’s most famous palaeontologists. Robert McCormick (1800-1890) was a surgeon and naturalist serving in the British Navy. After recovering from yellow fever contracted in the West Indies he evidently decided that tropical climates did not suit him, obtaining postings to cooler climes when he could. In 1827 he travelled to the Arctic under William Edward Parry on the Hecla, studying the natural history of Spitsbergen. After unhappy spells in the West Indies and Brazil, and several years back in Britain, in 1839 he travelled to the Antarctic as naturalist and surgeon aboard the Terror, commanded by James Clark Ross. In 1852 he returned to the Arctic regions on the North Star, mapping part of the Wellington Channel. In 1884 McCormick’s two-volume autobiography appeared, bearing the impressive title Voyages of Discovery in the Arctic and Antarctic Seas, and Round the World; Being Personal Narratives of Attempts to Reach the North and South Poles; and of an Open-boat Expedition up the Wellington Channel in Search of Sir John Franklin and Her Majesty’s Ships ‘Erebus’ and ‘Terror,’ in Her Majesty’s Boat ‘Forlorn Hope,’ Under the Command of the Author.

Our copies of the two volumes of this book bear the inscription “To Sir Richard Owen K.C.B. F.R.S. &c &c &c With the Author’s kind regards & best wishes. Jany 29th 1884.” Owen (1804-1892) was one of the major figures of Victorian science, best known for his contributions to anatomy, his disagreements with Charles Darwin, and as founding director of England’s Natural History Museum. These books are part of Dr Hocken’s original collection and bear his signature, along with the pencil marks “2/12/6 2 vols 30/- net”, suggesting he obtained them from a book dealer some years after Owen’s death. The books include a few annotations by Owen and at the back of the second volume he notes the pages which include references to himself. In a section where McCormick describes a reindeer-shooting excursion, he marked the passage “Eleven deer altogether were killed by the party, four of them shot by myself” and noted “what did you do with ‘em?"

Title page of McCormick’s book, along with his portrait in naval uniform

We recently came across a stray letter from McCormick to Owen dated 14 January 1884, which seems likely to have come into Hocken’s collection together with McCormick’s book. McCormick thanks Owen for his “kind & friendly letter” with “its good wishes, for the success of my book.” He asks if Owen would “permit me, to wind up my book with it as the last addenda to this record of my life”. McCormick had presumably left it far too late to add more to his book: Owen’s copy he signed just two weeks later. The appendix does include, however, an 1865 letter from Owen to General Sabine, President of the Royal Society, testifying to McCormick’s ability as a naval surgeon and naturalist.

McCormick’s letter to Owen [Misc-MS-2133].

Blog post prepared by Ali Clarke, Reference Assistant

‘Although my country is against you […] I still remain the same to you as before’. Words of gratitude and uncertainty: Thai students’ wartime communications in New Zealand

2011-12-05T15:27:00.000+13:00

'I am going to be shifted from Somes Island in a few weeks. I don’t like to go away from the old place. I enjoy the sea and watching ships steaming pass [sic] the island. Although it is rather windy and unhealthy, its scenery soothes our weary hearts to some extent.'

(excerpt from a letter by Bira Kalayasiri to Mr Gerald Francis Shiel, dated 19 December 1942)

So wrote Bira Kalayasiri, a Thai national, to his New Zealand guardian Gerald Shiel from the Somes Island Internment Camp in Wellington Harbour. This letter is the final item of correspondence we have between the two. Within a year, Kalayasiri would be dead, one of the victims of an undisclosed accident that took place during his forced repatriation to Thailand in 1943.

Letter to the Shiels from the internment camp

Kalayasiri and two of his compatriots, Aun Apibalsree and Yuwan Saraniyama, arrived in Dunedin to start study at the Otago School of Mines late in 1940. The trio appear to have received financial support from the Thai government and the firm Kampong Toh Tin Ltd. Patrick Shiel, the Singapore-based brother of Gerald, was connected with this company, and asked his Dunedin brother to take an interest in the students. A close association between Gerald, his wife Ina, and the Thai students developed; to the extent that the students suggested Gerald assume the role of their New Zealand guardian.

The folder of correspondence mostly holds letters written by Kalayasiri, Apibalsree and Saraniyama to Mr or Mrs Shiel (referred to by them as ‘Ma’) from their time spent carrying out work experience for their studies at the Wallsend Mine, near Greymouth, through to their internment at Somes Island. Although Kalayasiri tends to voice their experiences and predicament most vividly, all three initially express gratitude and affection to the Shiels for their goodness in Dunedin, and describe some of their working conditions and impressions of their workmates. As time progresses, the trio’s letters refer increasingly to the war underway and how they feel about it, and eventually move into expressions of frustration, conflicted emotion, and despair.

'[…] although my country is against you but I still remain the same to you as before. Your generosity and kindness towards me are still impressing in my heart. I will never forget until the end of my life. So please consider me individually. What happens in my country should not be mixed.'
(excerpt from a letter to ‘Ma’ Shiel from Kalayasiri, December 1941)

'Regarding my home in Thailand, I wonder whether I lost my father and mother or not. They stay in the fighting zone. I have lost my country. I do not know what will happen in future. I have lost my future. I have lost everything. Only thing I have now is only my poor humble soul waiting for the time when death calls upon me. I have to struggle for my life to see the future misery. I think what will happen in future will be worse than it is now. When I think of this I want to do something which will end my life.

I want to join the army here, but I do not expect to get it because I am an alien.'

(excerpts from a letter from Kalayasiri to Mr Shiel, December 1941)

Letter to 'Ma' in Dunedin from Greymouth

Each of the group expresses a desire to join the New Zealand Army early on, and Saraniyama in particular made a concerted effort to enlist with the allied forces. All endeavours to sign up were futile, due to their status as enemy aliens. Their frustrations were amplified in their attempts to establish contact with groups that may have been able to provide them with advice or assistance, such as the recently established Free Thai Movement. Any ventures into overseas communication were thwarted by misinformation, lack of reply, and eventually censorship.

Few of the conditions of their internment are revealed, no doubt partially due to the censorship of letters written by those held in the camp. All three express boredom and frustration with their situation, but are able to continue with their studies, and financial support from the Thai government still reaches them, albeit with increasing delays. It is unclear exactly when in 1942 their internment commenced, or the point in 1943 that their fateful repatriation took place.

The Shiels, too, must have been aggravated with the situation the trio faced, and equally exasperated by the limited official information they eventually received after the youths lost their lives. A letter from the Minister of Defence to Mr Shiel states that ‘an accident occurred while in transit, as a result of which they died,’ and that ‘it is not desired that publicity be given to this matter and it would therefore be appreciated if you would treat this information as confidential.’ Compounding this tragedy, Gerald Shiel’s brother Patrick went missing, allegedly having met his death in an accident while fleeing Singapore in 1942; but the family had still not received any confirmation of his death by 1945.

Official notification of the trio's deaths

Information regarding the internment and death of the Thai trio sits in Ministry of Defence files held at Archives New Zealand. The files are restricted to preserve the personal privacy of those concerned, however, researcher may make application to the Chief Archivist for permission to view the files.

Kari Wilson-Allan

Assistant Archivist

Sources: AG-870/015 Correspondence relating to and with Bira Kalayasiri, Aun Apibalsree, and Yuwan Saraniyama and AG-870/016 Correspondence relating to the disappearance of Patrick Ormond Shiel, (Singapore 1945)

1941 School of Mines photo, Bira, Aun and Yuwan are in the back rows

Ruck It! How Otago Shaped Rugby History

2011-09-08T17:24:00.005+12:00

What do Sir Peter Buck, Chris Laidlaw, Vic Cavanagh and Greg McGee have in common? Yes - rubgy for one but you'll have to visit the Hocken Library find out the full answer!

In collaboration with Hidden Dunedin, and the University's Design Studies Department the Hocken has put on a display that examines the contributions made by Otago people to the development of rugby by showcasing a sample of this rich history. Drawn from the Hocken’s own collections, the show features rugby memorabilia, early rugby publications, official team photographs and personal scrapbooks. A version of the display will also be installed from 17 September in The Link next to the Central Library of the University.

Highlights of the display at the Hocken include:
Tom Ellison’s The Art of Rugby Football (1902). Ellison is known as one of the game’s great innovators and was introduced to rugby by his Taiaroa cousins at Otakou around 1881. He was a prominent member of the New Zealand Native Football Team, which toured Great Britain and Australia in 1888 and captained the 1893 New Zealand team on their tour of Australia. It was his suggestion that the New Zealand team should adopt Native team uniform of the black jerseys with a silver ferns. The 2-3-2 scrum formation that he developed for his Poneke club team in Wellington became the dominant style of All Black play until the 1930s.
Billy Stead had an enduring influence on Maori and All Black rugby. Stead was a member of the first official New Zealand tour of Britain and France in 1905-06. He was the team’s vice-captain and chief tactician. He wrote regular columns for the Southland Times and at the end of the tour, combined with captain David Gallaher to write one of the earliest rugby classics, The Complete Rugby Footballer. He played 32 games for the All Blacks, 12 as captain, he was part of the first Maori team and was later a referee, coach and manager. On display are a photo of the team, victory telegrams, and a copy of his book.
Ned Parata, from Puketeraki, Karitane, is widely regarded as the father of Maori rugby. The parallel development of Māori rugby was one of the defining characteristics of New Zealand rugby. Wiremu Teihoka (Ned) Parata organised the first Māori team in 1910 and persuaded Billy Stead to come out of retirement to play for it. Parata, who underwrote the cost of touring from the profits of his motor car business, continued to organise Māori rugby for the next 20 years, climaxing in the 40-match tour of Europe and Canada over the summer of 1926-27. An visual display features a selection of images from his scrapbook; it contains photographs, letters and newspaper clippings relating to the tour.
J W Stewart’s album features the celebrated Maori rugby tour of France, Britain and Canada led by Ned Parata and contains photographs, newspaper clippings and ephemera relating to the New Zealand Maori rugby tour of Great Britain, France and Canada, 1926-1927. It also has photographs of Palmerston, North Otago and South Island Maori teams. J. Stewart appears in many of these photographs and has been attributed as the creator of the album.

Still wondering the answer to the question at the start of this post? A hint is that the display contains a selection of team photos from the Otago University Rugby Football teams over the years.

To hear Dunedin sports historian Ron Palenski on Otago and the ruck listen to this interview with Jim Moira.

To see some of the display content and hear yours truely on my favourite items watch this clip from Channel 9.

The exhibition team comprised Dr. Noel Waite, Senior Lecturer; Michael Findlay, Professional Practice Fellow; Ryan Gallagher and Jon Thom, students, all of the Department of Applied Sciences and Sharon Dell, Hocken Librarian, working with Mark Sharma, Studio 3, Dunedin and Ron Palenski, external advisor, NZ Sports Hall of Fame, Dunedin.

A Whole lot of Rain at the Hocken

2011-09-08T16:46:00.007+12:00

Ralph Hotere’s imposing artwork Rain (1979) will be familiar to a generation of University of Otago humanities students because it was commissioned by the university in 1979, and, once adorned the foyer of the original Hocken Library building (now known as the Richardson building). The work’s title references a poem written by the much loved New Zealand poet – the late Hone Tuwhare. Excerpts from Tuwhare’s poem ‘Rain’ are stamped and scrawled across the bottom reaches of the artwork’s three, unprimed canvas lengths.

The evocative five-metre high banners were removed from their original site in 2007 after concerns over their deteriorating condition. The building’s windy foyer and sunny aspect had led to major degradation of the thin paint pigment deployed by Hotere. The first stage of restoration work, carried out by Auckland paintings conservator Lydia Gutierrez, was completed in July and the banners have now been installed in the foyer of the current Hocken Library building at 90 Anzac Ave, Dunedin. Further paint consolidation will be carried out early next year.

