Heritage et AL

In old St Luke’s Anglican Church, Manurewa, is a poignant reminder of New Zealand’s 1918 influenza epidemic. Tucked away in one corner of the chancel is a carved and polished rimu lectern. This has a tiny brass plaque affixed which reads:

To the Glory of God
And in memory of
Dorice Whittingham
Sometime Organist of this Church
Who died for the sake of
Others.

Bruce Ringer. Interior old St Luke’s, Manurewa. 2018.

Dorice (usually known as ‘Doris’) died on 8 December 1918 of influenza contracted while nursing patients at Papakura hospital. She had been married to local quarryman and ex-serviceman Alexander Whittingham for little more than a year.

A death notice was published in the NZ Herald the following day. A brief tribute was also published in a local newspaper:

“When the epidemic was rampant at Papakura both Mrs Whittingham and her mother volunteered assistance. The former had the advantage of having had considerable nursing experience at Te Aroha, and therefore was entrusted with some of the serious cases. About a week ago she herself contracted the disease …”
‘Manurewa: Nurse’s roll of honour’, Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, 10/12/1918, p. 3.

Dorice had been a member of the St Luke’s congregation, serving both as an organist and a Sunday School teacher. Parishioners funded a lectern in her memory, which was dedicated along with a sanctuary chair on 24 August 1919 (‘Mangere with Manurewa’, Church Gazette, vol. XLIX, no. 10, October 1919, pp. 160-1).

Bruce Ringer. Memorial lectern, old St Luke’s, Manurewa. 2018.

Ironically, Dorice’s home town, Manurewa, had been one of the safest places in South Auckland during the influenza epidemic. Perhaps because of its relatively elevated position and healthful air it suffered only three reported deaths. The death rate was far higher in Papakura, where the district’s temporary hospital had been established (19 deaths). It was higher still in the low-lying Māori villages along the Firth of Thames and the Waikato River, where medical aid was non-existent or slow to arrive. (References to the effects of the influenza epidemic on South Auckland can be found on Manukau’s Journey.)

G.A. Robertson. St Luke’s Anglican Church, Russell Road, Manurewa. About 1925. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, Footprints 01225.

Author: Bruce Ringer, South Auckland Research Centre

After four years of the most horrific warfare the modern world has ever known, the First World War's end was in sight. More than 10 million soldiers were killed and around the same amount of civilians. Of the number killed, 18,000 New Zealanders had been lost on the battlefields and at sea. In a population of just over a million people, the loss of 18,000 meant that no family was left untouched.

The public waiting their turn at the inhalation chamber,
Health Department's Buildings, Auckland.
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections,
AWNS-19181114-36-3.

There was a feeling of anticipation tempered with feelings of loss, for our people returning home. A cruel twist of fate meant that any celebration was curtailed, as influenza swept through the world killing upwards of 50 million people. More than the war itself.

In a couple of short months approximately 9000 (over 2000 are known to be Māori) New Zealanders succumbed to the influenza and the associated secondary infections.

Auckland was badly hit with a death rate of 7.5 per 1000 people, making an approximate total of 1128 Pakeha and 35 Māori.

Waikumete Cemetery was the main burial ground in Auckland for influenza victims, with 465 people so far, who have been confirmed to have been buried there.

Family history website Ancestry's Jason Reeve has been working with Professor Geoffrey Rice, the author of Black November, and research groups such as Discover Waikumete, to research and collate the names of the people who died in the pandemic. The research is ongoing, and the list currently has 5500 names and when completed the list will be available free for people to access on Ancestry.

Ancestry’s list of the 5500 names of people, has also been provided for the Auckland Libraries website. The list is inpdf format, and can be downloaded from this blog, and can also be searched. Some entries do not yet have first names, and there may be the inevitable transcription errors.

Did you have a relative who died in the pandemic who is not on the list? Let us know! Any errors or additions and alterations can be emailed to us at arc@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz with Correction Pandemic in the subject line.

References
Black November by Professor Geoffrey Rice
Discover Waikumete website

In 1951 the National government used troops to run the waterfront after shipping companies locked out watersiders. The watersiders had refused overtime work in protest at a low wage offer. The dispute lasted for five months and grew to involve 22,000 workers including freezing workers and coal miners. The government announced a state of emergency, censored the media, seized union funds and outlawed support for the workers and their families.

Labour MP Mabel Howard called the emergency regulations “a war on women” as wives had to run a home without wages or support. It was forbidden to give children food. Strikers’ children at Wellington’s Clifton Terrace primary school were separated from their classmates at lunchtimes in order to prevent food-sharing.

And yet wives and children and the striking workers survived. “The women were marvellous,” was a common refrain afterwards. When asked to elaborate on how they were marvellous, many commentators dried up.

When Renée researched her 1986 play about the dispute, “Pass It On,” she found plenty of analysis about the unions and political parties involved but little discussion of the women’s role. The first woman she approached for information said, “Oh, I didn’t do anything. It was the other women. They were marvellous.” Renée spoke to two unionists who also said, “The women were marvellous, absolutely marvellous!” but didn’t mention any details.

Renée. Pass it on. Wellington: Victoria University Press, 1986.

“Pass It On” became the first account of the 1951 dispute documenting women’s experience. Broadsheet called it “a great insight into a piece of our women’s history which is glossed over in the history curriculum.” In the play, one woman is initially angry that her husband refuses to work; while another helps organise marches, meetings and relief supplies. There are scenes of women cleaning donated shoes and weighing oatmeal portions at a relief depot. They help produce and distribute bulletins, pamphlets and notices; one takes a job cleaning an office block and steals reams of paper for more bulletins, pamphlets and notices.

Historian Dick Scott estimated 650,000 copies of bulletins, 400,000 pamphlets, and 400,000 miscellaneous items were produced during the dispute. Women helped create these underground publications and often distributed them because it was considered less likely that police would challenge women.

New Zealand Herald, 2 June 1951.

Women were often at the front of the workers’ marches to show the march was peaceful – so they were the first to face police armed with batons. The president of the Women’s Auxiliary of the Watersiders’ Union, Freda (“Fuzz”) Barnes, was arrested for inciting disorder after a march which became known as Bloody Friday. She was one of twelve women at the front of 1500 workers marching up Queen Street. The women carried banners advertising a meeting in the Domain to hear the wharfies’ side of the dispute. Police were waiting for them at Myers Park.

Mrs Barnes said, “… one of the coppers grabbed at my flag, up went my fist, I hit him on the wrist – and caught him a beaut too because I was so wild – Bang! And he went, ‘Oh, you bloody bitch!’ and he took the flag off me and broke it into pieces.” Police alleged – and she denied – that she had called out to marchers, “Come back, you yellow bastards, and get these cops.”

The prosecution stated, “In a matter of inciting, the female is the more deadly of the species, as men take less kindly to their courage being questioned by a woman.” Mrs Barnes, a legal clerk and a justice of the peace, was found guilty of sedition for Bloody Friday. She later sought an order to prosecute the Minister of Police for describing the Combined Women’s Committee as a communist organisation. “We were not communists,” she said. “We were working men’s wives.” Her request to prosecute the minister was refused.

Auckland Star, 28 May 1951.

Full page. Auckland Star, 28 May 1951.

Despite it being a criminal offence to give food to a striker’s wife or child, many New Zealanders helped the families and there were apparently no prosecutions. Colin Bernard Kruse was a member of the navy who had to work in a coal mine during the dispute. He said women and young children came to the mine carrying containers in the hope of free coal. “It was the middle of a cold, wet winter and many homes relied on wood and coal for cooking and heating. Although all sailors were on instructions to give no assistance to strikers or their supporters, we would quietly point to a stockpile, turn our backs and walk away; after all these were New Zealanders and why should these wives and mothers suffer more hardship.”

Frank Barnard has said that foremost amongst those helping Auckland’s locked-out workers and their families were the Dalmatian community from Henderson and Oratia who supplied meat, vegetables, fruit and potatoes. “Without them, there would have been a lot of empty tummies,” he said. Hilda Parry, secretary of the Auckland Peace Council, ran a second-hand clothing store in Hobson Street and during the dispute it became a food and clothing depot.

Potato gatherers, Henderson. Roth, Herbert Otto, 1917-1994: Collected papers, personal papers, photographs and ephemera. Ref: PAColl-4920-1-2-01. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/23171147.

Former MP Sandra Lee’s father, grandfather and great-grandfather were locked-out in 1951, and all lived in the same house. She said, “During my childhood, both my parents recounted time and again how kind people were to our family during the dispute … Most mornings in our house, for example, a box of vegetables would appear at our family’s doorstep … And we always knew it came from ‘dear old Harry Wong’s’ fruit and vegetable shop next door. Years later we moved to Johnsonville, and Harry and his business moved out there too. My mother would walk the whole length of Johnsonville to shop in his shop, because she never forgot his kindness.”

Meanwhile, with no pay coming in for five months, debts piled up for fuel, rent, hire purchase commitments and basic food items. Grocers and butchers who had extended credit during the dispute needed to be reimbursed. Loans to pay rent or doctor’s bills or school supplies needed to be repaid. It took years for some families to pay back the cost of those five months without wages.

Author: Leanne, Research Central

References

Barbara Brookes. A History of New Zealand women. Wellington: Bridget Williams Books, 2016.

David Grant (editor). The big blue: snapshots of the 1951 Waterfront Lockout. Christchurch: Canterbury University Press, 2004.

Dean Parker, Bill Anderson and Warren Brewer. '51 : 50th anniversary, waterfront lockout and supporting strikes. Auckland: Auckland 1951 Reunion Committee, 2001.

Renée. Pass it on. Wellington: Victoria University Press, 1986.

Bert Roth and Janny Hammond. Toil and trouble: the struggle for a better life in New Zealand. Auckland: Methuen New Zealand, 1981.

Eric Harold George Williamson. Waterfront Strike papers. 1951. NZMS 1202.

Serials

Broadsheet, Issue 38, April 1986.
New Zealand Memories, Issue 115, August/September 2015.
The New Zealand Herald, 2 June 1951.
The Press, 25 February 2017.
The Sunday News, 17 October 1971.

Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero | Central City Library is pleased to announce that our popular Heritage Talks programme will now be available as part of Auckland Libraries’ content on SoundCloud and YouTube.

Heritage Talks are a regular event run by Research Central and focus on topics of interest in the areas of local, family and world history. Talks are presented by a range of researchers and historians whose enthusiasm for their subjects is contagious. And now you don’t even need to leave the comfort of your home to share in the stories. Grab a cup of tea, sit back, and relax!

Each SoundCloud podcast will give a brief introduction to the speaker and topic including a talk teaser before proceeding to the talk itself. If the talk contains a significant amount of visual material then we will endeavour to make these available through YouTube. Available now is Keith Giles’ Crazy Cameramen and Profligate Photographers. As the title implies, this popular talk captures some of the colour of colonial Auckland through the at times turbulent careers of a handful of early photographers. Photographs librarian Giles’ dry humour sheds light on the darker days of the men and women who provided us with vivid imagery of our biggest city in its infancy.

Heading up our SoundCloud offer is Dave Veart with Digging up the Past. Dave is an archaeologist, historian and author who has unearthed everything from the food preservation methods of early Maori, to the secrets of Devonport’s labyrinthine military base. His recollections over a long and varied career researching and experiencing first-hand many of New Zealand’s significant historical sites may well see you inspired to do a little digging of your own.

In Napier the man long serving Auckland librarian David Verran explores the relationship between prominent politician and Auckland Public Library benefactor Sir George Grey and his lawyer. This look at the intersections in the careers of the two men is an interesting historical exercise and steers an assured course in Verran’s capable hands.

Looking at colonial New Zealand from the point of view of immigrants, in this case Chinese, author Helene Wong retraces the steps of early foreign settlers as they sought to make their home in often less than welcoming circumstances. As debates around immigration continue to rage, Wong’s talk is a timely look at the shaping of a country and a city that continues to accommodate a highly diverse population.

Finishing sweet, we have Brian Potter who takes a look at how the Chelsea Sugar Factory has shaped his local community of Birkenhead. Listen in to discover how quiet Duck Creek became a full blown community hub, not to mention a cultural icon.

More talks will be added as they become available. Recordings are subject to speaker’s consent. Stay tuned!

Author: Mark, Research Central

On 11 November 1918, an armistice was signed between the Allies and Germany, and the guns fell silent on the Western Front. Armistice Day has been commemorated in New Zealand ever since, not only to celebrate peace but also to acknowledge the sacrifices of those who made peace possible.