The Hocken’s mezzanine floor enables visitors to experience this work ‘up close and personal’ and from a range of different aspects. Before Rain could be hung a special steel rigging had to be engineered and erected across existing roof trusses. While the three banners are lightweight, the perspex backing panels erected to support the fragile work weigh some 70 kilograms.

Next time you enter the Hocken Library look skyward and be entranced by the beauty of Rain! Read what the Otago Daily Times published about the rehung banners here.

Natalie Poland, Curator of Pictorial Collections

New book published on Judge Dudley Ward

2011-09-01T10:28:00.000+12:00

A regular visitor to the Hocken is Geoff Adams, formerly the Editor of the Otago Daily Times. Geoff is the author of the recently published book Judge Ward which explores the lives of three Victorian colonists to New Zealand - Dudley Ward, a Supreme Court Judge; Ward's first wife Anne, first national president of the Women's Christian Temperance Union; and his mistress Thorpe Talbot, who he married late in life. Geoff writes:

"Many thanks to the Hocken Collections. It allowed me to get the bulk of copious research done in Dunedin: perusing many decades of files of the Otago Daily Times and Otago Witness, not to mention sorties into other early newspapers, Lloyds’ registers, ships’ passenger lists, street directories, searches of New Zealand births, marriages and deaths, parliamentary reports, Hansard and other tools were all fruitful too. Some loose ends finally took me as a researcher to some other places in New Zealand and to London.

Hocken excelled in my hunting Talbot, a prize-winning novelist, as well as journalist, short story writer and poet. Not only do the collections have rare copies of her major books, but there is an archive (02-034/001) on Frances Ellen Talbot (her birth name in Yorkshire) presented in 1991 by Dr George Griffiths . This consists of some interesting fragments of personal letters and writing, as well as the only known photographs of Talbot, her birth certificate and the 1902 marriage certificate to Judge Ward. The archive is restricted, requiring George’s permission to peruse. Fortunately he is an old friend and knew my interest in all of the life and contacts of Judge Ward. And I live in the Maori Hill house where the Judge and Talbot were married!

I finally traced at the National Library, Wellington, the “missing” novel of Talbot — a long epic poem “Guinevere in the South” found in a copy of the obscure Geraldine County Chronicle newspaper. It was chasing clues concerning Timaru from the back of a cutting in George’s fragments that finally led to that discovery!"

We are glad to have helped Geoff with his research and very pleased to see the book published.

For more on the book see the Otago Daily Times 9 July 2011.

To buy the book see Amazon Books.

Archives, Winston Churchill and Auctions

2011-08-19T14:23:00.000+12:00

Archivists who work in "collecting archives" sometimes have a bit of a love/hate relationship with rare book and manuscript auctions. On the one hand they can be a tremendous source of exciting and significant material. On other they may be a drain on scarce funds, and often collections of related material are split into separate lots or even into different auctions in order to make the best profit for the vendor. Frustratingly for the archivist this means you might get some of a collection of papers but not all. Only having part of a collection of course detracts from the usefulness of the collection as a resource for historical research.

What's a "collecting archives"? - an archives institution that collects (by donation/bequest, deposit or purchase) archives from the community and organisations. The Hocken Library is one of the larger collecting archives in NZ as well as being a pre-eminent research library and gallery. The other main kind of archival institution is an "in-house archives" which mainly receives archives as transfers from a parent organisation; a local example would be the Dunedin City Council Archives which receives the archives it cares for directly from the Dunedin City Council.

Of course the lay person wanting to find a safe repository for their papers is not usually too concerned with the differences between archives and so it is that sometimes "in-house archives" end up with material that doesn't really fit their collection scope. Instead of destroying unwanted material that clearly has some historical value, archivists ask around amongst their colleagues as to whether another institution might like to have it. And so it was that a small box of treasure found its way to the Hocken last week from the DCC Archives. What's this got to do with Winston Churchill?

Well, amongst the items in the box was a minute book and copy of a letter relating to something called a Churchill Auction in 1942 in Dunedin. My curiosity was piqued and I started reading. There were four of these auctions held up and down the country in 1942 to raise funds for the Patriotic Councils.

The idea was started when Prime Minister Peter Fraser visited Winston Churchill in England. Churchill made a gift of a book written by an earlier Sir Winston Churchill and published in 1675, Lives of all the Kings of this Isle, to be auctioned in NZ to raise patriotic funds. Hearing of this gift the writer Pat Lawlor contacted the Department of Internal Affairs and suggested that they encourage local committees to organise local auctions of donated material to augment the funds raised by the sale of the book. People up and down the country were encouraged to donate their rare books, documents, manuscripts, paintings, prints and Maori and historical "curios" to the cause. Messrs J. H. Bethune and Co. Ltd of Wellington provided their entire mailing list so that the central organising committee could contact book, manuscript and picture collectors (no Privacy Act back then!). The Dunedin Committee discussed the idea of collecting letters of Katherine Mansfield and advertising the auction in North America to encourage a better price! I inwardly groaned, wondering what New Zealand archival treasure had been hocked off overseas! Luckily the impracticality of the suggestion precluded advertising overseas and I cannot find any mention of Katherine Mansfield letters being offered for sale.

Minutes of the Dunedin Churchill Auction Committee 1942, a who's who of arts and culture in Dunedin at the time (r. 5439)

As it turns out the auctions raised some money but not as much as was expected as the market for such items in NZ was not great. In Dunedin over five hundred pounds were raised a newspaper report noted that demand and prices for NZ books in the auction was good but poor for overseas material such as first editions of Dickens. And to my relief it seems that no archives or manuscripts were sold overseas.

Thank you to the Dunedin City Council Archivists, Allison and Chris, for sending this material to the Hocken.

Curious billhead #2 - Briscoes before the Briscoes lady

2011-08-03T15:30:00.000+12:00

Watching TV’s ‘Briscoes Lady’ promoting another birthday sale, few would be aware that the birth of the Briscoes company dates to the eighteenth century.

It was probably William Briscoe who established the firm in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, sometime around 1750. One reference mentions a balance sheet dating from 1756 and another gives the establishment date as about 1768. In 1781 members of the Briscoe family signed a partnership agreement. Headquarters eventually moved to London, with branches established in the West Indies and South America. A Melbourne offshoot was established in about 1854, and New Zealand operations opened in Dunedin as Arthur Briscoe & Co. in 1863. In New Zealand the company operated primarily as wholesale ironmongers and hardware merchants, but with some retail trade.

Arthur Briscoe, one of the company partners in England, probably never visited New Zealand. The founding manager in Dunedin was Hugh MacNeil, who had begun his working life as an ironmonger in Glasgow before managing Briscoes in Melbourne. He became a partner in the firm in 1880 and gained managerial control of both the New Zealand and Australian operations.

Arthur Briscoe & Co billhead, from MS-0989/058

The lithographed billhead here, dated 14 July 1886, shows that different parts of the organisation were styled in different ways: Wm Briscoe & Son (Wolverhampton and London), Briscoe & Co. (Melbourne), Briscoe, Drysdale & Co. (Sydney), Briscoe Bros (Jamaica), and Arthur Briscoe & Co. (Dunedin). In the 1890s branches were established in Wellington and Auckland as Briscoe, MacNeil & Co.

The billhead features the company’s buildings on the corner of Princes and Jetty streets, which were designed by R.A. Lawson and opened in 1872. An Otago Daily Times report from that year describes a company importing directly from Europe and America, with an average of 100 tonnes of goods unloaded at Port Chalmers every week. Stock included such diverse items as kitchen stoves, umbrella stands, lamps, and lawn mowers (‘a wonderful little machine of recent invention’). Some goods, such as enamel kitchenware and cooking utensils, were similar to items sold in Briscoes stores today, but linen and soft furnishings have only become staples in recent decades. Much business was directed towards the building trade, and at a separate iron yard in Bond Street there was much in the way of iron bars, piping, and sheet iron, with a supply of up to 150 tonnes of nails in stock at any one time. The company also imported tea for many years.

Briscoes moved to new premises in Crawford Street in the 1900s and the old building was later occupied by T. & G. Life. They demolished it in the 1950s to put up the building now known as Upstart House. Briscoes’ head office moved from London to Melbourne in 1958, and then to New Zealand in 1970. The parent company was purchased by Merbank Corporation of Australia in 1973 and transformed from a wholesaler of imported goods to a general merchandise retailer. Briscoes Group Ltd was purchased by the R.A. Duke Trust (of New Zealand) in 1990 and became a public company in 2001. As of 2011 it has 54 Homeware stores and 32 Rebel Sport sporting goods stores throughout New Zealand.

Hocken holds some financial and other records of Briscoe & Co., 1865-1970, under the reference number MS-3300. The billhead is from the Preston family papers (MS-0989/058).

Blog post written by David Murray, Archivist (Arrangement and Description)

Some sources for southern Maori dialect

2011-07-08T10:39:00.000+12:00

As this week is Te Wiki o Te Reo Maori a post on Te Reo in the south is timely. The Hocken Collections is privileged to care for several taoka (treasures) documenting the unique words heard in various parts of the South Island.

James Watkin’s small notebook includes word lists he compiled as he struggled with learning the language at Waikouaiti in 1840. He was already fluent in Tongan and had studied texts supplied to him that had been written in the North Island and was disappointed to find how difficult he found it to understand the language spoken in the South Island when he arrived on 15 May 1840. By 5 June he had compiled 400 words in the notebook with the assistance of the local chief, Haereroa. The notebook was part of his attempt to make sense of the local dialect and is undoubtedly influenced by his knowledge of Tongan. The original was given to Dr Hocken by a descendent of Watkin and photocopies are available for research use.

As a result of Watkin’s struggles with the language, he compiled He Puka Ako I Te Korero Maori which was printed at the Wesleyan Mission at Mangungu in 1841. Surviving copies of this publication are extremely rare, of the 3000 printed we know there is one in the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington and one in the National Library of Australia in Canberra. Hocken holds photocopies only, butiIf anyone knows of other original copies of the booklet we would love to know! In 1994 Ray Harlow and Otago Heritage Books published an extremely useful facsimile of He Puka Ako I Te Korero Maori, and this is more widely distributed in libraries. Harlow’s little book also includes discussion and translation of the features of the language documented in Watkin’s booklet.

James Watkin's word list (MS-0031) and Ray Harlow's book reproducing He Puka Ako I Te Korero Maori

Ray Harlow has also published a more extensive book, A Word List of South Island Maori, which draws on wider sources to create an annotated list of distinctively southern Maori words. On pages xxiii and xxiv Harlow gives a list of sources for southern dialect words including:

The journal of John Boultbee

Boultbee was a young man who spent much time with sealing crews in and around Fiordland and Foveaux Strait in 1826-1828. Hocken holds a microfilm copy of the original manuscript (held at the Alexander Turnbull Library) but most readers may find the published versions more accessible. There is Journal of a rambler : the journal of John Boultbee, edited by June Starke, and The World of John Boultbee by Drs A.C. Begg and N.C. Begg. Both of these books include transcripts of Boultbee’s vocabulary list. The Beggs note that Boultbee’s phonetic spelling echoes that of George Forster, who recorded the Maori names of the natural history specimens he drew and painted at Dusky Sound in 1773. Probably Forster’s is the first attempt to phonetically record southern Maori words.

Edward Shortland’s journal of his trip through the South Island in 1840

This was published as –The Southern Districts of New Zealand : a Journal, with Passing Notices of the Customs of the Aborigines – and is available online from the NZ Electronic Text Centre, as well as in many libraries. This includes a vocabulary of the “Kaitahu” dialect starting on page 305. The original journals were acquired by Dr Hocken and photocopies are available for research at the Hocken.

Octavius Harwood’s papers

These include two items of interest. Firstly a short letter that appears to be written by “John White” or the chief Karetai, addressed to Te Raki concerning a boat. The letter is undated but Karetai died in 1860. The second interesting item is a list of parts of the body in one of Harwood’s notebooks (MS-0438/005). The list appears after several pages of notes from Kendall’s 1820 grammar and phrase book and features spelling more akin to Boultbee’s than Kendall’s. For example the word for hair – usually “huruhuru” - is spelt “huduhudu”, and that for nails – usually “maikuku” - is spelt “muttacook” giving some indication that the words Harwood was hearing were pronounced differently at Otakou than in the North Island. This notebook dates from 1839-1840.

Karetai's letter (MS-0438/163)

Octavius Harwood's list of the names of parts of the body (MS-0438/005)

It is worth noting here that Maori orthography was not completely standardised in the 19th century and varying phonetic spellings were common in written Maori throughout New Zealand.

James Herries Beattie

Beattie’s notebooks contain word lists, place names lists etc. Beattie donated his extensive collection of research papers to the Hocken in several batches during the 1950s, 1960s and in 1972. Beattie collected his information during the 20th century by conducting extensive interviews with many informants, and perhaps documents a different era from the earlier sources. For more information on Beattie’s work see Athol Anderson’s biography in Te Ara - http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/4b16/1. The Hocken hold copies of Beattie’s publications as well as his papers.

First NZ Exhibition 1865

2011-06-17T11:18:00.000+12:00

Recent donations to the Hocken Library include three of the most significant images to come into the Photographs Collection over the last decade. They are interior views of New Zealand’s first international exhibition held in Dunedin in 1865. The sight of the main exhibition building which afterwards became the central block of the Dunedin Hospital has long formed a useful marker for dating early photographs of Dunedin city but modern researchers will delight in these views of the exhibits themselves.

Gifted by a descendant of Alfred Eccles, the main organiser of the exhibition and his son of the same name who wrote an account of the venture in 1925, the glass plate negatives came with labelled wrappings in the son’s hand and are obviously early twentieth century copies of original albumen prints. A fourth glass plate (figure 1) of the exterior of the main building, which was reproduced in the 1925 publication, bears the name of the photographer, J.W. Allen.

Figure 1

Figure 2 was taken just inside the main entrance and shows clocks and pianos in the Otago Court. These were mostly imported goods but the display did include the work of Dunedin inventor, Arthur Beverley, who won praise from the exhibition jurors for his ‘highly ingenious self-winding atmospheric clock’ (Eccles, p. 9) – nowadays on show in the Physics Department of the University of Otago and possibly to be seen here in the far corner in a slightly different case. Unfortunately the photograph does not include a view of the 21-feet high gilded obelisk which first greeted visitors, representing the 1,749,511 ounces of gold that had been exported from the colony up to the end of 1864 (Eccles, p.8).

Figure 2

Figure 3 is of the Furniture Court looking toward the Museum section on the Gallery Floor. The paper hangings offer a valuable sample of wallpaper designs that were fashionable at the time. The museum, organised by Provincial Geologist James Hector, included ‘Rock, minerals, fossils, birds, woods, dried plants, plans, sections, drawings and other objects arranged principally to illustrate the Geology and Natural History of Otago in 15 cases and a wall shelf’ (exhibition catalogue, p.56).

Figure 3

Figure 4 was labelled the Hawkes Bay Court but the display of Maori taonga does not correspond with the list of items in the published catalogue. While Ngati Kahungunu chiefs Karaitiana and Tareha and Pakeha collectors including Donald McLean contributed objects like taiaha and a waka named ‘Takitumu’, the three mere pounamu and hat described in the catalogue as ‘1 Native Mourning Head Dress’ answer only to Sir George Grey’s collection represented in the Auckland Court. High up on the wall samples of Grey’s fern collection may also be visible though again, there were others who contributed similar items for the display.

Figure 4

These newly acquired glass plate negatives add to the archival record of the 1865 exhibition already held in the Hocken and may now be used to illustrate future accounts of this historic event.

Post prepared by Assistant Curator of Photographs, Anna Petersen June 2011

Curious letterheads and billheads #1

2011-06-01T16:24:00.002+12:00

Every now and then, often in an obscure part of the archives collections, I come across one of those ornate old letterheads or billheads so many businesses used to have. These often show the printers’ great artistry and skill, and intriguingly encapsulate the identities of businesses in a way that might now be considered to be branding.

Here’s one of my favourites. Dated 31 May 1898, it’s for W. Evans & Co. and depicts the mills which produced ‘Crown’ brand flour in Dunedin and ‘Atlas’ brand flour in Timaru. The design and engraving work by Dunedin firm Fergusson & Mitchell is elaborate. Sheaves of wheat curl around to form an imaginative border, and the perspectives of the buildings have a wonderful naivety to them. The address for telegrams is given (‘Evans’) and the Timaru mill has the easy-to-remember telephone number ‘5’. In front of the Dunedin building are horses and carts loaded with bags of flour. The Timaru mill was next to the railway line, so an engine and wagons can be seen.

These were roller mills, then a recent development in New Zealand, which used cylindrical rollers for grinding rather than traditional grindstones. Timaru’s Atlas mill, designed for Evans & Co. by Dunedin architect James Hislop, opened with this latest equipment in 1888. Dunedin’s Crown mill had been built for Anderson & Mowat in 1867 and converted to a roller mill for R. Anderson & Co. in 1891. Additions to the buildings at this time were also designed by Hislop. This mill was taken over by Evans & Co. in 1896. The managing director, William Evans, had begun his career in New Zealand as a storekeeper on the goldfields, having arrived from Victoria with the rush to Gabriel’s Gully in 1861.

Both mill buildings, although they no longer produce flour, remain prominent landmarks in Timaru and Dunedin.

Blog post prepared by David Murray, Assistant Archivist. Billhead found in Preston family papers (MS-0615/004).

Ore Struck - celebrating the sesquicentennial of the discovery of gold in Otago

2011-05-20T16:36:00.015+12:00

20 May 2011 marks 150 years since Gabriel Read discovered the payable gold that led to the Otago gold rush in an area now known as Gabriel's Gully near the Otago town of Lawrence. This momentous discovery and the gold rush that followed rapidly transformed the face of Victorian Dunedin. This exhibition, which explores the use of gold in contemporary art and photography, has been mounted to commemorate this sesquicentennial. Artisans and artists have been awe struck by this highly malleable and alluring precious metal for thousands of years.

At a time of economic hardship when the price of gold is soaring, the contemporary art and photography included in this show encourages us to look beyond the monetary worth of this precious metal and to value gold for its physical properties and symbolic associations.

The show includes more than forty artworks and photographs that either employ gold as a material or colouring, or take gold mining as their subject. There is a focus on work by artists with strong associations to Otago such as Cilla McQueen, Ralph Hotere, Mary McFarlane and Russell Moses. Other artists that feature in the show, and well known for their use of gold in their work, are Tony Lane and Max Gimblett. Photographers with work on display include Ben Cauchi and Marti Friedlander, who use the early photographic process of gold toning as well as Peter Peryer and Peter Evans who have both captured the open cast gold mine near Macraes Flat in East Otago.A small number of historical items including a fifteenth century Book of Hours from, an 18th century Russian ikon, late nineteenth century gold-toned photographs by Rev John Kinder and an album of photographs of Chinese miners who worked in various Otago goldfields, provide a historical context for the contemporary works.

David O. Robertson and the Port Chalmers Garrison Hall Mural

2011-05-14T16:36:00.021+12:00

Few people had heard of the nineteenth century artist David Ogilvie Robertson before an extensive 20 metre long mural, painted by him in 1892, was uncovered last week in Port Chalmers during the demolition of Garrison Hall. According to an article in the Otago Daily Times published on 3 October, 1892, the wall hanging was completed for a Japanese-themed carnival of music and stalls. The linen mural depicted a Japanese scene from the island of Kinsu that included a bridge leading to a temple, adjacent islands and several trading junks.

In 2010 an album comprising paintings, sketches and photographs of marine paintings by Robertson, a former Port Chalmers resident, was donated to the Hocken’s pictorial collections. The 60-page album titled ‘Rough Sketches and Photographs of Oil Paintings by D.O. Robertson’ contains paintings of Japanese scenes, maritime paintings, photographs of the West Coast Sounds and ship paintings, pencil sketches, caricatures and clippings from late nineteenth century newspapers that feature reviews of his art.

Robertson was the son of the accomplished Scottish-born maritime artist Captain Thomas Robertson who first visited Port Chalmers in the 1850s. His second trip was to deliver Pirate, a 280-tonne steamer to a Dunedin company and in 1862/3 he made Port Chalmers his home. For reasons that remain unknown, Captain Robertson moved to Japan in 1871 at the age of 51 and took his son with him. Upon the Captain’s death in 1873, Robertson, then aged twenty-five, returned to New Zealand. This experience of Japan or a later pilgrimage to his father’s grave at the foreigner’s cemetery in Yokohama, may have inspired the theme of the Port Chalmers mural.

David O. Robertson attended the Otago School of Art where he was a contemporary of David K. Hutton, Nellie Hutton and Frances Hodgkins. He was awarded a first class certificate in drawing from the school in 1896. The Union Steamship Company commissioned him to paint pictures of the ships in their fleet, for display in the Company’s Wellington office. He exhibited his paintings at the Port Chalmers chemist shop owned by his brother-in-law, William Elder, and at the atelier of David De Maus, a photographer and one-time mayor of Port Chalmers.

The Hocken holds three oil paintings by Captain Thomas Robertson, whose reputation as a maritime painter surpasses that of his son’s, including one that features the Otago Harbour.

To find out more about the discovery of the Garrison Hall mural by Robertson visit http://www.odt.co.nz/print/159378

Records and Archives Week 2011From the Hangi pit to the Weetbix kid: Recording the history of food in New Zealand

2011-05-05T17:19:00.000+12:00

I know I'm a bit late in the week posting this and it isn't strictly a Hocken thing but you might be interested anyway. All these activities extend over the month of May.

The Archives and Records Association of New Zealand (ARANZ) has selected From the Hangi pit to the Weetbix kid: Recording the history of food in New Zealand as the theme for Records and Archives Week 2011 (RAW). A programme of three exhibitions and a Lunchtime Seminar series has been arranged for the month of May.

The Lunchtime Seminar programme will be held 12.00 noon in the Dunningham Suite, 4th Floor, Dunedin Public Library, The Octagon, Dunedin.

Tuesday 10 May - Dr Jim Williams – “The well fed Māori of yesteryear”. Jim is a Senior Lecturer in Te Tumu, the School of Māori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies. Dr Williams' research interests include Ngāi Tahu history and language and resource management including mahika kai, as well as comparisons with other Indigenous peoples.

Tuesday 17 May – Dr Michael Stevens – “Muttonbirding in Southern NZ”. An overview of the seasonal harvesting and preservation of juvenile titi (sooty shearwaters) by southern Kai Tahu from the so-called Titi Islands - several dozen islands adjacent to Rakiura/Stewart Island. This activity is commonly known as muttonbirding. The talk will be given by Dr Michael J. Stevens, an historian and a "muttonbirder".

Tuesday 24 May -Mike Lord – President of Federated Farmers Otago speaking on changes in farming and farm recordkeeping. The primary producers of food in NZ have gone from being for the most part family businesses keeping records in diaries and notebooks to large corporate operations using sophisticated electronic systems to keep track of business.