The depth of this sacrifice is exemplified by the experience of one small town, Manurewa. At the outbreak of the First World War, there were about 500 people living in the area. Few if any of them were to remain unaffected by the war.

The photograph below was proudly taken on the opening day of Manurewa School, 3 September 1906. Little could it be imagined at the time that in less than a decade the ranks of the children assembled here would be significantly thinned by bullets, bayonets, sickness and bombs.

Future soldiers, Manurewa, 1906. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, Footprints 05367. Photograph reproduced courtesy of Manurewa Historical Society.

Seven of the older boys in the back row would see active service during the First World War: Walter Burton (fourth from left), Bert Ralls (sixth from left), Ted Mills (eighth), George Coxhead (tenth), Walter Costar (eleventh), Henry Lupton (thirteenth) and Bert McAnnally (last boy in the row). In the second row the future soldiers are Sam Craig (third from left), Douglas Wood (fourth), Cecil Slight (seventh), Jack Freshney (ninth), Laurie Mills (tenth) and Fred Lupton (eleventh). Even one of the younger boys in the front row, Bert Mills (tenth from left), saw active service.

Walter Costar, Bert McAnnally, Cecil Slight and Douglas Wood would all be killed or die of wounds during the war. Reginald Costar, who was absent from school on the day of the photograph, would also die from wounds. Of the others, Bert Ralls was both wounded and gassed; Ted Mills was wounded twice and invalided home after an accident; Henry Lupton was wounded twice; Jack Freshney was wounded twice - and on the second occasion awarded the Military Medal; Laurie Mills, like his brother, was wounded at least twice. Only Walter Burton, who served in the Medical Corps, George Coxhead and Fred Lupton, who both arrived in Europe towards the end of the war, escaped unscathed; as did Samuel Craig, even though he saw action on the Somme and in New Zealand’s last battle of the war, at Le Quesnoy.

A total of 184 men and one woman (Nurse Marjorie Harrowell) are listed on the various First World War memorials and rolls of honour in Manurewa and vicinity, of whom 176 are identifiable today. Of these, at least 167 served overseas. In the latter group, 49 men were killed in action or died of wounds, three died of diseases contracted during service, 320 were wounded severely enough to be declared unfit for further service, 34 were invalided out of service because of sickness and 27 were otherwise wounded or fell sick (some several times). Three were taken prisoners of war. Including sickness, this represents a casualty rate of more than 85%.

Even for those who survived the suffering wasn’t over: one man with shell-shock was institutionalised for life; several men died accidentally not long after the war; and it was common for Manurewa’s ex-soldiers to die during their 40s or 50s.

With such a roll call of sacrifice, it is perhaps invidious to single out any individual soldier. But perhaps the best known of Manurewa’s soldiers was the laconic but courageous Walter Costar.

‘Pte. Walt. R. Costar’. A portrait of Private Walter Reginald Costar (2/2600) published in the Auckland Weekly News, 7 February 1917, p. 37. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, AWNS-19180207-37-35.

Costar, whose family had connections with both Manurewa and Karaka, enlisted in October 1915. A fitter by trade, he trained as an artilleryman, and was posted first to the 14th Battery then to the 11th Battery of the NZ Field Artillery in France. He was wounded twice before finally being killed in a bombardment on 5 December 1917. Not long before his death he had been awarded the Military Medal. His diary entry on that occasion read simply “Whole battery out of action. Received the Military Medal. Today has been dull and quiet.” The entry for the day of his death was equally terse: “Going into action again.” Walter’s younger brother, Reginald, also died of wounds received in action on 13 September 1918.

Temporary cross, Belgium, 1917. The temporary cross erected over Walter Costar’s grave at Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Belgium. (Photograph reproduced courtesy of the Costar family).

The names of both Walter and Reginald Costar are recorded with those of 24 compatriots on the Manurewa war memorial obelisk, which was unveiled by Prime Minister W.F. Massey on the corner of Hill Road and Great South Road on 2 January 1921. They also appear, with many other names, on the Papakura-Karaka cenotaph and the Manurewa School, Wiri and Christ Church, Papakura, rolls of honour.

The Manurewa First World War memorial and school memorial gates, as seen on the opening day of the new Manurewa Infant School, 8 September 1921. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, Footprints 01220. Photograph reproduced courtesy of Manurewa Historical Society.

Manurewa First World War memorial, Anzac Day, 2015. (Photograph by Bruce Ringer).

The above text has been extracted from an Armistice Day display prepared for the Manurewa Local Board and Manurewa Business Association. For more information, see Manurewa’s Soldiers: Manurewa During the First World War, 1914-1918 (Manurewa Returned Services Association, 2015).

Author: Bruce Ringer, Research South

2018 marks the 125th anniversary of women’s suffrage in New Zealand. On 19 September 1893, the Electoral Act 1893 was passed, giving all women in New Zealand the right to vote. However, it would not be until 1919 that women were able to stand for election to become Members of Parliament.

To mark this anniversary, Auckland Council Archives has compiled an online exhibition which includes a timeline and photographs of the female elected representatives of the former borough, city, county, regional and district councils of the Auckland region.

On 29 November 1893, Elizabeth Yates was elected mayor of the borough of Onehunga – the first woman in the British Empire to hold such an office. The Municipal Corporations Act 1876 had given all property owners and ratepayers the right to vote and to stand for election in local government. This law made no distinction between male and female property owners, thus Elizabeth Yates chose to exercise this right and stand for office believing that she could represent the interests of the town and do the job well. It was not an easy job, especially being subjected to intense public scrutiny due to the novelty of being the first woman mayor. By the end of her term as mayor she had succeeded in reducing the debt of the council, kept the streets and footpaths maintained and had made an impression on parliament when lobbying for the Onehunga Cemetery Bill. Elizabeth also later served as a councillor between 1899 and 1901.

Ref: E.S. Pegler. Elizabeth Yates, Mayor of Onehunga.
OHB 030/11, Auckland Council Archives

Mrs Ellen Endean is believed to be the first woman to ever stand for office for the Auckland City Council. Mrs Endean was hotel-keeper, and with her husband John, they managed a number of Auckland hotels including the Waitemata Hotel. In 1894, Mrs Endean decided to stand for election as an Auckland City councillor in the Grafton ward. The retiring councillor, George Powley, suggested to Mrs Endean that she would make a good councillor and should put herself forward for nomination as a candidate. According to the newspapers of the day, Mr Powley later said that he was only joking and he intended to contest the seat after all. Despite the joke, Mrs Endean saw no reason to withdraw her candidacy.

Many journalists thought Ellen Endean would be the better candidate and expected her to do well at the polls. However, Mrs Endean lost the election to Mr W. B. White. She only received 10 votes compared to Mr White’s 115. It is thought that she only lost the election because she was an hotelier and Grafton was a strong temperance ward. Mrs Endean does not appear in the Auckland Council Archives online exhibition. The photograph below of Mrs Endean is held in Sir George Grey Special Collections and there is a portrait held at Auckland Art Gallery.

Ref: Herman Schmidt. Full length portrait of Mrs Endean, 1910.
Heritage Collections, Auckland Libraries, 31-60186

The first female Māori councillor for Onehunga Borough Council was Mrs Mere Newton, who served as a councillor between 1938 and 1944. Mere Newton was born about 1889 and was of Te Ati Awa iwi from Taranaki. In 1909 Mere Tutere Hadden married Charles Paretahinga Newton. Mrs Newton was a well-regarded social welfare worker and was a first grade licensed interpreter. As well, she was the founder of the Tamaki Māori Women’s Welfare League in 1930 and was the branch secretary for the Epsom-Royal Oak branch of the Labour party. Mrs Mere Newton was appointed as a Justice of the Peace in August 1937; only the second Māori woman to be honoured with this appointment. Mere Newton died in 1955 at the age of 66.

Ref: T. H. Ashe, Onehunga Borough Council portrait,with Mrs Mere Newton in the second row, 1941-1944.
OHB 009/23, Auckland Council Archives

Auckland Council has three archives offices where the public and Council staff can access legacy council material and undertake research. Archivists can advise visitors about the nature of the information they can expect to find, research strategies and navigating the archives database.

Author: Vicky Spalding, Senior Archivist, Auckland Council Archives

Finding photos for my book on New Zealand’s ‘first’ women, But I Changed All That, I did not expect to choose the photos of our first two female prime ministers from Auckland Libraries collection.

Image: Unknown photographer. Jenny Shipley and students of Mountain View Primary School plant a Pohutukawa tree, Mangere. 1998. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, Footprints 03879. Reproduced courtesy of Stuff Ltd.

Jenny Shipley planting trees with Auckland children on Arbour Day was a winner for my book, which covers 1893 to 2018 – Kate Sheppard to Jacinda Ardern. Jenny Shipley became New Zealand’s first female prime minister in 1997, having won enough support to oust Jim Bolger. She started her working life as a primary school teacher. You can tell that she and the children are enjoying themselves. The 1999 election saw her go head to head with Helen Clark – who became our first elected female prime minister as leader of the parliamentary Labour Party.

Image: Julia Durkin. Helen Clark on Ponsonby Road on election night. 1999.
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 835-30.

Here too, Auckland Libraries came up trumps, with a really nice photo of Helen Clark on election night. She is wearing a smart bob haircut and a sharp suit – all the better for an appearance on television. But this photo was taken later in the night: she is standing in Karangahape Road with Auckland Central MP Judith Tizard, having a chat with a woman who is sitting down. She would lead Labour to two more elections – before going to head a department of the United Nations.

Image: Barry Gustafson, Elizabeth Reid McCombs. 1933. Ref: 1/2-150372-F.
Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/23136870

Elizabeth McCombs, New Zealand's first woman MP, elected in 1933, bears an uncanny resemblance to Helen Clark. This is the photo one usually sees – but it was taken years before she was elected. She died about two years after being elected. She did not live to see our first Labour Government, but the fact that she got many more votes in the Lyttelton by-election of 1933 than her husband had got in the same seat in the previous election was an indication that they could win.

Image: Standish and Preece. Delegates to second meeting of the National Council of Women
held in Christchurch in 1897. MB126, Ref. 15092. Macmillan Brown Library, Christchurch.

The book starts with Kate Sheppard, but I did not pick the photo we usually see – the one on the $10 note - which was taken long after the vote was won in 1893. Kate Sheppard is in the centre of this group portrait of the National Council of Women delegates meeting.

Image: Enos Pegler / New Zealand Graphic. Elizabeth Yates, the Mayor of Onehunga.
16 December 1893. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, NZG-18931216-505-1

The second person in the book is a famous Aucklander – Elizabeth Yates, the first woman to become the mayor of a town in the whole of the British Empire. She became mayor of Onehunga on 29 November 1893, the day after women voted for the first time in national elections. The previous day she had been the first woman in Onehunga to cast a vote.

When researching history, it is important to know where much-repeated information comes from. Pieces on Elizabeth Yates all repeat the same scraps of information. What does seem to be clear is that she had worked with her husband when he had been mayor (but he was too ill to stand again) and although she attracted some resignations and much heckling, she balanced the books and upgraded the roads.

The title of my book came from Dinah Lee, the first New Zealand woman to have a number one hit single overseas with Don’t You Know, Yockomo in 1964. Dinah had moved from Christchurch to Auckland, and quickly morphed into a pop singer with a Mary Quant style – mini-skirts and a short, sharp bob.

The young men in the band she sang with told her not to ‘get a big head’ about her number one hit in Australia. ‘They kept me right down because to them the girl singer was just a fill-in. But I changed all that. All of a sudden I was going on my own tours – the Dinah Lee Spectacular. Then I toured with overseas stars.’ Dinah’s song Do the Bluebeat was a huge hit in New Zealand.

One thing I noticed when I had lined up the ‘firsts’ in chronological order was that in the 1890s, the rules were made flexible to allow women to go to university and even become doctors and lawyers. But fast forward to the 1980s, and women had to fight their way in.

Anne Barry took her employer, the Fire Service, to the Human Rights Commission before she was able to be a firefighter. And jockey Linda Jones was about to take a court case to be able to ride in betting races when Parliament changed the law so she could not be kept out.

I noted that women often claimed that it was either determination or persistence that meant they won through – while actually what is needed to stand for mayor, pull off a political coup or oppose one’s employer publicly is courage. The ‘girls can do anything’ slogan of the 1980s could have ‘with courage and persistence’ added to it.

But I Changed All That: ‘First’ New Zealand women can be ordered at janetolerton.co.nz at $18.

Author: Jane Tolerton

The Auckland Library Heritage Trust has completed long overdue restoration work on two tables in Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero | Central City Library. The tables were presented to the Auckland Free Library which opened on 26 March 1887. Auckland was library mad in the 1880’s with the gift of former Governor Sir George Grey’s extraordinary library in 1882 and the promise of a building to house the collection. To mark the historic library opening in 1887 the New Zealand Insurance Company presented:

“... two chess tables, with full sets, and two draughts boards and men."
(CITY COUNCIL., New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIV, Issue 7947, 13 May 1887).

The chessmen are long gone but one chess table survives after 131 years, along with one of the draughts boards now inset into a twentieth century table. The Auckland Library Heritage Trust recognised the significance of the furniture in the history of Auckland Libraries. Chair Colin Davis notes that the original chess table is significant as part of the collection, “these items are realia which reflect the history of the library”.

Ahead of the installation the tables were on display at Mr Upton’s on Queen Street:

“The tables are very chaste, and designed to show our beautiful ornamental timber to visitors to our city. On the edge is engraved, ‘Presented by the New Zealand Insurance Company, 1887’”.
(Auckland Star, Volume XVIII, Issue 95, 23 April 1887).

Photograph by Dr William Cottrell.

Once installed in the library the tables were in high demand. And thanks to Papers Past, the website for digitised content, we can go back in time to the newspaper reports of the day.

Read the letters to the editor complaining of the noise of playing:

“…now I have heard the same chessplayers hammering the board with the men as if they were using a blacksmith’s anvil”
(Auckland Star, Volume XIX, Issue 255, 29 October 1888)

We have images of the Lower Reading Room, now a wing of the Auckland Art Gallery | Toi o Tāmaki.

Image: New Zealand Graphic. Stereoscopic card showing the interior to the old Auckland Public Library showing people reading at tables, early 1900s. Auckland Libraries Heritage Images, 880-348.

The Free Public Library, like the nineteenth century mechanics institutes, were places for mostly men, to read newspapers and books and to play chess. The cartoon by Francis S. West for the New Zealand Graphic (7 May 1892) ‘Sketches in the Public Library’ depicts the library as man cave featuring the chess table at work, ‘A Favourite Game’ as well as ‘An Afternoon Nap’. Newspapers and chess are still present in the modern library but more often on a screen. And we are not a male-dominated place but open to all.

Image: Francis West. Sketches in the Public Library. From: New Zealand Graphic, 7 May 1892. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, NZG-18920507-482-1.

It's understandable that the chessmen didn’t survive, but the chess table is now a feature in the Reading Room in the Central City Library where the library presented by Sir George Grey continues to be enjoyed and researched. The twentieth century rimu desk with draughts board set-in has a new role as the information table beside the ‘Real Gold Case’ which features highlights from the collections in the Reading Room.

Image: Inset draughts board. Photograph by Dr William Cottrell.

The Auckland Library Heritage Trust, founded in 1991 to support the heritage collections, commissioned the New Zealand furniture expert Dr William Cottrell to treat the surviving tables. This is not a full restoration but rather a sensitive rescue treatment, which involved replacing 25% of the inlay on the surviving chess table. Dr Cottrell is the author of Furniture of the New Zealand colonial era: an illustrated history, 1830-1900. It is rare to know the name of the cabinet maker, William Norrie (whose workshop was nearby in Shortland Street), and the working life history of a New Zealand table going back to 1887. Visit the tables when you next come in to the Reading Room and exhibitions in the Gallery on Level 2 on Lorne Street.

You can help towards the cost of this expert care and attention with a donation to the Auckland Library Heritage Trust. Donations can also assist with developing the collections, from photographs to rare books, oral histories, manuscripts and maps, as well as supporting the preservation of Sir George Grey’s bequest to Auckland.

All donations are tax deductible. 12-3011-0786620-02 Reference CHESS
Email: specialcollections@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz for a receipt

Image: Auckland Weekly News. Reading Room with a chess table on the far left, 22 August 1901, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, AWNS-19010822-10-1.

Author: Jane Wild, Manager Heritage Collections

Raymond Leslie Baxter's photograph album came to Auckland Libraries as the result of a donation to the old Waitakere City Council. This donation might have been made after the tragic death of the album's owner, Miss Beverley Price, in the 1979 Air New Zealand crash at Mt Erebus in Antarctica.

The photographs were taken by Beverley Price’s uncle, Raymond Leslie Baxter. They document his brief military career at Featherston Camp between July and December 1917. The details of this can be traced by consulting his army personnel file on Archway, Archives New Zealand’s system for government records. Baxter was a 28-year-old clerk from Newton who worked for the Auckland Education Board. In early 1917 he was called up and, along with his fellow recruits, transported by train to Featherston Camp in the South Wairarapa. His album includes three images of the troop train winding its way along the Wairarapa line across the Rimutaka Range.

The Wairarapa Line railway across the Rimutaka Range, 1917. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, BAX-PA-12-4.

Featherston Camp had been opened in January 1916. The camp covered an area of 1861 acres (783 hectares) between Featherston and Greytown on the Tauherenikau River. Eventually Featherston and its satellite camps at Papawai and Tauherenikau could simultaneously accommodate 9850 men in over 250 buildings and tents. Between 1916 and 1918 over 60,000 troops received about four months’ training at these camps before they were sent overseas.

In the centre of Featherston Camp along its main road were three buildings run by various religious organisations to provide the recruits with recreational activities in their spare time. The middle building, which stood between the Catholic Institute and the Anglican Institute was the Salvation Army Institute. It was the only one with a tower, and from this Baxter took some panoramic photos of Featherston Camp. Here are two of them:

Featherston Camp from the Salvation Army Institute Tower, 1917. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, BAX-PA-3-8.

Featherston Camp viewed from the Salvation Army Institute Tower, 1917. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, BAX-PA-3-6.

The two octagonal rotundas that you can see in the photograph above were joined together by connecting corridors to make the main hospital for Featherston Camp. The rotundas were specially designed with sides that could be opened and closed (depending on the weather) so that sick soldiers with respiratory diseases would benefit from a constant supply of fresh air to the wards on their open balconies.

Baxter and his fellow recruits were designated as the 28th Reinforcements. They arrived at Featherston Camp in July 1917. Here are some of them:

Group of soldiers in uniform, 1917. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, BAX-PA-2-1.

Soldiers at Featherston Camp, 1917. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, BAX-PA-23-2.

Soldiers on steps at Featherston Camp, 1917. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, BAX-PA-23-3.

The recruits were sent to Featherston’s satellite Tauherenikau Camp. In June 1917 the military authorities decided all new recruits would be sent into quarantine there for their first month, so that those already being trained at Featherston would not be exposed to any new city viruses new recruits might introduce. Some photos document the efforts taken to keep the recruits healthy:

Soldiers being vaccinated at Featherston Camp, 1917. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, BAX-PA-4-6.

Tauherenikau Camp Gargle Parade, 1917. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, BAX-PA-11-4.

The current military theory was that the recruits’ lungs and respiratory systems would be toughened up by being in the fresh air. The army believed that this would turn weakly city slickers into real soldiers. So Tauherenikau was a ‘canvas camp.’ Here the men were housed in tents, where the air could circulate under the tent flies. Following are some photos of the Tauherenikau tent camp:

Tents at Featherston Camp, 1917. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, BAX-PA-4-3.

View from my tent, 1917. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, BAX-PA-11-5.

Group in front of tent, 1917. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, BAX-PA-16-4.

But Baxter had poor eyesight and a bad chest. So on 25 October 1917 he was transferred to B Company at Tauherenikau Camp, where men who had been classified C1 were grouped together. The army medical classification C1 applied to marginally unfit recruits who, the army believed, could be toughened up and made into real soldiers by intensive boot camp training and a rigorous regime of ‘physical exercises, route marching, infantry training, and general fatigues.’

Following is a photo of a mosaic design, made by the men from painted river stones, which in this case showed where A Company’s tent lines were (note the C1 at top centre):

A Company design laid out in rocks at Featherston Camp, 1917. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, BAX-PA-4-7.

And the following photos show some of the regular fatigues the C1 men were set to do:

Tauherenikau Camp 6am fatigues. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, BAX-PA-8-6.

Cleaning detail at Tauherenikau Camp, 1917. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, BAX-PA-18-7.

However Baxter failed to improve, so on 4 November 1917 he went before a Medical Board which examined his state of health. The Medical Officer for Featherston Camp was Captain Wheeler, and he was on the board which examined Baxter’s case. Baxter’s photo collection includes a portrait photo of Captain Wheeler standing in front of one of the barracks at Featherston:

Captain Wheeler, 1917. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, BAX-PA-18-5.

The Medical Board found that, apart from his poor eyesight, Baxter still had a bad chest and was ‘weak internally’ and ’abdominally unfit.’ The board also discovered that he now had weak ankles. The board concluded Baxter’s condition was not improving and that he was 'not able to carry on.’ It recommended ‘that the soldier be discharged from the Expeditionary Force’ but that he should not be eligible for any future pension.

After he had been allowed to return home to Auckland, Baxter received a letter on 22 April 1918 informing him that the army’s Special Re-examination Medical Board had decided ‘you will not be called up for re-examination by the C2 Re-examination Board. You will therefore continue on leave without pay until further orders.’ Raymond Baxter was almost free from the army’s iron grip, because there his file ends. It seems the army was no longer interested in him.

Auckland Libraries also has other manuscript material relating to Featherston Camp. Bookseller Alfred Hamish Reed volunteered and was sent to Featherston Camp with the 21st Reinforcements. Although very fit and classified as A grade physical material, the army decided Reed was too old to fight (he was 41). The army also discovered he had valuable shorthand and typewriting skills, which it thought would be better used at Featherston rather than wasted in the mud of Flanders. Reed was therefore transferred to the headquarters company and, against his wishes, made a clerk and stenographer. During his spare time there he wrote, illuminated and printed In and around Featherston Camp, which you can find as NZMS 1827 in Auckland Libraries’ New Zealand Manuscripts Collection, and read about in this previous blog post too.

Journalist Hector Bolitho (another C1 man), edited the Featherston Camp Weekly, which is available from the Auckland Libraries’ catalogue in digitised form. In 1918 he also published The Book of the C1 Camp: Tauherenikau M.C. The books by Bolitho and Reed can both be read in the Sir George Grey Special Collections Reading Room.

Finally, if anyone reading this blog has any other information they can share about Raymond Leslie Baxter or the Baxter Photographic Collection please do let us know by commenting below.

Author: Christopher Paxton, Heritage Collections

Long ago the Waitākere Ranges were covered in ancient forests of huge kauri trees. Māori valued kauri because of its size and for its gum.

Kauri are tall and straight and the giant trees were perfect for building waka, boats and settlers’ homes. The work involved in the logging of the kauri forests was documented by photographers, both professional and amateur. By 1900 most of the kauri forests had been cut down. Only a few patches remained.

In more recent times, the incurable and fatal kauri dieback disease has severly impacted kauri forests. Te Kawerau ā Maki, the tangata whenua (people of the land) of Waitākere in Auckland, have placed a rāhui over the entire Waitākere forest (Te Wao Nui o Tiriwa). For the health of the forest, they are asking people to stay away from the bush. The rāhui gives scientists time to develop a solution, and time for the forest to heal.

A large part of Jack Diamond’s extensive research on all things West was focused on the logging industry in the Ranges, he gathered images from every source available to him over the long years of his dedicated work on the history of Auckland’s West.

The images here are a tiny selection from Jack’s huge collection of photographs.

Ref: Photographer unknown. Giant kauri tree, Nihotupu, 52 feetcircumference. 1890s. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, JTD-08F-05174

Giant kauri trees were always special enough to be photographed, well before digital or even old-fashioned film cameras were invented, when equipment was quite large and processing the images was quite a task! The tree in this photo is just under 16 metres in circumference. Three men are sitting on top of part of the root system, which is above the ground, of the large mature tree in the Nihotupu bush of the Waitākere Ranges.

Ref: Charles Thomas Spearpoint. Kauri log and workers in Mander and Bradley's bush. 1898.
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, JTD-08D-05589-1.