For further information regarding the talks contact Anna Blackman, ph 4798867, anna.blackman@otago.ac.nz

Exhibition Programme

1. Feeding A Nation: Our Provincial Pantry

Archives New Zealand in Dunedin is holding an exhibition entitled “Feeding A Nation : Our Provincial Pantry” as part of Records and Archives Week 2011. This exhibition will open on 2 May, and run until 10 June 2011, at Archives New Zealand’s Dunedin Regional Office, 556 George Street, Dunedin.

This exhibition features an assortment of archives that illustrate the government’s involvement in food and administration in the Deep South.

The government’s role in the regulation of the food industry is demonstrated through correspondence relating to tutu poisoning in the 19th century, and documents relating to the transportation of fruit by rail, the testing of milk for radioactive material, and the debate over the presence of cats in food outlets in the 20th century.

Food in government institutions is represented by ration and requisitions books from Dunedin Hospital and Seacliff Lunatic Asylum, through to documents relating to the school milk scheme and the quality of meat in Dunedin’s 19th century gaol.

Also featured are photographs and set designs of Alison Holst’s earliest television cooking shows produced by DNTV-2 in the 1960s and 1970s, and a selection of mid-20th century food packaging kept by Department of Health officials during their inspections.

Films created by the National Film Unit on a variety of culinary topics will also be shown.

For further information, please contact: Peter Miller, Dunedin Regional Archivist, Archives New Zealand, Tel: (03) 477 0404. Email: dunedin@archives.govt.nz. Archives New Zealand’s Dunedin Regional Office, 556 George Street, Dunedin.

2. Communing through Food, Faith and Fellowship

The Presbyterian Archives Research Centre offers a series of byte-sized entrees that highlight the Church’s relationship and interaction with food.
We invite you to partake in the delights of Ladies a Plate: a display of photographs and ephemera which highlight occasions when church people gather to share food. At the Archives Research Centre, Hewitson Wing, Knox College, Arden Street, Dunedin throughout the month of May.

Enter the blogosphere and feast on the Food Production displays found at www.preshist.wordpress.com:

· The production of Arrowroot

· The development of Te Whaiti Maori Boys Farm

· Feast and Famine – Overseas Aid

The act of eating and sustaining our bodies cannot be separated from our spirits. As communities of faith the age old tradition of a shared meal brings us together to share our stories, celebrate our history, reflect on our faith, and build our communal outreach.

For further information, please contact: Yvonne Wilkie, Director of Archives, Archives Research Centre, Hewitson Wing, Knox College, Arden Street, Dunedin. Tel: (03) 473-0777 Email: Yvonne.wilkie@knoxcollege.ac.nz.

3. From the Paddock to the Plate – Archives from the family farm

ResearchWriteNZ presents images, documents, ephemera and other records describing the changing patterns of food production through four generations on one property over six decades.

Exhibition is open from Monday 2 May until Friday 3 June 2011, in the Dellow Seminar Room.
Hours: 9.00 am – 5.00 pm Weekdays and 10.00 am – 1.00 pm Saturdays.
Alternative viewing times are by appointment and special interest groups are welcome.

For further in formation, please contact: Dr Jennie Coleman, Tel: (03) 470 1109 or 027 222 4214 Email: jennie@researchwrite.co.nz. 1st Floor, Capitol Building, 67 Princes Street, Dunedin (opposite Savoy Restaurant). http://www.researchwrite.co.nz

Soldiers diaries and letters

2011-04-22T11:13:00.000+12:00

Behind the downstairs reference desk at the Hocken are some shelves where each week's newly acquired books are kept for staff to familiarise themselves with what is newly published. In the lead up to Anzac Day each year there are often books relating to New Zealand's experience of war, and in particular the First and Second World Wars. The stand out book on the shelf last week was Glyn Harper's latest, Letters from Gallipoli : New Zealand Soldiers Write Home. Professor Harper has collected together and edited the letters of many soldiers to tell the story of Gallipoli in a kind of collective first person account.

Letters from Gallipoli includes letters that are held at the Hocken Collections. We are grateful to many Otago soldier's letters and diaries which have been generously donated by families. We would welcome further donations of soldier's papers and photographs, not just relating to the First and Second World Wars but all wars that New Zealanders have experienced. These kinds of papers are the primary sources for books such as Professor Harper's, and they are also regularly used by University of Otago students for their studies. Apart from post-grads researching and writing theses, Professor Tom Brooking's HIST 105 paper focuses on the ANZAC's and their legacy, students of this paper make intensive use of some of the soldier's papers cared for at the Hocken.

A selection of soldiers papers from the Hocken Collections

To hear more about Professor Harper's research and the book listen to Radio NZ online
2009 interview (half way through research)
2011 interview (project finished)

War is almost certainly the most popular topic for historical research in New Zealand after family history. And so often family history is entertwined with war history. This keen interest is undoubtedly because of New Zealander's close personal involvement in these wars. Almost every NZ family in the early to mid 20th century had at least one or more family member(s) in the armed forces and even if they didn't their daily lives were greatly effected by what was happening.

The Hocken Collections is well resourced to meet this interest and has produced a series of subject guides to assist researchers. The guides are available in PDF form from the Guides page of our website. There are five guides covering the NZ Wars 1840s, NZ Wars 1860s-1870s, South African War, World War I and World War II.

Post prepared by Anna Blackman, Curator of Archives and Manuscripts

Nobblers, duffers, and life on the goldfields

2011-04-08T17:45:00.007+12:00

The spirit of the Otago Gold Rush is colourfully captured in Allan Houston’s manuscripts. Not much is known about Houston, but he arrived from Scotland on the Hamilla Mitchell in September 1864 and was for a short time a self-described miners’ representative, practical digger, and storekeeper at Gabriel's Gully. His manuscript, compiled in 1865, includes description of work and social life on the goldfields, politics, farming, commerce, flora, fauna, and settlements in Otago.

A group of Tuapeka men

Commenting on a digger’s reminiscences of the first rush in 1861, Houston wrote: ‘Of all unpoetical sort of things, one of the most so, is for a young, newly married person to “go off to the diggings”. He is indeed a brave, bold, man who can go straight home & without wincing quietly say “Wife I’m off to the new rush”! It’s more trying than “popping the question” for the decent man has a great chance of being considered insane by his affectionate partner in Life – “What! Going to the diggings? Eh! what do you mean, Sir?”’

Houston explains some of the lingo in use at the time, including:

Making Tucker: Getting gold only sufficient to make a living.
A Duffer: A failure – disappointment.
A Stringer: A small vein of gold that does not pay, but leads a digger on ‘Will-o’the-Wisp’ like, and ends in a ‘Duffer’.
Cockatoos: Small owners of land, but poor.
Jumping a Claim: Taking forcible possession – ‘Might being right’ ‘a-la-revolver’ – Any person having a ‘Miner’s Right’ or ‘Licence’, can lawfully ‘Jump’ the claim of those without this document.
New Chum: The latest arrival.
Old Identity: Old Settlers of Otago – Barracouta – i.e. a fish contemptibly applied to old settlers.
New Iniquity: The Victorian new arrivals.
A Nobbler: A glass of any Liquor – usually costs 1/- at the diggings.

Houston's description and photos of Balclutha and the Crown Inn.

These manuscripts would be a great transcription project for someone. The picture painted is sometimes a little too rosy to be convincing, but Houston was there and his writing is full of life, charm, and a sense of optimism prevailing over adversity.

The scene at Gabriel's Gully, 1865

Post prepared by David Murray, Assistant Archivist, from Houston, Allan: ‘The Gold fields of Otago, A.H.'s Jottings 1865 with Lithographic Illustrations. Memoranda of Otago Gold diggings and of Gold Diggers, from personal inspection and reliable information written in March 1865’ (Misc-MS-1413).

James Hector and the Geological Mapping of Otago

2011-03-16T13:25:00.000+13:00

To coincide with "Hector Day" 16 March, we are launching a new online version of a map documenting the geological survey of Otago and Southland carried out by James Hector in the early 1860s. 16 March is Hector's birthday. Hector is one of New Zealand's most respected scientists, and after he completed the Otago and Southland survey he went on to head the New Zealand Geological Survey and the Colonial Museum in Wellington.

Link to view Hector map website;
http://library.otago.ac.nz/hocken/hector/index.html

The original map hung in the Geology Department Museum for many years and by the the late 1970s there was concern about deterioration of the map, leading to discussions with the Hocken Library about its repair and conservation. It was sent away for restoration with a grant from the Art Galleries and Museums Association of New Zealand, but little documentation has survived. For over 25 years the map was overlooked. Finally, in 2007 it was located in the Auckland Art Gallery, and returned to the Hocken Library.

The University of the Third Age Charitable Trust has generously funded this project to conserve the original map and make the map available to a much wider audience.The original map is now housed safely at the Hocken Library.

The original map is incredibly detailed, to create the digital version the map was scanned at the New Zealand Micrographics Heritage Materials Imaging Facility. Apart from making the map widely available through the website, digitisation enables researchers to examine specific areas of the map in detail without resorting to magnifying glasses.

James Hector c.1879. MS-0445-4/07

The website content was authored by researcher Simon Nathan and designed by the University Library Web Developer, Merrin Brewster. Cleaning, flattening and conservation was carried out by local Conservator, Marion Mertens.

Hocken Snapshop of photographs from the Library's collections goes live

2011-03-10T11:53:00.000+13:00

The Hocken has just launched a new online service making the photographic collections housed at the Hocken Library more accessible to remote users.

Over 33,000 images have been digitized, relating to people and places from all over New Zealand. A small portion of the Hocken’s large shipping collection is also included. Copies of the images are available for purchase over the internet and a zoom function greatly assists in the use of the photographs for research purposes.

Emails from readers are already arriving on a daily basis confirming that the site is proving an instant success. Coupled with the fact that the Photographs Collection database is also now available online, people are more able to see for themselves what we hold and direct specific questions and requests to staff.

The Hocken Snapshop link is as follows:

http://hockensnapshop.ac.nz/

Children from Milton School visiting Thomson & Co. factory in Dunedin by E.A. Phillips, Dudley Collection, Photographs, Hocken Collections Uare Taoka o Hakena, University of Otago. S10-243c.

Post prepared by Anna Petersen, Assistant Curator of Photographs.

'Homing in' on Poet Laureate Cilla McQueen's literary archive

2011-02-15T17:29:00.035+13:00

MS-2400/045

Cilla McQueen is one of New Zealand’s major and much lauded poets. Her first volume of poetry, ‘Homing In’, was published in 1982 and since this time she has published eleven volumes of poetry, several of them award winners. Themes including landscape, loss, homeland, displacement and colonisation infuse her evocative writing.

In 2009 she was appointed Poet Laureate for 2009-2011 and in 2010 her most recent volume of poetry ‘The Radio Room’ was published.

McQueen has held the University of Otago’s Burns Fellowship for 1985 and 1986, a Fulbright Visiting Writers’ Fellowship to Stanford University in 1985 and a Goethe Institut Scholarship to Berlin, in 1991 she was awarded the QEII Arts Council Scholarship in Letters. She has also won the New Zealand Book Award for Poetry three times. McQueen received an honorary doctorate in literature from the University of Otago in 2009. In 2010 she received a Prime Minister's Awards for Literary Achievement (Poetry).

MS-2400/111

McQueen is also an accomplished and popular performer of her poetry.

MS-2400/058, MS-3247/220, MS-3247/275

McQueen’s archives, held at the Hocken Collections, contain a rich variety of papers including manuscript poetry and plays, correspondence, sound recordings and photographs

Blog post prepared by Debbie Gale, Arrangement and Description Archivist

Baptists and best sellers on the Taieri

2011-02-07T16:59:00.001+13:00

Photographs and a short manuscript from the archives of the Mosgiel Baptist Church (AG-263/023, AG-263/053 and AG-263/054).