Can you imagine how much hard labour it took for this group of bush workers from Mander and Bradley's Mill to load this enormous kauri log onto the bogie on the mill tramway?

The photo was taken in the Nihotupu valley, in the late 1800s. There were no cranes or bulldozers, or helicopters. A big traction engine may have been used to haul the log out. It must have been quite a feat to get it to this point.

Ref: Photographer unknown. Pit sawing in the bush up Huia Stream. 1922.
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, JTD-07D-00329.

In the early days bushmen and sawyers worked long, hard, back breaking hours. This log is almost 11 metres long and 1.2 metres thick and these men are cutting it by hand!

Pit sawing was the simplest way to produce planks for quickly building huts and dams in the bush. It was also a cheap way to make use of a small stand of trees. A long saw with a handle at each end was used, one man above, and one man below. Two experienced sawyers could produce planks almost as accurately as a machine!

Read more about the purpose of this particular pit sawing operation by clicking on the link to the image.

Ref: Photographer unknown. Bullocks on a corduroy road. c1920.
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, JTD-01D-04506.

A quick and cheap way of making a serviceable path through wet, soft bush soil was to make a corduroy road. In this photo lengths of logs have been cut and laid to create a durable surface for the bullock team to pull heavy logs from the logging site to the mill tramway.

Corduroy roads were built for military purposes too.

Ref: Photographer unknown. Piha Tramway, lower section ofthe Piha incline. 1916.
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, JTD-04C-00016-2

Piha Mill was established at the junction of Glen Esk and Piha streams, but an efficient way of getting the timber from the mill was required for getting over the 900 foot hill to Karekare and then on to the Whatipu Wharf. At the top of this impressively steep rail track was a hauler engine that would pull a load of sawn timber up from the Piha Mill, over the top, and lower it down a similarly steep incline to the Karekare side.

Find more information on the Piha Hill and its track in The Piha Tramway by David Lowe.

Ref: Louis Marusich. Piha Tramway engine and log on bogie. 1920.
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, JTD-04C-03802-1

Built in 1873 this A196 steam engine was purchased to accompany ‘Sandfly’ on the Piha Mill logging tramway around 1914. It worked the Piha-Anawhata section of the track. ‘Sandfly’ worked in the other direction from Karekare to Whatipu. It appears it was never named like the little ‘Sandfly’ locomotive, which acquired its name after arriving on the coast and working on rail tracks across the Karekare sand. ‘Sandfly’ even had its own name plate.

Would you like to read more? Click here to request a book about the Piha Tramway.

Ref: Photographer unknown. Log on trailer in Station Road, Henderson. c1926. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, JTD-14M-04438

Henderson in the 1920s was a very different looking place! This tough little truck and trailer look barely adequate for the job of transporting this huge log through Henderson in 1926. Perhaps the driver parked outside the Ozich Buildings in Station Road (now Railside Ave) to pick up his boots or have a cup of tea?

Ref: Charles Cecil Roberts. Glen Esk Dam. 1933. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, JTD-04B-01758-G

The Glen Esk kauri timber dam on Glen Esk Stream in the Piha valley was built by Ebeneza Gibbons in 1911. It was originally intended to be a driving dam, opened to flush logs downstream. Unfortunately the drop was so high the logs were badly damaged in the fall so it was converted to a holding dam and logs were hauled out of the lake it created and sent down a chute to a nearby stream.

This tramper is standing near the almost completely intact dam. This photo taken in the 1940s from a similar perspective shows how it deteriorated over time.

Ref: Photographer unknown. View upstream of the wooden dam and holding lake onthe Mokoroa Stream in Goldie's Bush, with men on the top stringer. 1922. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, JTD-01B-04378-1

You can see the precise construction and size of this wooden dam and the log holding lake in this photo of two men at the Mokoroa Stream in Goldie's Bush. The dams became more sophisticated as time passed as the men who laboured in the logging industry learnt what worked best.

Request this book to read more about the construction of logging dams. Photographed from an original image published in the Weekly News, 9 March 1922.

Refs: H. Green. The full force of water roaring downstream over theMokoroa Falls after tripping the dam on the Mokoroa Stream in Goldie's Bush. 1922. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, JTD-01B-04377,JTD-01B-04375-2

You can imagine the roar of the first rush of water cascading over the Mokoroa Falls after the dam was tripped on the Mokoroa Stream in Goldie's Bush. The water would flush the waiting logs downstream to be corralled and delivered to the mill.

Would you like to see a driving dam in action? Contact the West Auckland Historical Society at their base in Henderson, they have a working model dam with real water. It’s best to make an appointment.

Photographed from an original image published in the Weekly News, 9 March 1922.

Ref: Photographer unknown. Sawmill at Karekare. 1886.
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, JTD-05L-04481-3

The Karekau sawmill was built beside the prettily named Opal Pools Stream at Karekare. The machinery at the mill was from the Pararaha Mill that burnt down in 1881. Charles Primrose Murdoch managed both mills and one at Whatipu, which he closed and then reused the machinery and manpower to establish the Karekau mill. It was very productive until a downturn in the kauri timber trade and closed in 1886.

There’s an interesting chapter about milling in Karekare in the book Rolling Thunder by Bob Harvey.

Ref: Albert Percy Godber. Engine on the beach at Karekare. 1916.
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, JTD-05M-02253

Can you see the smoke coming from the little engine’s smokestack? Visitors to Karekare would frequently wander down the Piha Mill tram tracks and pose for photos on the working engine, ‘Sandfly’, here sitting on tramway rails on the beach. You can imagine how dangerous it must have been with huge heavy loads of timber hauled up and lowered down the tracks. There were no safety regulations for a working bush railway in those days!

Ref: Russell Middlebrook. Tramline, Watchman and dunes at Karekare. 1929.
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, JTD-05C-01153-3

This view over flax bushes to the dunes and the Watchman of Karekare looks so familiar…

But wait! There’s a railway track running along the beach?! This photo was taken in 1929, eight years after the mill the track served had closed. This part of the Piha Tramway was built to make moving logs to the Whatipu wharf more efficient. Before it was built, timber could only be moved at low tide and in good weather.

Author: Liz Bradley, Research West

Auckland Libraries is proud to share our new heritage discovery tool: Kura Heritage Collections Online.

Kura is the new home for our images, audio, collection records and indexes, providing free and easy access to our world-renowned heritage collections. Right now Kura contains over 650,000 records, and will grow over the next year as more records and digitised collections are migrated to the new platform.

Kura has been designed for both casual browsers and researchers. You can use an advanced search or simply browse our diverse photographic collections, with an improved image viewer, image download, and share options making it much easier to see what your neighbourhood looked like in past decades.

Image: Ferries and excursioners at Takapuna wharf, 1890s. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, T5454.

The photographic collections already on Kura include historic images of the North Shore, West Auckland, and the significant documentary heritage of the South formerly found in Footprints.

Image: John Thomas Diamond. On the Whau Creek,1958. J.T. Diamond Collection, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, JTD-11K-01138.

Image: Unknown photographer. Snip and smoke, Otahuhu, 1969. Photograph reproduced by courtesy of Stuff Limited. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, Footprints 07883.

Alongside these photographic riches, our Heritage Images website remains a important source of historical images of Auckland and beyond.

Kura also contains some records never seen before. These include important resources for historical and family research, such the digitised index of C. Little & Sons. This includes instructions for registration of deaths and funerals, grave receipts, and cemetery plot purchase certificates, from 1893 to 1945.

Index card for Ellen or Margaret & James Sullivan. From: C. Little and Sons. NZMS 812: book 20, page 343. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, little_d22c0796.

You can search the index as a combined collection with cemetery records for Hillsborough, Onetangi, Waiheke Island, Ōtāhuhu Public and Waikaraka cemeteries - or go wider and include records of Auckland area passenger arrivals too.

From Sir George Grey Special Collections comes another valuable resource for family history research - a new transcript for the Addresses presented to Sir George Grey on his 74th birthday in 1886. These addresses were signed by almost 13,000 residents from Auckland and beyond, and give names plus year of arrival or date of birth. Each name has been painstakingly checked against the digitised images of this 290-page document.

Image: Addresses to Sir George Grey, K.C.B. on his seventy-fourth birthday. 1886. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, GNZMS 275.

The story of the addresses is an intriguing one. Conceived by the Auckland City Council as a way to honour Sir George Grey, they contain several pages illuminated in the style of a medieval manuscript and were presented at a well-attended public event at Fullers Opera House reported by the New Zealand Herald. Now, 133 years later, you can read about the birthday addresses in the New Zealand Herald once again.

Image: Addresses to Sir George Grey, K.C.B. on his seventy-fourth birthday. 1886. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, GNZMS 275.

With Kura Heritage Collections Online also including rare books, heritage maps, oral histories and more, this is only a brief sampling of the treasures you can discover here. We welcome you to explore the wealth of our heritage collections.

Kei ngā kura whakaheke o rātou mā, nei rā te reo whakamiha e rere atu nei.
Nau mai ki te pae tukutuku a Kura Heritage Collections Online.
Tomo mai, ka rongo ai i te reka o ngā kura tuku iho e rapa nei.

Author: Renée Orr

An important designer and illustrator of pop-up books in the twentieth century was Vojtěch Kubašta, whose pop-up versions of 'Snow White' and 'Cinderella' are displayed in the first case of the Playful pop-up books exhibition, alongside the nativity scene from his 'A Christmas Tale'.

Ref: Vojtěch Kubašta. A Christmas Tale. London: Bancroft, 1950s. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections

Kubašta was born in Vienna in 1914, but he lived in Prague for most of his life. He wanted to become an artist from a young age. To please his father, he studied architecture and civil engineering at university instead. However, he only worked as an architect for a short time, and from the early 1940s worked instead as a commercial artist and book designer.

Ref: Vojtěch Kubašta in his home town of Prague.

The publishing industry in Czechoslovakia was nationalised by the communist government in 1948; censorship became much tighter, and more than 370 publishing houses were closed down. Kubašta had to find new kinds of work. He designed advertisements to market Czech products internationally, and created three-dimensional cards to advertise porcelain, sewing machines, pencils, Pilsner beer, and sunglasses, among other things.

In 1956, Kubašta designed his first fairy tale pop-up book: 'Little Red Riding Hood', published by ARTIA, a state-owned foreign trade corporation in Prague. He soon became their best known illustrator because of his pop-up book designs.

Ref: Vojtěch Kubašta. Snow White. London: Bancroft, 1960. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections.

The fairy tale books he designed have been created ‘concertina style,’ whereby a single piece of card is cut and folded, and then the whole piece is accordion folded into pages and bound with a cloth-covered spine. This format could be produced relatively cheaply. Kubašta also included moveable elements such as pull tabs and wheels, sometimes even in the covers. He wanted to create “a small theatre inside the book” for children, inspired by the sets and costumes he had previously created for the puppet theatres which were popular entertainment in Czechoslovakia. In Snow White, a lever makes the witch lean forward and offer the fateful poisoned apple.

Ref: Kubašta’s signature from: Vojtěch Kubašta. Sleeping Beauty.
London: Bancroft, 1961. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections.

His books began to be imported into England by Bancroft in the late 1950s and his illustrations also became well-known in America in the 1960s, although most Americans had no idea that many of their favourite cartoons had been created behind the Iron Curtain. Kubašta believed that if he had been born in the West instead of in a communist country, he would have been another Walt Disney. Though he was never a household name, his pop-up books have been published in 24 different languages and 35 million copies have been sold.

Ref: Vojtěch Kubašta. Cinderella.London: Bancroft, 1961. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections.

He was an important influence on American illustrator Robert Sabuda, who received a copy of Kubašta’s 'Cinderella' when he was ten years old. In Ellen Rubin’s biography of Kubašta, 'Pop-ups from Prague', Sabuda remembers: “I couldn’t believe that a pop-up could have such beautiful artwork. My whole notion of what a pop-up book would be changed forever that day”. Sabuda has gone on to become the most well-known pop-up book illustrator working today, and several of his books also feature in the exhibition.

Listen to the series of interviews relating to the 'Playful pop-up books' exhibition on Ngā Pātaka Kōrero - Auckland Libraries SoundCloud page.

Further reading: Ellen Rubin. Pop-ups from Prague: a centennial celebration of the graphic artistry of Vojtěch Kubašta (1914-1992) from the collection of Ellen G.K. Rubin. New York City: The Grolier Club, 2013.