F.W. Boreham (1871-1959) is not widely known today, but in his time he sold over a million books. Frank Boreham arrived in New Zealand from England in 1895 to become the first minister of Mosgiel Baptist Church. The young man quickly proved himself as a successful and popular preacher, pastor and writer. His sermons appeared in the Taieri Advocate and he became a regular contributor of leading articles to the Otago Daily Times. He also edited the New Zealand Baptist. The first of his several dozen books was published before he left England, to be followed by The Whisper of God and Other Sermons, published in 1902. Many of his books were devotional in character, but they also included charming tales of people and places he had known. Boreham moved to Australia in 1906. He retained fond memories of his first pastorate in Mosgiel, which featured in some of his later books. For instance, the booklet The Bachelors of Mosgiel (1936) is a “collection of unusual love stories of crusty old bachelors never suspected of having any.” Boreham’s writing might be dismissed as simple and sentimental today, but it was also engaging, as the opening of The Home of the Echoes (1921) reveals:

Hester Spanton – Auntie Hester, as everybody called her – was the tenant of a large second-hand store and a small asthmatic body. I used at times to think that the adjectives might be regarded as interchangeable. If you had described her as the occupant of an asthmatic store and a second-hand body, the terms would have seemed perfectly congruous and fitting. Her poor little body looked a very second-hand affair. It was terribly the worse for wear, and was so battered and broken that Auntie Hester could only crawl about by the aid of a crutch. It gave you the impression that it had been bought and sold over and over again, and that, having got it cheaply, none of its owners had taken any care of it.

The Merry Man of Mosgiel, published by Epworth Press, London, 1936.

There is a special F.W. Boreham collection at the Mosgiel Library (described by Barbara Frame in the March 2005 issue of New Zealand Libraries), and another at Carey Baptist College in Auckland. But southerners who wish to know more of one of the best-selling authors of the early twentieth century may like to start with a perusal of the 59 individual Boreham titles held by the Hocken (some in more than one edition). Also available at the Hocken are the Taieri Advocate and Otago Daily Times, which feature Boreham’s early journalism, and the archives of the Mosgiel Baptist Church.

Blog post prepared by Ali Clarke, Library Assistant - Reference.

Bringing it Home installation

2011-02-01T20:10:00.000+13:00

The aim with most exhibitions is to appear effortless, as if artworks, text panels and display shelves simply appeared on the gallery walls. The many hours of hard work put in to achieve this result can therefore remain hidden. This post offers a glimpse behind-the-scenes at the installation of Bringing it Home, which has just opened at the Hocken Gallery and celebrates the centenary of the Home Science/Consumer and Applied Science department at the University of Otago.

Jane Malthus, one of the curators for the exhibition, here finishes the work of designer Ryan Gallagher and pins the last of 500 student ID photos to the wall. Each had been individually scanned from originals, printed, trimmed and pinned to create an impressive grid of faces, an artistic installation in itself.

In a first for the Hocken, we now have a kitchen installed in the gallery! While it appears to have been lifted straight out of a 1960s-era home, it was in fact built from scratch by Bill Ingram, Design Studies’ expert technician, and curator Michael Findlay. Having figured out the logistics of mounting the life-sized (and ‘life-weight’) cabinets, they were then filled with kitchen items of the 60s and 70s (kindly lent by the Consumer Food Science department and Michael Findlay).

These are just a few aspects of this fascinating exhibition, that also includes original clothing items made by students, Tom Esplin’s lecture slides for his art appreciation lectures, film footage from 1961, Design Studies technical equipment dating back to 1987, graduate profiles, photographs and more!

Come and enjoy the show, on until 5 March upstairs in the Hocken Gallery. Blog post prepared by Lucy Clark, Registrar.

Update on parking near the Hocken Collections

2011-01-26T14:33:00.001+13:00

Since my previous post on traffic issues we have updated our Parking Information webpage. For information and a map indicating where to park near the Hocken Collections while the realignment of State Highway 88 is going please see our parking information page on the Hocken webpages
http://www.library.otago.ac.nz/hocken/parking.html

The former parking area has been shifted into Parry Street (access via Minerva Street). There is a sign indicating the parking for Hocken patrons. A walkway from the carpark to Hocken is under construction.

Parking is also available towards the University campus in Albany Street, Forth Street and Reigo Street. During University term time, parking may be more difficult to locate.

If you wish to drop off material for the Hocken’s collections, please ring 479 8868 and we will advise the best route to take to our loading bay.

There is a drop off bay located outside the front entrance to the Hocken, at the intersection of Parry Street and Anzac Avenue. Note that you can't park here but visitors may be safely dropped off out of the Anzac Avenue traffic stream.

We expect there to be considerable disruption until at least the middle of 2011.

Locked away : Life in Mount Eden Prison

2011-01-19T13:39:00.003+13:00

What was it like inside Mount Eden Prison in the early 1960s? A manuscript discovered among Ernie Webber’s papers tells a colourful story. Himself a prisoner, Webber encouraged the writing of another inmate, Bert Pimley, whose novel The Rock Orchid is based on experiences inside. According to Webber, prison authorities applied ‘some viciousness’ when they discovered the manuscript, which they destroyed. Another copy was smuggled out, and Webber later tried to get it published. He was unsuccessful, but the typescript survives in his papers along with related letters and illustrations. The title refers to a character who resembles the beautiful but parasitic rock orchid.

Here are a few excerpts (with original spelling and punctuation):

Officer Desmond Rice was certainly a pathological study. Any time the women in the female division started a riot, Rice went across wearing a boxing glove on one hand, to knock a little sense into them. He got great satisfaction from this, mostly because he could not hurt his hand with the glove on it, nor leave marks on the women, but even if he did, who would believe such accusations, levelled at a responsible deputy principle officer? It stretched people’s credulity a lot when officer Dinny Burns and another, broke a girl’s arm, because she was a trifle independent. This was New Zealand. Such things could never happen here.

* * * * *

“If you get shifted to the basement, try not to get the ‘craps’,” advised Horne.
“Why? Is that bad?” Pintal wanted to know.
“It’s bad enough. There’s over ninety men living down there, and only one crapper. Of course, you could always use the pot in the cell if you liked.”
Also in the basement was the shower-house, kit-locker, and the “pound”, that dismal row of cold, empty punishment cells reserved for bread and water victims. Within the encircling walls was a fully-equipt boot-making shop, a tailor shop, a joinery department, laundry, tin-smiths shop, and a small department devoted to the manufacture of mail-bags. This prison even boasted a school-room and a chapel.
As they wandered about, Pintal and Horne were approached by a grinning chap, who told Cliff that young Tipu had just had a spot of bad luck. Got caught with Symes, said the chap, and went off, chuckling, to spread the news.
What did he mean by that, Cliff?” Berne asked.
“Tipu’s got bad habits. Gets himself shagged now and then by Bill Symes”

* * * * *

Gus Powell, the receiving officer, banned all comics that had guns in them, and all cheap books that had guns or half-dressed women on the covers. This was New Zealand’s toughest prison, not a Boys Home.
The officers in the sentry towers whiled away the tedious daylight hours furtively reading cow-boy books, and wing officers dodged into cells at any opportunity, to read a few chapters of almost anything lying about.
The magazine Man, a harmless monthly edition given to short stories and pictures of scantily-clad females, was banned, as also was the magazine People. But if one looked about enough, both of these editions could be found somewhere in the prison. The New Zealand weekly scandal paper, Truth, was definitely off-limits within the confines of the Mount, although a copy could usually be had, if perhaps a few days late.

Webber’s papers came to Hocken twenty years ago, but it was only during recent arrangement and description work that The Rock Orchid and other treasures came to light. Webber (1906-1983) was an intrepid New Zealand businessman. He was involved with the McCarthy investment scandal of the 1930s, sold munitions in China during World War Two, and invested in forestry and other ventures back in New Zealand. He had passions for travel, entertaining, railways, and book collecting, and was part of New Zealand’s underground gay culture (the reason for one of his two spells in prison). All of these aspects of his life come through in his varied collection of personal and business papers of over ten shelf metres.

Blog post prepared by David Murray, Assistant Archivist, from Webber, Cyril Ernie Richard : Papers (MS-3333/197 and 198).

For a look at Ernie's interest in collecting Railways books see
http://www.library.otago.ac.nz/exhibitions/all_aboard/index.html

Traffic and parking issues around the Hocken Library building

2011-01-12T13:57:00.001+13:00

There is significant road work commencing in Anzac Avenue and Parry Street as of today which will result in the permanent closure of part of Parry Street adjacent to the Hocken Library building and the realignment of State Highway 88 to Port Chalmers. Barriers have gone up today closing this part of the street to vehicular traffic and as I am writing the road is being dug up!

If you are on foot, we advise approaching the building only from the Anzac Avenue side currently. PLEASE watch out for heavy machinery and take care to observe all signage erected by the contractors.

There is still plenty of parking available in the rest of Parry Street, which can be accessed from Minerva Street alongside the Leith Stream. There is also an area of Hocken visitor and staff parking set aside just off Parry Street. Please feel welcome to use this.

To get from Parry Street to Anzac Ave (and vice versa) for safety's sake please don't walk through the closed part of Parry Street currently. There is a footpath along the north eastern side of the Unipol Building (the gym next door to the Hocken) which is safe to use to move between the two streets.

This work is planned to take about 6 months and we expect that access to the Hocken building from the Parry Street side will be difficult or unavailable at times. Access on foot from Anzac Avenue will be always available. We will try to keep you posted but the situation will be changing day by day. If you have mobility issues and want to visit the Hocken please contact us for advice on the day.

Wartime friendship ... and romance

2010-12-07T10:47:00.001+13:00

“Thank you so much for your lovely cheery letter. My family which is large all took turns in reading it. Although we are lonesome for our two marine sons Walter and Richard, we are consoled to know that such lovely people like yourself and Tom Hickey (Richards friend) do cheer them up.”

So begins a 1943 letter from Emily Shulich, Chicago, to Betty Manley of Lower Hutt. Betty served as a hostess at the American Red Cross’s Cecil Club, providing hospitality to the large influx of American servicemen in New Zealand. She kept up a correspondence with several of the men she met there, along with some of their families, who were grateful for contact with friends of sons who seldom wrote themselves. The letters she received form a substantial part of the papers of the Watson and Manley families (ARC-0665).

Letters from American servicemen to Betty Manley. The censor has cut out a word from Hugh Keahey’s letter, which would have revealed how many miles his camp was from the nearest large town.

The Americans were grateful for the hospitality they received in Wellington. Hugh Keahey wrote to Betty early in 1944 commenting on his sadness at leaving: “As we passed out of the harbor I raised my hand in salute and silently thanked you, the Carters, Louie, Jean (yes Jean too) sincerely for your friendship and kindnesses.” His friend Jesse Allen was less flattering about his time in Wellington: “The reason this is a good nite to write is because I am reminded that it was just a year ago today that we crawled off the boat in Gookland to spend seven dreary months. As I went out to Mudford I thought it was the most gosh awful country I ever saw. Never did change my mind much. Now how do you like that.” Allen had a lively writing style and his letters are full of teasing remarks. The servicemen clearly found Betty Manley attractive. Walter Shulich’s sister Diana wrote to Betty about three photographs her brother had shown the family: “He said the snapshots didn’t flatter you at all and that you were much better looking, although the snapshots showed you to be very pretty. (Yesiree!).”

Meanwhile, Betty Manley was also corresponding with Reg Watson, a Dunedin printer who was serving overseas with the 5th New Zealand Field Ambulance. He sent her letters, cards, telegrams (including a concerned one reading “No news of you for some time …”), postcards of “the eternal city,” textiles from Jerusalem, books and gloves. Some New Zealand women married American servicemen and started new lives in the USA, but Betty’s destiny lay in the south: in 1945 she married Reg Watson and moved to Dunedin.

Some of the items sent by Reg Watson to Betty Manley.

Blog post prepared by Ali Clarke, Reference Assistant

All Hail! Zealandia!

2010-11-22T13:12:00.027+13:00

Zealandia was a familiar symbol to New Zealanders of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Akin to Great Britain’s Britannia and America’s Columbia, she personified New Zealand in poetry, song, and political cartoons, and even appeared on postage stamps and household goods. Her statue surmounts the Boer War memorial at Palmerston.

The depiction of Zealandia on the cover of the song ‘All Hail! Zealandia!’ emphasises the colony’s youth and agricultural wealth (which apparently extended to the production of pineapples!). She carries the United Tribes flag, selected as New Zealand’s first official ensign in 1834. Replaced by the Union Flag in 1840, it became an important symbol of Māori independence and resistance to Crown-perpetuated injustice. It also retained some currency as a patriotic symbol, appearing on this sheet music more than forty years after it fell from official use.

The first verse of the song proclaims:

All hail! Zealandia!

Queen of the Southern Isles

On whose bright destiny

Benignant Nature smiles

Louder than cannon’s roar

Echo from shore to shore

All hail! Zealandia!

Zealandia! All hail!

The music was composed by Robert Peel Crosbie, a Railways Department employee and enthusiastic amateur musician from Christchurch. Francis Hopkins Valpy is sometimes credited with the words, but Crosbie claimed to have written them with Valpy’s assistance. The first performance took place at Lyttelton in 1871 or 1872, several years before the composition of ‘God Defend New Zealand’. This makes ‘All Hail! Zealandia!’ one of New Zealand’s earliest national songs.

An alternative setting by Dunedin music teacher Frederick Leech was published in 1874, and widely performed during the following 20 or 30 years. Crosbie’s original but less known version was eventually published in 1885 with a dedication to former premier Sir Julius Vogel. A reviewer at the time described the work as a stirring song of ‘eminently national type’ and suggested that it should become immensely popular.

The piece was ‘uncommonly well printed’ by the Lyttelton Times Company, although there is a spelling mistake on the cover for those who care to look for it!

All Hail! Zealandia! Words and music by R.P. Crosbie

Christchurch: Lyttelton Times (printers), [1885].

David Murray, Assistant Archivist, Hocken Collections.

2010 Hocken Lecture

2010-11-09T16:35:00.008+13:00

Constructing a past: Hocken and the memorialising
of history

Tuesday 16 November, 5.30pm, followed by refreshments

Castle 1 Lecture Theatre, University of Otago, Dunedin

ALL WELCOME

The theme of this year's Hocken Lecture will be drawn from Jock Phillips' thinking about Hocken and his generation of history-makers. He says "Dr Hocken was a leading member of the first generation of Pakeha New Zealanders who set out to construct a past for New Zealand. He did so partly through his writing but more importantly through his collecting. At the same time there was another way of preserving memories of the past. New Zealanders began to put up memorials, statues and monuments throughout the country to make permanent the memory of significant people and historical events. In this lecture I want to explore briefly the history that Hocken sought to preserve and then to compare this with the history memorialised in stone in New Zealand in 1880-1914". This is a theme that resonates with the Library's celebration of its centenary of service to scholarship and documenting life in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Treasures abound in recently catalogued scout archives

2010-10-22T17:09:00.000+13:00

The first New Zealand scout troop was officially registered at Kaiapoi on 3 July 1908, following the arrival of Baden-Powell's book 'Scouting for Boys' in New Zealand. The movement was formed by Lieutenant-Colonel O. Cossgrove, who became the first chief commissioner.

Originally a branch of the United Kingdom Scout Association, the New Zealand Boy Scouts Association became independent in 1953 and in this year became the Scout Association of New Zealand. In 1911, the first all-Maori scout troop was formed at Ohinemutu. Cubbing was introduced in 1916 and Venturer scouting was introduced in 1965.

The records of the New Zealand Scout Association, Otago Area, held at the Hocken occupy over seven and a half metres of shelving and include those of scout groups from all over Otago, such as the Owaka Scout Group, Halfway Bush Scout Group and North East Valley Scout Group.

The collections include a vast array of material, such as minute books, logs, scrapbooks, jamboree papers, newsletters, magazines, photographs and textile banners.

An example of a handwritten, illustrated log of a trip to Port Craig by Andersons Bay Rover Sea Scout Crew, 1955 (image from MS-3486/010):

A colourful log book entry of the 13^th Dunedin North East Valley Scout Troop describing an account of Easter camp and woodcraft signs, 1951 (image from MS-3486/103):

The earliest record is a minute book of the St Martin's Boy Scouts, which began in April 1927, before changing to North East Valley Boy Scouts in 1935. (Image from MS-3486/090).

The Rovering branch of scouting was officially started in England in 1917. The First Dunedin District Rover Crew was established in 1926. Handwritten, illustrated log of a caving trip to Dunback by Andersons Bay Rover Sea Scout Crew, 1954 (image from MS-3486/009).

There are approximately 16,000 Scouts in New Zealand. In the lower South Island there are currently 50 active scout groups, 12 Venturer Units and 2 Rover Crews. There are plenty of newsletters being produced to keep people up to date on developments:

Image from MS-3486/017

Visitors are welcome to come in and view the scouting material, or you can look through our listings on ‘Hakena’ at http://hakena.otago.ac.nz/nreq/Welcome.html

Post prepared by Debbie Gale, Arrangement and Description Archivist.

Subdivision map of Kelvin Grove Dunedin

2010-09-27T17:23:00.000+13:00

Kelvin Grove Dunedin, by Bastings, Leary & Co., 1879. R. Hay surveyor.

One of the most attractive sales plans in the collection and typical of its time, this black and white auction notice for the North East Valley subdivision of Kelvin Grove plays up the rustic element with heading and border of twigs and a sketch of the rural location. Why not live with nature only a few minutes’ tram ride from the city?

The land, which is on the west side of North Road, was purchased from William Henry Valpy in 1852 by James Hunter who named the area Kelvin Grove after his Scottish home north of Glasgow. By 1879 it was in the hands of local entrepreneur David Proudfoot who began a regular steam and horse drawn tram service the same year, building tramsheds and stables at the foot of the subdivision. To encourage patronage he entered tram ticket numbers in a lottery with building sections in the subdivision as prizes.

The auction plan shows existing land use, and features such as water courses, native bush, existing buildings and proposed roads. The steam and horse-drawn trams shown were replaced by electric ones in 1903.

Blog posted prepared by Karen Craw, Senior Library Assistant - Maps, with reference to Gary Blackman's North East Valley History notes 2005.

Miranda Looks Back - a reminiscence of John Gully

2010-09-06T14:23:00.004+12:00

Myrtle Lee was born in Taranaki in 1876. Her father was the educationalist Robert Lee, and her grandfather the painter John Gully. Lee studied at the Slade School of Art, London, and became art mistress at Heathfield School, Ascot. In the 1950s she wrote ‘Miranda Looks Back’, an unpublished book of illustrated childhood reminiscences written for children. In one chapter Lee recalls her impressions of her grandparents’ and their house at Nelson in the 1880s:

Our grandparents lived across in the other island and we all loved to go and stay with them in their large gabled wooden house with a verandah all round and a big rose garden. I slept in a wee fairy-tale bedroom up in one of the gables.
They both seemed incredibly old but I think now it was their solemn ways and clothes, and because I was so young.

There was a mystery about them – especially my grandfather, who disappeared all day and was not to be disturbed. He appeared at meals. There he sat with his white whiskers and his kind eyes with their heavy eyelids like my mother’s. I scarcely took my eyes off his face and wondered what he did all day.

I knew what grandmother did. She bustled about the house seeing to old May who did the housework. Seeing to the gardener who produced the fruit and vegetables. Seeing to her sewing parties. These latter were made up of legions of good women doing good works for the poor. They sent off crates of strange and useful garments for Dr Barnado’s Homes in England.

It wasn’t exactly a house for children – we had to be so very good, and what was worse, we wanted to be. Were they not the mother and father of our mother? Yes, and so gentle and kind. These quiet old things living in a sleepy hollow of a town were the same doughty pioneers who landed on a rough beach some 50 years before.

One never-to-be-forgotten day I was exploring the rather rambling house and found a door, usually shut, wide open. There was no one in it. It was full of light which came from a skylight, and big French windows with shutters opened into a rose garden bright with the sun. There among the roses was my grandfather. But it was the room that caught my attention.

So that was it – a studio! My grandfather was an artist. I stared at the unfinished picture on the easel, at the paintboxes and the brushes, at all the lovely paraphernalia, and I crept away, most satisfied, for from that house I knew what I was going to do when I grew up.

[Lee, Myrtle: Reminiscences entitled 'Miranda Looks Back'. Misc-MS-1997.]

Blogpost researched and written by David Murray, Assistant Archivist.

100 Up - a snapshot of Dunedin life: 1910 & 2010

2010-08-10T19:00:00.017+12:00

100 UP is the Hocken's latest exhibition. Taking its name from Seven UP, a successful series of documentary films that follows the lives of fourteen individuals at seven-year intervals, the exhibition similarly uses a longitudinal method of study. Mounted to commemorate the Hocken Library’s 1910 opening, it presents a snapshot of Dunedin life from that year, and this.

An interesting array of objects including postcards, photographs, posters and ephemera, that date to around 1910 are placed alongside 2010 representations of the city. Contemporary observations of Dunedin are largely presented through the photographs of Max Oettli, which were commissioned by the Friends of Hocken Collections to mark the Library’s centenary. The Hocken would like to thank the Friends for this generous gift.

We have produced a stunning poster to promote this show. It will be coming to a bollard near you soon - so keep a look out for the exhibition's distinctive '100 UP' logo. The reverse side of the poster features images of a number of collection items including postcards, historic photographs, St George food labels and a 1910 edition of the 'Sure to Rise' cookery book, on the reverse. The poster is available for purchase at the Hocken's office or email us with your order at hocken@otago.ac.nz.

Regardless of whether you are new to Dunedin or a long term resident we think you will enjoy the show. If you are unable to visit the exhibition in person, an online version of the exhibition is currently in production and you will be able to view it soon via the Hocken page of the University of Otago's website.

Natalie Poland, Curator of Pictorial Collections

Interesting use of photographs of Cargill's Castle

2010-08-05T21:32:00.000+12:00

The Otago Daily Times recently published the story of Warren Justice and his scale model of Cargill's Castle

http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/119111/cargills-castle-model-completed

Warren based his model on historical photographs of the well known landmark (also known as the Cliffs) which he found at the Hocken. While researchers use information from the Hocken for a wide variety of purposes this is probably one of the more unusual. It's good to hear that the Cargill's Castle Trust may be able to use the model in its' work towards the preservation of the Castle.

Doing Well and Doing Good : Ross and Glendining : Scottish Enterprise in New Zealand

2010-07-29T17:25:00.000+12:00

The Hocken Collections recently hosted a book launch for the long awaited (by Hocken staff anyway) book by Stephen Jones, Doing Well and Doing Good : Ross and Glendining: Scottish Enterprise in New Zealand, published by OU Press.

Steve has been a regular visitor to the Hocken through several "generations" of archivists and reference desk staff. For many years he made an annual pilgrimage to Dunedin from his Scottish home in Dundee to complete the next phase of research on the records of Ross and Glendining held in the Hocken Collections. Tips on finding material in the collection and Steve's interests in Ross and Glendining were passed on from archivist to archivist as it became known that exemplary service could result in a free lunch! Reams of photocopied pages were dispatched to Dundee, but they only seemed to encourage him to travel back to NZ with further questions to be answered by interrogation of the original records!