Author: Harriet Rogers, Sir George Grey Special Collections

Auckland’s popular lesbian and gay Hero Parade debuted along Queen Street in 1994. Around 10,000 spectators enjoyed the mardi gras-style floats and costumes including drag acts, leather men in jockstraps, and a couple writhing suggestively in a large see-through balloon. However, not everyone was happy. Deputy Mayor David Hay was outraged to have bare-breasted women and transvestites in the main street. “It’s not what the silent majority want to see in our city,” he said. Not everyone in the gay and lesbian community was happy with the parade’s sexually explicit content, either. The Gaily Normal group formed to encourage a more inclusive view. Spokesman Neil Stephenson wanted to see more intimacy presented in future. “[The] general public see us as sexual creatures flaunting sex, but really we aren’t. We are just average people and what we do behind closed doors is our business,” he said.

Ref: Julia Durkin. A scene from the final practice for the Marching Boys outside the Hero Workshop at the Auckland Railway Station. 1997. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 835-21.

Evangelist Julian Batchelor organised a letter-writing campaign and over 200 letters arrived at Auckland City Council protesting the parade’s partial nudity, simulated sex, and a float displaying the words “Fuck Lucy.” As it happens, that phrase did not appear on any floats but “Fuck Safe – Party Hard” did. Hero Trust Chairman Bruce Kilmister said this phrase was appropriate in the context of a parade promoting safe sex. The parade grew out of the NZ AIDS Foundation’s Hero initiative to celebrate lesbian and gay identity, and to raise funds for HIV/AIDS education. On average, two young gay men in this country were being diagnosed with HIV infections each week.

Mayor Les Mills had agreed to a $5000 waiver of council’s service fee for the 1994 Hero Festival because of the focus on AIDS prevention. After the parade, he said he would not “support the promotion of a homosexual lifestyle as an individual or by the Auckland City Council from city rates.” He proved true to his word. When council staff recommended a $10,000 grant for the second Hero Parade, he refused. Parade advocates pointed out that gays and lesbians had long supported the Mayor’s lifestyle as members of the Victoria Street gym that bore his name - the Les Mills World of Fitness.

Ref: Julia Durkin. A scene from an Auckland City Council meeting about the Hero Parade,
October 1997. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 835-8

Council also received a petition to ban publications like Hero magazine from Auckland Libraries. The magazine was pulled from shelves while this was considered. City Librarian Barbara Birkbeck said libraries existed for a broader group of patrons than the petitioners - and that libraries would keep the Hero magazine longer than originally planned because the controversy showed its value as a reference resource.

The parade shifted from Queen Street to Ponsonby Road in 1996. Hero project director Scott Johnston said, “Ponsonby and Grey Lynn are where the majority of gay people live, work and party, so we want to bring a sense of gay pride and enjoyment to the area.” A survey of Ponsonby Road businesses found 78% were for the parade, while the local Salvation Army branch opposed to it.

The number of floats grew to more than 60 for the 1997 parade with crowd favourites the Hero Marching Boys, the new Dr Martens Marching Girlz, a truck-sized smoke-breathing dragon and Xena Warrior Princess lookalikes. Drag act Miss K (aka Wayne Otter) won the best float award for a gold chariot drawn by musclemen.

Ref: Pages 14-15 from express magazine, 18 February 1999.

The parade attracted up to 150,000 people and the large crowds presented safety issues. Awnings along the parade path collapsed after people climbed them for a better view. One of the awnings belonged to Milly’s Kitchen and people on top and beneath the awning were injured. A policeman fell through another awning after encouraging spectators to come down, and a policewoman was injured when a truck float caught her in the face.

Parade organisers requested $15,000 from council to go towards crowd control barriers, more marshalls and toilets for the 1998 parade. Council officers agreed but Mayor Les Mills and Deputy Mayor Mr Hay voted against their recommendation. Councillor Bruce Hucker challenged that decision, as did about 50 Hero Parade supporters who took over a council meeting to argue their case. They claimed the Mayor was part of a Christian caucus on council that was discriminating against Auckland’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities. Up to 70,000 gays and lesbians lived in Auckland according to Gay newspaper Man to Man’s publishers – about 7% of the city’s population at that time. Auckland Central MP Judith Tizard said council was going against the spirit of the Human Rights Act. “The job of government, both central and local, is to provide services to all citizens who make up the community, not to pick and choose according to personal prejudices.”

Ref: Hero Festival programme, 1999. Ephemera Collection. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections.

The Mayor used his casting vote to quash the second attempt for the $15,000 grant; and Metro magazine contributed this amount to the parade. The Mills-led council then gave an extra $15,500 to the Santa Parade - on top of the $70,000 it had already given. In response, Miss K (aka Wayne Otter) revamped her gold chariot float and it led the 50th Santa Parade adorned with a sign advertising its triumph at the lesbian and gay Hero Parade.

Sexual discrimination complaints against council resulted in the Human Rights Commission interviewing those who had voted against funding for the Hero Parade. The Commission warned that councillors with strong views about homosexuality should reconsider whether it was appropriate for them to be involved in decisions on applications from such groups.

Prime Minister Jenny Shipley cut the ribbon to start the sixth parade in 1999. “If we could all celebrate our sexuality with as much confidence as the gay community we would be a much healthier community,” she said. express magazine columnist David Herkt wrote, “We got to see the whole range of Pacific Rim cultures that make up modern New Zealand’s queer communities. There were fa’afafine and fakaleite. There were huge traditional Thai costumes. There were Māori. There were queer parents with kids in strollers and Quakers with pink-dyed toi-toi spears.” 1999’s Hero – billed as the acceptable parade - was a little too acceptable in his opinion. “The punters aren’t there to watch the Farmer’s Santa Parade, after all. They want a bit of queer raunch…”

Ref: Hero Festival programme, 2001. Ephemera Collection. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections.

Although the parade was a huge success, organisers were left in debt and had to cancel the next one in 2000. Council – under Mayor Christine Fletcher - contributed $30,000 to the 2001 parade and draped Aotea Square with pink Hero flags in support of the festival. Parade organisers hoped to raise $100,000 for the Hero Charitable Trust and organisations helping HIV positive people; Herne Bay House, the Burnett Centre, Body Positive, the Quilt Project and Treatment Actions Group.

Ref: Julia Durkin. A Hero Parade float in Crummer Road, Ponsonby, 1999.
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 835-18

2001 Hero Parade artistic director Warwick Broadhead said the toned-down nature of the previous parade would be replaced. “It’ll be sexy, it’ll be slick and it’ll display our sexuality,” he said. Lyndah E and Maree Sheehan wrote the theme song “Love Who You Are” and drag acts drove Mini’s along the parade route teaching spectators the dance moves. Up to 200,000 people attended the event. However, this was the last Hero Parade. Organisers made a significant loss and were unable to continue. The parade returned twelve years later, in 2013, as part of the Auckland Pride Festival.

Murray Savidan’s photographs of the early parades can be found in his book “Out There: Portraits of the Hero Parade.” Author Witi Ihimaera wrote that these portraits showed “the triumph, beauty and dangerous subversions that are lurking within our blossoming society. [Savidan’s] images… fall between realism and fantasy. Perhaps that’s where all our images of Hero should be positioned.”

References

Books

Photographs by Murray Savidan and text by Witi Ihimaera. Out There: Portraits of the Hero Parade. Auckland: Savidan Productions, 2000.

Serials

Auckland City Harbour News: 6 September 1995, 1 and 15 October 1997, 12 and 21 November 1997 and 28 January 1998

Central Leader: 18 August 2000 and 9 February 2001

express: new zealand’s newspaper of gay expression: 18 January 1996, 18 February 1999, 18 January 2000 and 8 February 2001

Listener: 26 November 1994

Man to man: New Zealand’s Gay Community Newspaper: 15 November 1991, 17 September 1992, 16 September 1993, 3, 17 and 31 March 1994

Metro: June 1994, “Hay fever” by Nicola Legat

Sunday Star Times: 14 February 1999

Author: Leanne, Research Central

In the late 1880s, a situation was exposed to New Zealanders that caused shock waves throughout the country. It was the labour practice of “sweating.” Referring to workers having to ‘sweat’ for their wages, it was also used to encompass appalling conditions from low wages, long hours, and substandard working environments. To the shock of New Zealanders, it was happening right here.

Sweating had been common for years in overseas cities such as Glasgow and London, despite condemnation of it by the social reformers of the time. In 1888 it finally became the subject of a House of Lords inquiry, and during that year, New Zealand newspapers covered the inquiry of this “evil” happening in the old country.

But on October 20 1888, the Otago Daily Times published a letter from an anonymous 'Citizen' who made the startling claim that New Zealanders were being treated like slaves.

He wrote: “Now, Sir, you may be surprised to know that this curse of civilisation exists not only in the old country, but also in our own sparsely populated colony, and within half a mile of your own office.” ‘Citizen’ went on to describe how his wife had met a woman being paid appalling wages to work on Crimean shirts, woollen shirts worn by rural workers.

This woman earned barely a subsistence wage for her long hours and even more was forced to supply her own thread. “Is this work, or slavery?” Citizen asked. In his letter he mentioned the sermons of Rev Rutherford Waddell, of St Andrews Presbyterian Church in Dunedin. Waddell was not only the minister of the church but an ardent social reformer who had been instrumental in starting New Zealand's free kindergarten movement in an attempt to get children in poor areas off the streets.

Unknown photographer. One of Auckland's earliest free kindergartens at Myers Park, 1916. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 236-7519.

Waddell had spoken and preached regularly on the plight of the poor in Dunedin. His claims had been met in some quarters with disbelief that anything like sweating could possibly be happening in New Zealand, and just weeks earlier, his sermon “The Sin of Cheapness” had become quite a talking point.

In response to Citizen’s letter, the Otago Daily Times called on Waddell personally to verify the claims, and Waddell supplied details of cases he was aware of. In one instance, a widow with two children had to work from 8am to 11pm, and made barely enough to survive. It seemed stories like hers were disturbingly common.

As these stories were published, and as the public became aware of the evil on their own doorstep, a backlash to “sweating” gained momentum. Within days other parts of the country were reporting cases. In Wellington, inquiries revealed that certain factories paid such low rates for piecework, employees were forced to work day and night in order to earn a subsistence wage. More newspapers across New Zealand published details and there was now no doubt on the question of starvation wages being paid to the 'poor female slaves of the needle'. That it could be happening in the new land of New Zealand was unbelievable.

Cartoon of Harriet Morrison of the Dunedin Tayloress Union, NZ Observer 1895. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 7-A10169

Said a columnist in The Observer (3 November, 1888): “Now, this state of things is bad enough for an old country, overcrowded and presenting those appalling contrasts between enormous wealth and lavish luxury, and abject, grinding poverty which the radical press is always harping upon, but that ‘sweating’ should have gained a foothold in a young colony like this, where we are supposed to be copying the virtues and carefully avoiding the mistakes of the Mother Country, is deplorable indeed.”

The Oamaru Mail (20 October, 1888) wrote: “It is certainly a novelty in this fair land of New Zealand to discover that, whilst we have been commiserating the unfortunate social conditions of the workers of the Old Country, we have amongst ourselves – at our very own doors – women who are more unfortunate than were the slaves on the American plantations.”

NZ Observer 1895, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 7-A12425.

Rutherford Waddell laid the blame on a number of conditions, among them what he called The Sin of Cheapness. He claimed that the public’s desire for cheap goods, leading to the conditions of poor pay, was the great evil. No-one wanted to pay a fair price, and so would go from shop to shop to find the cheapest item. The wide availability of work also came with a downside. If a seamstress was not solely relying on tailoring work for her means of support, then she could offer a cheaper rate to produce the garments. Those who needed the income from that piecework to survive subsequently had no choice but to accept the low rate – or starve. Waddell implored his own Presbyterian congregation, filled with some of Dunedin’s most influential citizens, to take a cold, hard look at themselves.

At a public meeting in Dunedin, with Waddell in attendance, a request for a Commission of Inquiry was formally passed, and the Government set in motion the inquiry.

The Commission published its findings in the 1890 report, presenting details of case upon case. It investigated not only the garment trade, but wholesale and retail trades – Waddell had requested that shop girls also be included in the inquiry – hotels, and licensed houses.

James D. Richardson. Queen Street, 1893. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 4-3682.

The commission found boys as young as 10 working in factories with barely any education or training. They discovered that girls working in the millinery and dressmaking industries in some establishments earned no wages in their first year, and in the second, low wages. Their place would then be taken by another girl, and the cycle continued. The same system applied in the mechanical trades. The Commission’s conclusion, however, was that sweating, as reported in the English papers, did not exist in New Zealand. Despite complaints of long hours and low pay, they concluded it was an inevitable fact of a competitive market.

James D. Richardson. Parliament Buildings, Wellington. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 4-914.

Waddell, himself a member of the Commission, fervently disagreed. Along with two other commissioners, they cited their interpretation of sweating as overcrowded, insanitary conditions, long, irregular hours, and low wages, and said, “If this be the understood definition of “sweating,” then there is abundant evidence of its existence in the colony.”

In the years following, conditions began to improve for workers. The Dunedin Tailoresses’ Union, formed in 1889, was New Zealand’s first women’s union, and in the early months, Waddell served as President. A year later, the new Liberal government came into power, promising to reform the labour market, especially following the depression of the 1880s.

Rutherford Waddell’s sermon, The Sin of Cheapness, has subsequently been referred to as one of the most influential sermons in New Zealand. In “Great tales of New Zealand History," Gordon McLachlan called it the “sermon that moved a nation.” While Waddell himself mentioned it in subsequent writings, it seems that neither the sermon nor indeed any of the notes Waddell made, have survived.

Author: Joanne Graves, Research Central

References

Pulpit Radical: TheStory of New Zealand social Campaigner Rutherford Waddell. Ian Dougherty (2018)

Great Tales from New Zealand History, Gordon McLauchlan (2014)

Otago Daily Times, NZ Herald, Observer and Oamaru Mail, from http://paperpast.natlib.govt.nz

The Commission into Sweating, Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives.

The Addresses to Sir George Grey went from proposal to bound volume, with over 13,000 signatures, in less than a month. A first public meeting was held on Monday, the 15th of March, 1886: “ ... to take into consideration the propriety of Presenting a Congratulatory Address to Sir George Grey on his next Birthday, April 14”.

New Zealand Herald, 15 March 1886.

Detailed reports in the newspapers over the course of that month included telling details: it is to be “purely non-political, and has its sole raison d’être in admiration and respect for Sir George” (Auckland Star, 15 March 1886) – a pertinent point, given that Sir George Grey was a still a divisive force in the politics of the day and would have undoubtedly been reading the reports with interest. The article ends with the note “It was also agreed that ladies should be allowed to sign the address.” (New Zealand Herald, 16 March 1886)

Individual sheets were printed by Wilson and Horton, publishers of the New Zealand Herald, and distributed for signing throughout the Auckland Province and beyond. “Lists for signatures have been sent to all Mayors of boroughs, and to prominent settlers in the outlying districts, to be returned on or before the 7th of April. The number of signature sheets sent out is sufficient for 7,000 signatures.”(Auckland Star, 20 March 1886) “...the committee will gladly receive communications from any country settler who is willing to obtain signatures in the district in which he resides.” (New Zealand Herald, 17 March 1886)

When 7 April arrived, the deadline was extended by four days, at least for Aucklanders: “To those who have not yet signed and desire to do so, lists will remain at the various banks and several other places in the city up to Saturday next” (Auckland Star, 7 April 1886). An example of one of the original sheets, before being trimmed and bound, can been seen at page 290.

Untrimmed sheet, from: Addresses to Sir George Grey, 1886. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, GNZMS 275.

“The engrossing of the address had been entrusted to Mr. James Slator. It will be on three sheets of vellum, and is to cost £40. This is exclusive of binding, which is to be of artistic design. The signature sub-committee had held several meetings and had forwarded 264 blank sheets to about 165 persons. Copies of the address had been left at the various banks, clubs, principal hotels, and forwarded to the mayors of various boroughs, and to nearly every minister and clergymen of the different religious denominations in the city." (New Zealand Herald, 29 March 1886) Additional sheets must have been required because there are in fact 290 signed sheets.

New Zealand Herald, 28 April 1886.

On 17 March, two days after the initial meeting, a sub-committee met and finalised the wording of the address. It was also decided to “bind up the lists of signatures in handsome morocco boards”. The report ends with the news: “Copies of the address were sent up to the Domain to-day, and a large number of signatures obtained.” (Auckland Star, 17 March 1886)

Photo credit: Dan Liu.

It wasn’t long before the project captured the imagination of the province. Five days later it was reported: “The work of signing the address to Sir George Grey goes on vigorously. We find that Mr. Thos. Scott must be removed from his pedestal as the senior colonist, 1836. Archdeacon Maunsell signed the address yesterday, giving date of arrival 1834,' but Judge Wilson later on went "one better," and signed as arriving in 1832.” (New Zealand Herald, 24 March 1886)

When all of the sheets were returned on 7 April, the Auckland Star reported, “On one of the sheets at the Star Office there is the signature of an admirer of Sir George Grey, who "beats the record" ... This is Mr William Thomas Nicholas, of Shoal Bay... Mr Nicholas landed at Hokianga on the 25th of March, 1828.” (Auckland Star, 7 April 1886)

However, the following day, the New Zealand Herald reported, “The signatures to Sir George Grey's testimonial have brought to light many interesting facts regarding the early history of the colonisation of New Zealand, but we think the oldest colonist has at length been found. John Wheeler King, born at the Bay of Islands in 1816, has sent in his signature to the sheet in the possession of his nephew, the Rev. King Davies of Mount Roskill. Mr. King is now over 69 years of age.”(New Zealand Herald, 8 April 1886) [see page 239]

Signature of John Wheeler King. From: Addresses to Sir George Grey, 1886. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, GNZMS 275.

Who signed the sheets?

Although the instructions were to put the year of arrival in the colony, many added much more information, giving the regiment they served in, or where else in the British Empire they came from – a number from Cape Town [see page 161], others from India [see page 282]. In some instances, this may be the only place where such information is recorded.

The sheets that went to smaller communities appear to be akin to a mini-census. There are instances where the head of the household signs, followed by his wife and children [see page 282]. There is an instance of a signature in Chinese characters 亚大 [see page 31]. On some pages many of the names are written in the same hand, on behalf of others. Some people have signed by appending their mark to their name written by someone else [see page 214].

Signatures. From: Addresses to Sir George Grey, 1886. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, GNZMS 275.

A few of the sheets have the names of the localities inscribed in the margins: Huntly [see page 171] Kihikihi [see page 172] Te Awamutu [see page 189] Te Kopuru [see page 193] and Port Arthur [see page 290]. Residents of Parua Bay sent their signatures in a letter to the committee, to be added on their behalf [see page 230a]. Their signatures were duly added to page 231. Ōtāhuhu is noted on four non-adjacent sheets [see pages 27, 37 , 145 , and 196].

Clearly the sheets were not bound in any particular sequence, the page numbers being stamped on after they were bound. In Onehunga, the sheets were at the Star Agency Office in Queen Street, ready for signatures. The people of Thames initially intended to present their own address to Sir George Grey, but then decided to sign the Auckland address. The sheets were available for signing at Mr. W. Wood's, bookbinder, in Pollen Street, Thames.

The sheets also went beyond the Auckland Province, for example on 29 March the Poverty Bay Herald, published in Gisborne, announced that sheets were available at the Argyll Hotel for signature, and the Town Clerk would “receive any contributions from those disposed to subscribe to the expenses.”(Poverty Bay Herald, 29 March 1886) Given the creased and stained condition of some of the pages, it appears some of the sheets went on arduous journeys across the province [see page 257].

The Māori signatures

Although Māori names appear throughout the sheets, a section of the Addresses is devoted specifically to Māori. The story of how the Māori address came to be written is not clear from the reports in the press, other than there were three drafts in circulation: one was too long, another was apparently lost in transit (See: New Zealand Herald, 30 March 1886). The address that was included [see page 286] was written by Paora Tuhaere, the leader of Ngāti Whātua, who is also the first signatory following the address in te reo Māori.


Gottfried Lindauer. Paora Tuhaere, 1878. Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, gift of Mrs Emma Sloane, 1934.

The New Zealand Herald, 30 March 1886, noted “It is a subject for regret that time will prevent many important sections of the natives from uniting in paying this tribute of respect to their old Kawana Kerei. Like the Europeans, the Maoris were anxious to avoid expressing any opinion on matters political, and in regard to which they, like ourselves, might entertain many differences upon.” (New Zealand Herald, 30 March 1886)

It was reported that in addition to the signatures gathered at Orākei, signatures were gathered at Taupō and at meeting held by Tāwhiao at Whatiwhatihoe, the sheets being carried there by Paora Tuhaere. On the 2nd of April, the Thames Star reported on the gathering, noting “The land question is to be discussed when Paul, of Orākei, arrives there. Paul takes Sir George Grey's address for their signature.”(Thames Star, 2 April 1886) The principal topic under discussion at Whatiwhatihoe was the failure of the Crown to honour the Treaty of Waitangi (Waikato Times, 6 April 1886). While a number of prominent Māori leaders did sign the address, Tāwhiao’s and Rewi Maniapoto’s signatures are notably absent.

The Presentation

A contemporary account of the presentation at the Opera House is pasted into the front of the address, perhaps during Sir George Grey’s time, and can be read in the transcript at image 4. (New Zealand Herald, 26 April 1886)

Those people who had donated ten shillings or more to the expense of preparing the address received a ticket for a ‘Lady and a Gentleman’ for the stage. A large number of ladies were expected for the dress circle, so to avoid overcrowding, a charge of one shilling was made for that part of the house. Entry to the rest of the house was free of charge. (Auckland Star, 12 April 1886)

Auckland Star, 14 April 1886.

The ‘Birthday Ode’, written by W. R. Wills, characterised as “the poet of Ōtāhuhu”, set to music by J. H. Phillpot, and sung “by a choir comprising leading local amateurs” was not universally appreciated. “I have read a birthday ode, written by a local rhymster, and dedicated to Sir George Grey. It has been set to music by a local composer. I shall not read it again. Life is too short to be wasted over such stuff” wrote a commentator in the New Zealand Herald of 10 April (New Zealand Herald, 10 April 1886). Detractors notwithstanding, the sheet music was for sale at 6d a copy, “… no doubt many people will provide themselves with copies prior to the coming ceremonial, at which it is expected to be sung”(Auckland Star, 8 April 1886). The Library holds a copy of the sheet music in the collection (GNZMS 295)

The Transcriptions

A partial index to the names has long been available in the Passengers database at Auckland Libraries. When the Addresses were digitised in late 2018, it was decided to do a fresh transcription, using the high-resolution images. Many of the signatures that were previously skipped over as being illegible were deciphered, and in some instances cross-checked with contemporary newspapers. Any details that accompanied the signatures have been included. Forenames are often abbreviated, these are spelt out in full in the transcriptions. Examples of some of the common abbreviations are: Benj for Benjamin, Chas for Charles, Geo for George, Hy for Henry, Jas for James, Jno for John, Jos for Joseph, Thos for Thomas, and Wm for William. And there are still some signatures that defied transcription – suggestions and corrections are most welcome! Suggestions can be submitted via the Comments box on the relevant pages in Kura Heritage Collections Online.

Author: Timothy Barnett, Team Leader Digitised Content & Strategy

George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) was in his time the celebrity bar none. While some of us may only consider him the Irish bloke who wrote Pygmalion, he was so much more than that, with a story that fascinates decades later in this age of global celebrity. One suspects if he were alive today, GBS would have been an early adopter of Facebook, Instagram, talk shows, and have written the handbook on self-promotion and personal branding. Or he may well have disdained the lot. We shall never know, but writer Fintan OToole suggests Shaw had more in common with Bob Dylan and David Bowie than he did with writers such as Anthony Trollop.

Shaw's global fame and GBS brand was immense. So much so that when it was announced he and Charlotte, his wife, would visit New Zealand in 1934, New Zealand was agog. In a February council meeting that year when Auckland’s mayor was asked if there would be a civic reception for Mr Shaw, a councillor noted, “It is possible that Mr Shaw, in a moment of aberration might make an attack upon our noble city and our city fathers. Therefore I should like to know whether you intend to give a reception to this illustrious gentleman.” Mayor Hutchison replied he would decide when those who wanted a reception, asked, but later noted that when it came to asking Mr Shaw to speak at functions, "He doesn't as a matter of fact need much encouragement."

GBS, 1934. From: NZMS 867-57, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections.