Business communications from an 1877 Ross and Glendining letterbook, the paper is translucent and thin as tissue and difficult to photocopy from.

We admired his passion for lists of obscurely written financial reports and the analysis of the business data he copied from the records and wondered what the result would be. My own interest in the progress of the project was further stimulated by attending an excellent presentation in the School of Business by Steve on his research findings. The quarterly financial reports had been analysed, the columns of handwritten numbers in pounds shilllings and pence totted up and made meaningful and Steve described the role of Ross and Glendining in the fabric of NZ life. I'm looking forward to reading the book and reviews are very positive. The Hocken staff are really pleased to see the work finished and published but we will miss Steve and his visits.

A handwritten financial activity report for the six months prior to January 1894 from the Ross and Glendining archives. Stephen read hundreds of pages such as this during his research.

Find out more about what's at the Hocken - Reference Guides

2010-06-23T11:42:00.001+12:00

Do you want to know more about the wonderful treasures to be found at the Hocken? The Hocken staff have written various reference guides to help researchers locate material in our collections. These are available in hardcopy in the reference area, or as PDFs on our website at http://www.library.otago.ac.nz/hocken/guides.html

As well as a general introduction to the Hocken and a guide to Maori resources, we have two main series of guides: genealogy guides and research guides. The genealogy guides include information on our resources for researching Maori whakapapa; births, deaths and marriages; shipping; education; occupations; and residences. We also have a guide to internet resources, and a guide to the records of Otago and Southland orphanages and children’s homes (some of these sources are held by other institutions).

The series of research guides currently stands at 17 with several new ones appearing each year. These guides are primarily aimed at university students and researchers, but they include information which will also be of interest to many other people. They do not list all our resources, but give examples of items in our collections along with suggestions on how to locate other relevant material. Popular guides in this series include those to war-related material (there are separate guides for World War I, World War II, the South African War and two guides on the New Zealand Wars), missionary sources, religion sources and mining sources. Recent additions to the series are on Pacific Islands sources and tourism sources, and a health sciences reference guide will be out next month.

We hope you find these guides useful, and welcome your feedback!

Post prepared by Ali Clarke, Reference Assistant

We celebrate the addition of the Otago Police Gazettes to the Otago Nominal Index

2010-06-03T15:05:00.010+12:00

Local members of the Otago branch of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists have recently celebrated the completion of nine years of data entry adding the Otago Police Gazettes to the Otago Nominal Index. The latter was started 21 years ago with the indexing of early local street directories and electoral rolls, all of which is still continuing. The index now contains approximately 400,000 names, and the group is now embarking on indexing the Mackays Otago Almanac.

This is an amazing source for genealogical and historical research. Take a look at it at http://marvin.otago.ac.nz/oni/ where it is hosted by the University of Otago Library.

Crawford Street and Thomson & Company photographs

2010-05-20T14:43:00.002+12:00

These images show the intersection of Crawford and Police streets, Dunedin, with the Otago Harbour and Andersons Bay beyond.

The first photograph was taken not long after 1876, when the three-storyed building on the corner was built for the well-known cordial and fizzy drink manufacturers Thomson & Company. This impressive building was designed by local architects Mason & Wales, and it even featured a lion lounging on top of the pediment. Crawford Street follows the waterline from the left to the right of the image.

Extensive reclamation carried out from 1879 is very apparent in the second photograph, which was taken c.1905-1910. Thomson's premises still dominate and a large sign on the side of the building boasts of the company's awards at the St Louis World’s Fair of 1904. The small building next door appears to be the same one visible in the earlier image. It has a new facade and is occupied by the builder George Simpson. The building at the far left was built in 1897 for the auctioneers Maclean & Co. Here it seen as the premises of A. Steven & Co., 'manufacturers of the famous Victor flour', who took over the building in 1902. At the centre is the large wool and grain store built in 1892 for Stronach Morris & Co. Behind this is the store of the National Mortgage and Agency Company (NMA), and further back some long railway sheds can be seen.

None of the buildings or businesses visible in these photographs survives. The site of Thomson's building is now occupied by Brown's Avanti Plus cycle shop.

The original photographs are in the papers of J.T. Paul, MS-0982/597. They are on identical mounts from Exchange Court Studios, Dunedin.

Blog post contributed by David Murray, Assistant Archivist.

Two new exhibitions at the Hocken Gallery

2010-05-03T12:43:00.026+12:00

Two new exhibitions have just been installed at the Hocken Gallery. The touring exhibition 'The Labour of Herakles', a show of 8 etchings and 12 lithographs by Christchurch-based printmaker Marian Maguire, will tour for a further two years after it finishes here on 17 July. In this series of works Maguire casts the Greek hero Herakles as a pioneer in New Zealand's nineteeth century landscape. Appropriating well known pictorial imagery has long been a feature of Maguire's practice. Here is a photograph of Artcrew installing the Maguire show.

The accompanying exhibition 'Forever After', drawn mainly from the Hocken's collections compliments the touring show by exploring the work of artists who have copied, adapted and re-purposed historical art. This image shows me (the Hocken's Curator of Pictorial Collections) brushing dust that has gathered in the drapery folds of a Brucciani cast, after the famous Greek statue Venus de Milo. The copying of such sculptures provided the basis of drawing classes at art schools in New Zealand from the late nineteenth, through to the early decades of the twentieth century. The exhibition includes a Greek amphora from the Otago Museum dating to c. 550BC, a fabulous copy of Nathaniel Dance's 1776 portrait of Captain James Cook, a sampling of Joseph Banks' Florilegium series and two contemporary portraits by 2008 Frances Hodgkins Fellow, Heather Straka. Straka's paintings are based on an eighteenth century drawing by Augustus de Sainson of Nataii, a Maori chief from Bream Bay.

Publisher’s archive a great resource

2010-04-28T17:21:00.002+12:00

The distinctive John McIndoe cat logo on the office door

In November 2008 Hocken was offered further records of the printing and publishing company John McIndoe Ltd, following the liquidation of successor firm Rogan McIndoe Print Ltd. McIndoes had been established in 1893, and its publishing arm flourished from 1968 through to the 1990s under editors Peter Stewart, Brian Turner, and Barbara Larson.

Some of the graphic art materials on the floor at McIndoes

On 17 November we appraised and collected records from the former company buildings in Crawford Street. Storage conditions were dry and the records were generally in good condition. Many were stored in cupboards and bundled according to publication titles, others were found in boxes on shelves, in loose piles on the floor, or tucked away in odd drawers and corners. We picked our way through two large floors of the rambling old buildings and eventually took 16 shelf metres of records back to the Hocken. These were added to a similar quantity of records we had received between 1978 and 1985, but which mostly remained unlisted. Much of the material was neatly wrapped in parcels with paper printed with the elegant cat logo of McIndoes.

A storage cupboard showing the neat "cat wrapped" parcels of records

From February 2009 to January 2010, thanks to funding from the New Zealand Lotteries Grants Board, Project Archivist Sally Milner fully arranged and described all of our McIndoe holdings, packaging them in preservation-quality enclosures, and listing them in detail on Hakena.

The collections contain a wide array of material relating to the publishing and printing activities of the company. They include authors’ book files and other papers relating to literary projects, correspondence, financial records, photographs, and artwork. Authors and poets who are represented in the collection include Roderick Finlayson, Owen Marshall, Cilla McQueen, Vincent O’Sullivan, Philip Temple, and Hone Tuwhare, to name but a few.

Some items from the McIndoes records at the Hocken. Note the cat wrapping paper!

The collection, which occupies some 25 shelves, is already proving valuable for research into printing and publishing history, individual authors, and related subjects.

Our special thanks goes to Lawrie Forbes of Zealsteel, owner of the McIndoe buildings, for ensuring that records were not destroyed following the company liquidation, and arranging for their donation to the Hocken.

This post was prepared by Arrangement and Description Archivist, Debbie Gale, and Assistant Archivist, David Murray.

ANZAC Day

2010-04-22T15:38:00.002+12:00

Photo from AG-577/023 Hocken Collections Uare O Hakena

Keen World War 1 researchers may feel they recognise this image - that's because it is a photograph of the "man with the donkey" at Gallipoli that Sapper Horace Millichamp Moore-Jones based his famous paintings on. The paintings depict Private John Simpson (his full name was John Simpson Kirkland), but the man in the photo is actually Private Richard Henderson of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.

The photo you see is scanned from a negative which is part of a substantial collection of WW1 photographs amongst the papers of James Gardner Jackson held by the Hocken Collections. The collection also includes Jackson's diaries and correspondence with the Australian War Memorial explaining the circumstances in which he took the picture. Jackson did actually meet Private Simpson and worked with him for about 5 days but did not take a picture of Simpson. It was only a little later that he took the picture of his colleague Private Richard Henderson. Both Jackson and Henderson were in the NZ Field Ambulance Unit at Gallipoli. In a letter to the Australian War Memorial dated 22 September 1937, Jackson states that the wounded soldier was an "Aussie" so the photo could be said to illustrate the ANZAC spirit with New Zealanders and Australians working together in appalling conditions to help each other.

Although the photo was taken in May 1915, Jackson did not see it until 1919 when he returned to NZ. In the meantime his photos had been developed by his family. The artist Moore-Jones had been discharged and had returned to NZ by 1917 and during a lecture in Dunedin on the war, illustrated with copies of his watercolours, he was asked if he had a painting of Simpson and his donkey. Moore-Jones said no he didn't but that if he had a photograph he would make one. James Jackson's brother supplied him with a copy of the photo the next day, Moore-Jones identified it in error as being of Simpson and produced the first painting.

As well as the negative there are several prints of the photo in the Jackson collection, curiously and somewhat tantalisingly the back of one of the prints is inscribed "Murphy, Paterson, VC Anzac, Received the Victoria Cross on 1st of June and killed on June 8th". Well, my research indicates that one of the donkeys was called Murphy, but that sometimes Simpson was also called Murphy by some, but where "Paterson" fits in I haven't been able to work out. Perhaps the name of the injured Australian? Perhaps just another error of identification?

Private Henderson's personnel file is now available in digitised form from Archives NZ and you can find a digitised copy of the painting at the Australian War Memorial website. You can find out more about Moore-Jones from the NZ Dictionary of Biography.

Dr Mervyn McLean donation of Maori and Pacific Music

2010-04-15T10:33:00.001+12:00

One of our most significant donations in 2009 was the Dr Mervyn McLean collection of Maori and Cook Islands music. The collection has been added to the archives and manuscripts section of the Library and is catalogued under the call number ARC-0613. It is fully listed on the Hakena catalogue.

Right: Dr Mclean, Anne McLean and Professor John Drummond at the Hocken Collections 2009 Donors event.

Dr McLean is acknowledged world wide as an authority on the music of Oceania, particularly traditional Maori music. A graduate of the University of Otago, Dr McLean was the founding Head of the Archive of Maori and Pacific Music at the University of Auckland from 1970 until his retirement in 1992. The collection that has been donated to the Hocken is Dr McLean's personal collection of the original tapes, notes, transcriptions and translations of the waiata, cds and mint copies of his books. The material relates mainly to NZ Maori with recordings dating back to 1958, but also includes 30 hours of material recorded in Aitutaki and Mangaia in 1967. Although it duplicates what is already available through the Auckland archive, this generous donation will allow more researchers to access the material here at the in Dunedin. The collection will be useful to iwi, musicians, historians, anthropologists, ethnomusicologists and other researchers who will be able to listen to the recordings through the digital copies, and read the notations and transcripts.