In March the Shaw's arrangements were confirmed in the papers. George and Charlotte would arrive on the Rangitane, and travel through both the North and South Islands. Along the way he planned to visit tourist resorts including Waitomo, Rotorua and the Chateau.

Shaw arrived on 15 March, and from the get-go, captivated the media who reported at length on his travels and his sayings. Even before he was on New Zealand soil, the 77-year-old said to waiting reporters, “All I want is to go about quietly like an old man who ought to be in bed. Really, you know, I ought to be dead.”

The Auckland Star dutifully reported their first glimpses of Shaw on the ship. How he walked with his head down and his hands behind his back up to the cameras and greeted the press. ”Oh good morning ladies and gentlemen. I suppose you have seen at least 50 million pictures of me. You want to see the animal walk before you and you want to hear the animal talk.” He then proceeded to turn to the left, and to the right. “This is the intellectual portion of my brow and here is my back.” The cameras, it was reported, clicked away.

At an informal reception, a journalist claimed Shaw was in fact the embodiment of youth, and that those who attended the reception “would have voted him more years in which to be the playboy of the modern world.” It was noted that, at nearly six feet tall, he had the wire-knit frame and springy step of the long distance runner, carried not an ounce of superfluous flesh, and his teeth were all his own. He wore a grey suit and yellow tie and if he had dyed his hair back to its original red, he would have passed for fifty. “Every line of his figure, even from behind, expresses energy.” When the reception was over, it was deemed such an incredible performance, “one wondered if it had happened so.” Noting, in retrospect, that Shaw “was rather like a visitor from some other planet or land of perpetual youth.”

In Auckland, the Shaws spent an afternoon at the War Memorial Museum, accompanied by brewing magnate, Ernest Davis. Auckland Star columnist 'Zamiel' in noting that 8288 people visited the museum in a month, noted that if Mr George Bernard Shaw had not visited the museum, then only 8287 people would have visited it. "It is a solemn thought," Zamiel noted, "that if Mr Shaw had been unable to go and a mere sharemilker of Waipukerimu had gone instead, the total would have been the same."

After Auckland, Waitomo Caves was the next stop, and to a Waikato Times reporter, Shaw said, “I am amazed to hear that many New Zealanders, including those living so close to the caves, have never seen them. Tell them they ought to be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. I have come 14,000 miles to see them and think they are worth it."

AN Breckon. GBS in Rotorua, 1934. From: New Zealand Herald Glass Plate Collection. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 1370-M014-3.

In Wellington they visited the Karitane Hospital, to which the Evening Post reported, “To a long list of celebrated names in the visitors’ book of the Truby King Karitane Hospital at Melrose there was added this morning that of Mr. George Bernard Shaw, who with Mrs Shaw spent half an hour there.” When the matron told the famous visitor that all the children were in poor circumstances and in need of help, he exclaimed, "God - what a country!" and then spent an hour with Sir Truby King at his home.

Auckland Weekly News. GBS with the matron and nurses of the Karitane Home. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, AWNS 19340418-32-1.

He also visited the Turnbull Library, and praised it. “ Why,” he said, “it would even make the Bodleian sit up.” Of Wellington’s public library, though, he was not so kind. "To be entirely frank,” he remarked, “would there be any difficulty in finding someone to hurl a bomb into it some night, say November 5?”

Further south, Shaw was in raptures over Christchurch's Catholic cathedral, declaring that it compared with those of the Renaissance in Europe and was indeed superior to Christchurch’s Anglican cathedral. “It is not a mere copy, as I regret to state the Anglican cathedral is. There is nothing new in that. It is academic. But the Catholic Cathedral is original and powerfully drawn.” He advised New Zealand to proceed and build more churches at once. “There should,” he said, “be cathedrals like that in every town in New Zealand.”

The Shavian visit ended where it began, aboard the Rangitane where it sailed from New Zealand on 15 April.His parting comment to a photographer, on what he thought of leaving New Zealand was, “If I showed my true feelings I would cry; it’s the best country I’ve been in.”

Ref: George Bernard Shaw, What I said in N.Z.: the newspaper utterances of Mr. George Bernard Shaw in New Zealand, March 15th to April 15th, 1934. Wellington, N.Z.: Commercial Printing and Publishing Co., 1934.

Within days of Shaw leaving, a book was put together of his many comments during his trip. Titled, “What I said when I was in New Zealand: The newspaper utterances of Mr George Bernard Shaw,” it was published within just one week of his departure.

Auckland Libraries is delighted to be hosting the exhibition, Judging Shaw, at the Central City Library, in conjunction with the Embassy of Ireland, New Zealand. Curated by Fintan O'Toole and based on his biography of Shaw, the exhibition contains photographs and illustrations, and looks at Shaw's life and legacy, and how he cultivated his GBS brand to generate global fame. Judging Shaw tours several New Zealand centres over the next month, and in Auckland runs for just one week, from 15 March to 21 March. Do come along to the Central City Library to browse the exhibition, and other Shaw-related displays during the week.

Image credit: Embassy of Ireland, New Zealand.

Author: Joanne Graves, Research Central

The letter writers

The six letter writers are a mix of well-known and less-known Māori from prestigious families. They include Tāwhiao Tūkaroto Matutaera Pōtatau Te Wherowhero, Ruta Tāmihana Te Rauparaha, Wīremu Toetoe, Hēnare Mātene Te Whiwhi, Kereama Tāwhai and Rewi Maniapoto. In the following section, the achievements and highlights from each person’s life are described, alongside their portraits and pages from their handwritten letters.

Tāwhiao Tūkaroto Matutaera Pōtatau Te Wherowhero [1825-1894]
Ngāti Mahuta

Unknown photographer. Mounted photograph of Tāwhiao Tūkaroto Matutaera Pōtatau Te Wherowhero. 1870-1894. (258-1).

Tūkaroto was the son of the first Māori King Pōtatau Te Wherowhero and Whakaawi. He was raised to be a spiritual and political leader for his people.

Born near the end of the musket wars between Ngā Puhi and Waikato, the name Tūkaroto was given to him to commemorate his father’s stance at Mātakitaki Pā in 1822. He was also baptised Matutaera (Methuselah) and subsequently the name Tāwhiao was bestowed upon him by Te Ua Haumēne, the Pai Mārire prophet.

He was equally knowledgeable in Christianity and the ancient rites of the Tainui people and during his later years, his words were viewed and repeated as prophecies for the future. After the death of his father in 1860, he became the second Māori King and leader of the Kīngitanga (King) movement. He held this position for 34 years during the most volatile era of Māori–Pākehā relations.

Tāwhiao Tūkaroto Matutaera Pōtatau Te Wherowhero. Letter to the Governor [Grey] written at Māngere, 15 July 1850. (GNZMA 330).

Ruta Tāmihana Te Rauparaha nee Ruta Te Kapu [182?–1870]
Ngāti Whakatere - Ngāti Raukawa

W.H. Davis. Detail of cabinet card portrait of Ruta Tāmihana Te Ruaparaha. c.1860s, (7-A11486). From: Tāmihana Te Rauparaha. Waiata tangi [laments] and a biography of Te Rauparaha. 1852. (GNZMMS 27).

E hoa, e pai ana au ki to kupu haere mai kia kite i a matou...
Friend, I’m delighted to hear you’re coming to see us...

Ruta was the daughter of Tāwhiri of Ngāti Raukawa. She married Tāmihana Te Rauparaha of Ngāti Toa in 1843. Throughout their marriage, Ruta and her husband actively promoted Christianity to Māori alongside the missionary Octavius Hadfield. During the 1850’s Tamihana was also a strong supporter of the Kīngitanga movement.

As farmers and landowners, Tāmihana and Ruta had considerable wealth and lived at Ōtaki in a European style house complete with servants. Ruta was known for her kindness, hospitality and fashionable clothing. The love Ruta and Tāmihana felt for each other is documented in their letters and remarked upon by others.

Ruta Tāmihana Te Rauparaha. Letter to Mother [Lady Eliza Lucy] Grey at Wellington, written at Otaki, 25 September 1848. (GNZMA 557).

Wīremu Toetoe Tūmohe [1826–1881]
Ngāti Wākohikē - Ngāti Apakura

Illustration of Wīremu Totoetoe from: [author not specified on catalogue]. Reise der oesterreichischen Fregatte Novaraum die Erde, in den Jahren 1857, 1858, 1859 .... [location not specified on catalogue]: Aus der Kaiserlich-Koniglichen Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, in Commission bei Karl Gerold's Sohn, vol.3, 1862, opposite p.110.

Tera te pukohu ka mau mai [i] Awhereka – ko te ara tonu ia i haere ai taku torere...
There lies the mists from Africa – the path walked by my beloved...

Wīremu was from Rangiaowhia in the Waikato and was educated by missionaries. He married at the age of 20 and was employed in the postal service for the colonial government.

In 1859 he travelled overseas with his whanaunga (relative) Te Hēmara Rerehau Parāone aboard the Novara, an Austrian scientific frigate. They travelled through Europe, learnt the art of printing and socialised with the European upper class. They returned to New Zealand with a printing press and type gifted to them by the Emperor of Austria.

The press was used in 1862 to print the newspaper Te Hokioi o Niu Tireni e Rere atu na or The Soaring War Bird. Its purpose was to publish Māori opinion, especially regarding the Kīngitanga movement. Although the publication ceased with the outbreak of the Land Wars in 1863, it is important because it was the first Māori language newspaper owned and printed by Māori. Accordingly, it has been digitised and is available through Papers Past.

Wireumu Toetoe. Letter to [Sir George Grey], written at Vienna, Austria, 8 May 1860. (GNZMA 120).

Hēnare Mātene Te Whiwhi aka Te Whiwhi o te rangi [1805-1881]
Ngāti Toa - Ngāti Raukawa

Photographer unknown. Detail of a portrait of Hēnare Mātene Te Whiwhi. n.d. (7-A3573)

Tenei tetehi korero, he kiore hou kua tae mai ki a Ngapuhi ka rua tau...
Word has it that a new rat has appeared within Ngā Puhi over the last two years...

Mātene was the son of Rangikapiki and Rangi Topeora. His younger years were shaped by a migration led by Te Rauparaha, which saw his people leave their homelands in Kāwhia in search of a safer and prosperous life in the south of the North Island.

Mātene married Pipi Te Ihurape in 1843. They were part of a group of young rangatira (esteemed people of noble rank), which included Ruta and Tāmihana Te Rauparaha in Ōtaki. The group embraced many of the European ways of living including religion, housing, food and dress.

As a young man, Mātene worked with Tāmihana Te Rauparaha to bring the Christian faith to Māori. He became a missionary and helped establish the Kingītanga but later withdrew his support during the Land Wars in the Waikato in 1863.

Hēnare Mātene Te Whiwhi. Letter to Tamihana [Te Rauparaha], written at Auckland, 20 April 1863. (GNZMA 187).

Kereama Rangatira Tāwhai [1864-1885]
Te Māhurehure - Ngā Puhi

William James Harding. Carte de visite portrait of Kereama Tāwhai. c.1880. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand, W J Harding Collection. (G-17133-1/4).

He tino tamariki rawa ahau ka tuhi atu nei ki a koe, otira i runga i te mea ka tae mai nei te whakaaro ki roto i tooku [toku] ngakau mo au mahi i mahia e koe mo matou, mo nga Maori...Despite my age, I’m writing to you to express how I feel about your aspirations for us, the Māori...

Kereama was raised to lead and serve his people. His parents, Hōne Mohi Tāwhai and Mākere Maraea, sent him away from the Hokianga to get a European education in Auckland. He attended the Three Kings Wesleyan Native Institution and then went to Auckland College and Grammar School. He excelled academically in all areas of school life, including sports and music.

Kereama was devoted to the church and a dedicated follower of the temperance movement. As a Blue Ribbon supporter, he encouraged Māori to sign the pledge and abstain from alcohol. He was also the secretary for Te Korimako or The Bellbird, a Māori language newspaper that ran from 1882 to 1890 and is also available through Papers Past.

His father encouraged him to study law so that he could help Māori deal with investigations into land rights and ownership through the Native Land Courts. His legal training was undertaken with the Auckland law firm Whitaker and Russell. Referred to by his people as a taitama rangatira nō Ngā Puhi, a young male leader of nobility from the north, Kereama sadly died of consumption at the age of 21 before completing his studies.