Centenary celebrations 31st March 2010

2010-04-07T16:23:00.001+12:00

Last Wednesday was a busy day for the Hocken Collections but luckily food featured prominently throughout the day to keep us energised! The day started with a celebration shared breakfast for Hocken staff in our seminar room with white linen and fresh flowers, not to mention the yummy home cooked breakfast. The breakfast was not only celebrating 100 years of the Hocken being open to the public, but also more sadly the departure of staff member Cynthia Haakman who couldn't have picked a more auspicious day to finish her time at Hocken. We wish Cynthia all the best for her future endeavours.

Present and past Hocken staff were joined by friends, staff of the Dunedin Public Library, Otago Settlers Museum and the Dunedin Public Art Gallery, and University Library staff and many researchers for genial morning and afternoon teas with commemorative decorated cakes and lots of great converstation.

The cakes were decorated depicting the Hocken wing of the Otago Museum, Dr T.M. Hocken and the present Hocken Library building.

Above - guests enjoying coffee and cake.

A little later in the day at 5.30pm, former Hocken Librarian, Stuart Strachan gave the inaugural Otago Anniversary Day speech on the history of the Hocken Library/Collections. Stuart spoke about the history of our institution and hopefully his well researched and fascinating speech will be published soon. This was followed by a celebration dinner at the University staff club hosted by the History Department. Sorry - no pictures of this event.

Who Was Dr Hocken?

2010-04-02T16:05:00.003+13:00

Find out more about who Dr Hocken was:

library.otago.ac.nz/hocken/drhocken.html

You Can Now Browse the Hocken's Founding Pictures Collection Online

2010-04-02T15:45:00.011+13:00

To mark our institution's centenary we have made the founding art collection of the Hocken, Dr Hocken's picture collection, available online via the University of Otago Library's Digital Collections.

The showcase offers a representational sample of the pictures that Dr T. M. Hocken gave in trust for the people of New Zealand. At the time of his death in 1910 he had amassed 437 pictorial items, a collection of more than 4,000 printed volumes, as well as photographs, manuscripts and maps. Collectively these items are the Hocken Library’s founding gift. Dr Hocken’s abiding interest in the history of Southern New Zealand continues to shape what the Hocken collects today and preserves for the future benefit of researchers.

Visit Digital Collections:

Digital.otago.ac.nz

It you haven't visited the site before have a look a some of the other material in our collections view 'A Showcase of the Hocken Collections'. Most of the images that appear here are the result of two digitisation projects undertaken by the Hocken's Pictorial Collections staff between 2007 and 2009 and funded through the generous assistance of the University Library.

Banners for the forecourt

2010-03-29T17:14:00.001+13:00

Do you like our new banners? Just in time for our centenary on Wednesday we have had some banners installed on the Hocken forecourt. One features a close up of Dr Thomas Morland Hocken and the other a design from the book, The grammar of ornament : illustrated by examples from various styles of ornament, one hundred and twelve plates, by Owen Jones, published in 1910.

New foyer display - Dr T.M. Hocken's Munificent Gift to the People of New Zealand

2010-03-25T11:25:00.000+13:00

Our new foyer display celebrates the centenary of the Hocken Collections being open to the public. The display is installed now so come and see it. We will be also celebrating the centenary with cake for morning and afternoon tea on Wedneday 31st March in our foyer and lunchroom, all welcome.

Death of former Hocken Librarian, Michael Hitchings, 1924-2010

2010-03-22T17:13:00.009+13:00

Joanna Paul (1945-2003), M.G. Hitchings, Hocken Librarian, 1965-84, March 1985, pencil on paper: 422 x 296mm, accession: 85/7, commissioned by the Hocken Library to appear on the cover of the 1984 Annual Report.

Hocken staff were saddened to learn of Michael Hitchings’ death on Friday 19th March. We record our appreciation of his contribution as Hocken Librarian from 1965 to 1984 and his ongoing support of the Hocken. We join his family and friends in mourning his loss.

The Hocken Library Annual report for 1984 published an appreciation of Michael’s work “RETIREMENT OF MICHAEL HITCHINGS. The retirement of Michael Hitchings on 30 June 1984 as Hocken Librarian marked the end of an era for the Library. His service was noted by the Hocken Library Committee at its meeting on 28 March 1984 in the following terms.
“The Committee notes Mr Hitchings’ decision to retire at the end of June 1984 with regret that he will be leaving the position of Hocken Librarian and gratitude for his achievement in that position since April 1965.

Mr Hitchings’ early career included meteorological work on Campbell Island before he became involved with research libraries in the field of New Zealand and Pacific studies. He worked briefly in the Library of the Auckland Institute and Museum, and from 1956 to 1965, with two interruptions, in the Alexander Turnbull Library; the interruptions were to take a Commonwealth Library Fellowship at LeHigh University, Pennsylvania, and to work as a New Zealand Government Historical Manuscripts Officer in London. From 1963 to 1965 he was Assistant Chief Librarian of the Alexander Turnbull Library.

Mr Hitchings was therefore well prepared to take the post of Hocken Librarian in 1965. Dr Hocken’s original gift had by then been developed into a notable collection, thanks to the foresight and devotion of two University Librarians, Mr J. Harris and Mr F Rogers, and the careful work of Mrs G Strathern, who was appointed assistant in charge of the Hocken Library in 1952, and her assistant Mrs L. Rodda, but its potential as a resource for research in many fields relating to New Zealand and the Pacific was understood by few people. The growth of advanced studies and research had only just begun, and there was only limited appreciation of the value to a university of a research collection of this kind.

It became Mr Hitchings’ task to build up the collections of the Hocken Library, to develop its services to scholarship, and to find, train and preside over the specialized staff that was needed. During his librarianship the collection has grown enormously. In his annual report for 1968 he said, “Total accessioned items now number 36,000, but the true holdings probably approach 40,000 for there are many unaccessioned volumes of newspapers, unbound periodicals and archives.” At the end of 1983, the number of “volumes in stock” totalled 131,000, and there were in addition 2587 metres of archives and manuscripts, 85,000 photographs, nearly 6,000 pictures, and many other items.

This accumulation of material has been essential, if somewhat embarrassing. The use that it is put to by increasing numbers of scholars depends not only on its existence but also on the work of the Library’s staff in organizing it and helping readers to use it. The Hocken Library stands very high in the scholarly world, to the great credit of the University of Otago, and this is due to the hard work and professionalism and the scholarly understanding of Mr Hitchings and his staff.

The achievements of the last nineteen years have not been gained without problems. The move to a new building, necessitated by the growth of the collection, was a difficult experience; and the services so avidly used have been provided under conditions of severe restraints on staffing. To a large extent, however, the Hocken Library’s problems have been caused by its success.
Mr Hitchings contribution has been enhanced by his involvement with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust and similar bodies and by his close association with scholars and creative artists. He is known by these to be a man of principle and of great integrity in the handling of material entrusted to the Library, and the Library has gained from this knowledge. His honours, the MBE, and the Fellowship of the New Zealand Library Association and of the Art Galleries and Museums Association of New Zealand, would have caused no surprise to those who have benefitted from his work.”

Hocken Librarian Sharon Dell reports, “Late in 2009 Michael and his former wife Maureen Lewis donated a collection of almost 115 art works and related hand printed books and catalogues to the Collection. The works reflect their long interest in the creative arts and their close relationships with writers and artists. Stuart Strachan and I had a Christmas lunch with Michael and as I left him my last words were to thank him again for the gift. “You know how much it means to us don’t you?” I said. He looked at me directly and deliberately and said “Yes, I do.”
I left him content that he was aware of our appreciation and the importance of the enduring contribution he has made to Hocken’s collections and research into New Zealand’s creative life.

Three Hocken Librarians at lunch: Sharon Dell, Michael Hitchings, Stuart Strachan, December 2009.

Access to new digital resources

2010-03-19T08:42:00.010+13:00

Hurray for the digital world - two announcements that will make life easier for researchers, one available now and one to come.
The NZ Electronic Text Centre has announced the Journal of the Nelson Historical Society is now available online http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-corpus-nhsj.html and the Parliamentary Counsel Office is initiating a programme to digitise historical NZ Acts, from 1841 to 2007. Read more at http://www.pco.parliament.govt.nz/digitisation-programme/

From Wrought Iron to Roller Skates

2010-03-17T10:00:00.003+13:00

Last days to see the Hocken's current foyer display celebrating our diverse engineering heritage. Photographs, plans, newspaper clippings, diaries and a slideshow of railways-related photographs from the Jim Dangerfield papers, 1966-1976

The Frances Hodgkins Fellowship

2010-03-16T23:06:00.002+13:00

The 2010 recipient of the Frances Hodgkins Fellowship is Joanna Langford, who moved to Dunedin from Wellington last month to start the year-long Fellowship.

If you are a visual artist interested in applying for the 2011 Frances Hodgkins Fellowship you can download an application form or find further information on the University of Otago website. Just put 'Frances Hodgkins Fellowship' in the search bar. Applications close 1 June 2010.

Eddie Clemens: Delusional Architecture exhibition at Hocken Gallery

2010-03-16T21:57:00.012+13:00

Have you seen our current exhibition yet?

Eddie Clemens: Delusional Architecture is on display until 24 April at the Hocken Gallery. Eddie Clemens was the 2009 University of Otago Frances Hodgkins Fellow. His choice of title for this exhibition, a phrase taken from the science-fiction movie Terminator II (1991), hints at his recent examination of how physical surroundings affect human behavior. This concern rests alongside his long-held fascination in the vagaries of consumerism. His witty sculptures flirt with the science fiction genre and technology by employing electronic circuits, LEDs, cool fluorescent tubes and hidden miniature fans. Applied to sculpture, these special effects are fun to look at while they also draw our attention to our increasing use of screen-based entertainment, and, our increasing desire for daily escapism. Clemens's art points to a commonality between architectural structures, shopping and computer technology - they all have the ability to hold us emotionally captive. One of my favourite works is the two brooms with bristles made from fibre optic threads that glow in a changing rainbow assortment of colours.

Come and see the show and let us know what you think.

The Hocken Collections joins Facebook

2010-03-16T20:25:00.000+13:00

Another new initiative for 2010 is the Hocken Facebook page. Now you can use this popular social networking site to keep up to date with Hocken activities and make new friends.

http://www.facebook.com

Welcome to the 2010 University of Otago Fellows

2010-03-12T17:01:00.001+13:00

Last night (11 March 2010) about 80 members of the wider University community welcomed the five 2010 fellows in the Hocken foyer. The fellows are Michele Powles (Robert Burns Fellow), Chris Adams (Mozart Fellow), Joanna Langford (Frances Hodgkins Fellow), Suzanne Cowan (Caroline Plummer Fellow in Community Dance) and Karen Trebilcock (University of Otago College of Education Writer in Residence).

After short speeches visitors were invited to view our current exhibition Eddie Clemens : Delusional Architecture. Eddie was the 2009 Frances Hodgkins Fellow.

‘Dr Hocken’s Legacy: 191O – 2O1O 1OO Years of the Hocken Library'

2010-03-11T16:32:00.001+13:00

To kick off this year of celebration former Hocken Librarian, Stuart Strachan, will give the History and Art History Department Otago Anniversary Week Lecture on the history of the Hocken Collections on Wednesday 31 March 2O1O at 5.30 pm in the University of Otago's Archway 2 Lecture Theatre. All welcome.

Welcome Haere Mai Nau Mai

2010-03-05T16:35:00.000+13:00

Welcome to the Hocken Collections Blog. This is a new initiative for 2010, the centenary year of the Hocken Collections being open to the public. We will use this blog to publicise our events and activities, update you on additions to the Collections and share some of our favourite collection items with you. We hope you will find it useful and feel inspired to comment on our posts.