Kereama Tāwhai. Letter to Sir George Grey, written at Wesley College, Auckland, 18 June 1880. (GNZMA 141).

Rewi Manga Maniapoto [1807-1894]
Ngāti Pare te kawa – Ngāti Maniapoto

Bloomfield and Hobbs. Portrait of Rewi Maniapoto at the unveiling of his monument in Kihikihi. 1894. (661-164)

Kua tae nei taua ki nga ra o taua tupuna, heoi, ka mutu te mihi...
We have now both of us reached the limit of the days of our forefathers, let this suffice by way of greeting...

Rewi was the son of Te Ngohi and Te Kore and from the Kihikihi and Otāwhao area. Taught to read and write at the Wesleyan mission station at Te Kopua, he was known for his oratory skills, strong leadership, military prowess and knowledge of traditional Māori customs and practices.

Rewi was a strong supporter of the Kīngitanga. During 1860-1861, his people had fought alongside Taranaki Māori and he went on to have a leading role in the Land Wars in the Waikato. For several years Tāwhiao and his followers, including Rewi, took refuge in Ngāti Maniapoto territory. Rewi played a key role in establishing and expanding the Rohe Pōtae. This term roughly translates as ‘the area of the hat’ and was commonly used to refer to the King Country land. In 1882 Rewi negotiated with the Crown and this led to land sales that contravened the Kīngitanga principle of land retention. However, Rewi remained a revered figure by both Māori and European, as evidenced by the large number of attendees at his funeral in 1894.

Rewi Maniapoto. Letter to Sir George Grey, written at Kihikihi, 19 February 1894. (GNZMA 218).

Rewi Maniapoto. Showing the sketch of the tombstone from: Letter to Sir George Grey, written at Kihikihi, 19 February 1894. (GNZMA 218).

Is one of these letter writers your tupuna (ancestor)? Would you like to make your own recording of their letter? If so, the library would like to hear from you. You can contact us at: specialcollections@aklc.govt.nz

He reo kīnaki hei kuru taringa

Eloquent words are a treasure to hear.

Applications for the Auckland Library Heritage Trust research scholarship are now open!

Ref: Bryan Lowe. Auckland Library Heritage Trust scholar, Aleisha Ward, in the
Sir George Grey Special Collections reading room, 2017

Now in its seventh year, the scholarship is offered by the Auckland Library Heritage Trust to assist with research and the promotion of material held in Sir George Grey Special Collections at Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero | Central City Library and the distributed Heritage Collections across the region.

Ref: Isabel Hooker. A group of Auckland Tramping Club members outside a hut in the Piha valley, 1940s. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, JTD-04K-05270

The breadth of Auckland Libraries' Heritage Collections is reflected in the wide-ranging research topics of previous scholars: from Vanessa York's study of botanical perfumery to Dr Majid Daneshagar's work to create a catalogue of the Middle Eastern manuscripts held in Sir George Grey Special Collections to Aleisha Ward's research into the 1920s jazz scene in Auckland.

As well as rare and historic books Auckland Libraries’ Heritage Collections include maps, archives, manuscripts, photographs, drawings, oral histories, musical recordings and ephemera. The formats are both analogue and born digital. Some of these collections are now featured on Kura Heritage Collections Online - the new home for our images, audio, collection records and indexes.

Ref: Auckland Library Heritage Trust scholar, Ross Calman, in the
Sir George Grey Special Collections reading room, 2019.

Ross Calman was the Auckland Library Heritage Trust scholar in 2015. He is working on a bilingual edition of Tamihana Te Rauparaha’s 'Life of Te Rauparaha' due to be published later this year. The original manuscript, held in Sir George Grey Special Collections (GNZMMS 27), is an account of the life of Te Rauparaha written in the late 1860s by his son.

Ref: Rykenberg Photography. Howard Morrison Quartet at the Crystal Palace, 1959.
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 1269-K152-5

Gareth Shute and Chris Turnbull were the Auckland Library Heritage Trust scholars in 2018. Part of Shute's research involved creating two online maps of music venues which existed in Auckland in the 1950s and 1960s. The maps include historic images of the venues and information about the venue or one of the musicians connected to the place. Identifying musicians and venues via crowd-sourcing and research was part of Shute's work. The Rykenberg Studios photography collection, ephemera and printed collections were used in his research.

Chris Turnbull is working on a PhD in Pacific History at the University of Auckland. The Cook Islands leader Queen Makea is the main focus of Turnbull's work. He is interested in the emerging theme of the rise of other women leaders in Polynesia around this time, including Queen Pōmare in Tonga, and Queens Kaʽahumanu and Liliʽuokalani in Hawaiʽi. Turnbull has also found some interesting references to independent ties between the Cook Islands and Māori in the late nineteenth century.

The scholarship is open to New Zealanders and overseas visitors to New Zealand. To apply you need to identify a research proposal based on material held in Auckland Libraries' Heritage Collections. The winner of the scholarship will receive a grant of $1000.

Applications for 2019/2020 close on Friday 31 May 2019.

Please email your application, including a contact phone number, outlining your proposal to:
specialcollections@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz with the subject line: 2019 Scholar application

We look forward to hearing from you!

When the Endeavour left Plymouth harbour in August of 1768, it carried in its cabins the collected navigational knowledge of its predecessors in South Sea exploration. The vessel, under the command of Captain James Cook, was to be the site for a pioneering venture: a circumnavigational voyage in pursuit of knowledge terrestrial, oceanic, and celestial. As a voyage of European “discovery”, it would prove revolutionary in several important ways, the success of which rested upon the knowledge acquired by other, earlier expeditions.

‘The Bark, Earl of Pembroke, later Endeavour, leaving Whitby Harbour in 1768’, by Thomas Luny. National Library of Australia.

Cook’s first voyage (1768-71) represented a joint information-gathering venture between the British Admiralty and the Royal Society. Officially, its purpose was to observe the 1769 transit of Venus from the South Pacific – part of an international effort to establish Earth’s distance from the Sun. The decision to carry this out from Tahiti specifically was relatively last-minute, depending as it did on the island’s first European visit by the Dolphin under Captain Samuel Wallis the previous year.

Artist unknown: Gezigt van Matavia-baai, aan het Eiland Otahiti [1769. Copied ca 1785]. Ref: E-329-f-004. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/23137528.

Moreover, the official instructions for the Endeavour had an unofficial counterpart. Cook had also been instructed to carry out a search for Terra Australis Incognita– the Great Unknown Southern Continent. Upon completing their astronomical observations in Tahiti, the Endeavour, plying the wake of previous ships, was to sail south, as the Secret Instructions ordered:

"Whereas there is reason to imagine that a Continent of Land of great extent, may be found to the Southward of the Tract lately made by Captn Wallis in His Majesty’s Ship the Dolphin (of which you will herewith receive a Copy) […] You are to proceed to the southward in order to make discovery of the Continent above-mentioned until you arrive in the Latitude of 40 degrees unless you sooner fall in with it. But not having discover’d it or any Evident signs of it in that Run, you are to proceed in search of it to the Westward between he Latitude before mentioned and the Latitude of 35 degrees until you discover it, or fall in with the Eastern side of the Land discover’d by Tasman and now called New Zeland." (Ref: Cook's voyage 1768-71: copies of correspondence, etc. National Library of Australia, MS 2.)

Thus Cook, a functionary of both the British military state and the global scientific cause, found himself and his crew in search of a theorised southern landmass.

That the Secret Instructions explicitly reference the voyage accounts of both Wallis and Tasman in this search, however, shows the importance of previous navigational knowledge to the mission of the Endeavour. It also illustrates the way in which the information acquired on prior voyages was codified and distributed, and, as well as the ‘Tract lately made by Captn Wallis’ concerning the Dolphin’s journey to Tahiti, Cook and his crew possessed accounts by Tasman and others from the so-called ‘Heroic Age of Exploration’.

‘A Chart of New Zeland’, engraved by Isaac Smith after the original by Cook. British Library, Add MS 7085.

This becomes apparent when one reads records compiled by members of Cook’s first voyage. A good example is the navigational journal produced by Joseph Banks, held in the Manuscripts Collection at Auckland Libraries and recently published on Kura Heritage Collections Online with a full transcription. The journal is an abstract of parts of Cook's journal and was made as a summary of the ship's movements and geographical features encountered between Poverty Bay, New Zealand and Batavia (modern-day Jakarta). Banks, himself a proponent for the accurate transmission of knowledge, incorporates information from Abel Tasman in his navigational notes. On Christmas Day of 1769, for instance, he wrote of "a small island probably the island of 3 kings discoverd by Tasman […].’

Joseph Banks. Journal kept during the first voyage of Captain Cook in H M S Endeavour from Poverty Bay to Batavia, 9th October, 1769, to 10th October 1770. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, GMS 51.

Days later, the ship continued south, rounding what was ‘judgd to be that calld by Tasman Cape Maria Van Diemen"– Cape Reinga.

Observations like these continue throughout the voyage. Whilst sailing the east coast of Australia, Banks voiced navigational doubt in the matter of Van Diemens Land (modern-day Tasmania):

"By Tasmans journal it appears that the body of Van Diemens land lay due south from us which was judgd probable from the quick falling of the sea after the wind abated the land here trending NE & SW westerly made it possible that Vn. Diemens land is an island but that point must be cleard up by future navigators"

Chart of Torres Strait, based on navigational surveys by Cook during the Endeavour voyage. National Library of Australia, 2941732.

As the Endeavour came into less isolate waters and entered the Indonesian archipelago, Banks refers to earlier explorers who, like Tasman, left records of their travels. In June 1770, they found themselves "now in the lat of Quirus’s discoveries"– lands charted by the 16th century Portuguese explorer Pedro Fernandes de Queirós. Closer to the Dutch port of Batavia, near Timor, the crew came into the neighbourhood of "the island of Anaboa (as calld by Dampier)", seeing the homeward stage of their journey overlap with that of their 17th century English countryman and predecessor in European exploration of the Pacific.

To read Banks’ journal in this manner is to understand the way in which Cook’s first voyage was part of a longer process of European knowledge building. This is made clear in Banks’ recognition of how the question of Van Diemens Land "must be cleard up by future navigators." It also sheds light on the means by which this knowledge was communicated across the centuries and, though not detracting from the achievements of men like Tasman and Cook, indicates the degree to which they, as participants in the European search for knowledge, were themselves dependent on the work of those who came before them.

Author: Bruce Ringer, South Auckland Research Centre

Author: Leanne, Research Central

References

Serials

Author: Bruce Ringer, Research South

Author: Jane Wild, Manager Heritage Collections

Further reading

Author: Christopher Paxton, Heritage Collections

Author: Joanne Graves, Research Central

References

Who signed the sheets?

The Māori signatures

The Presentation

The Transcriptions

Author: Timothy Barnett, Team Leader Digitised Content & Strategy

Author: Joanne Graves, Research Central

Further reading

The letter writers

Tāwhiao Tūkaroto Matutaera Pōtatau Te Wherowhero [1825-1894]Ngāti Mahuta

Ruta Tāmihana Te Rauparaha nee Ruta Te Kapu [182?–1870]Ngāti Whakatere - Ngāti Raukawa

Wīremu Toetoe Tūmohe [1826–1881]Ngāti Wākohikē - Ngāti Apakura

Hēnare Mātene Te Whiwhi aka Te Whiwhi o te rangi [1805-1881]Ngāti Toa - Ngāti Raukawa

Kereama Rangatira Tāwhai [1864-1885]Te Māhurehure - Ngā Puhi

Rewi Manga Maniapoto [1807-1894]Ngāti Pare te kawa – Ngāti Maniapoto

Author: Jake Bransgrove, Cook / Banks Scholar 2019

Further reading

Tāwhiao Tūkaroto Matutaera Pōtatau Te Wherowhero [1825-1894]
Ngāti Mahuta

Ruta Tāmihana Te Rauparaha nee Ruta Te Kapu [182?–1870]
Ngāti Whakatere - Ngāti Raukawa

Wīremu Toetoe Tūmohe [1826–1881]
Ngāti Wākohikē - Ngāti Apakura

Hēnare Mātene Te Whiwhi aka Te Whiwhi o te rangi [1805-1881]
Ngāti Toa - Ngāti Raukawa

Kereama Rangatira Tāwhai [1864-1885]
Te Māhurehure - Ngā Puhi

Rewi Manga Maniapoto [1807-1894]
Ngāti Pare te kawa – Ngāti Maniapoto