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The New Zealand Māori Contingent and the New Zealand (Māori) Pioneer Battalion

April 23, 2020, 5:19 pm
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This ANZAC Day we remember all those who served in the Māori Contingent and the New Zealand (Māori) Pioneer Battalion in World War I.

The first Māori Contingent (Native Contingent, New Zealand Expeditionary Force) left New Zealand on 14th February 1915 onboard the SS Warrimoo and included men from Rarotonga and Niue. The Contingent’s crest was the taiaha and tewhatewha, two traditional Māori weapons, while its motto, 'Te Hokowhitu a Tū' (the seventy twice-told warriors of the war god), signified the 140 warriors of the war god Tū-mata-uenga. This name was given by Wiremu ‘Wī’ Pere, an East Coast rangatira.

The Contingent disembarked in Egypt on 26th March and was sent to Malta for further training and garrison duties. The men were later transferred to Gallipoli to build and improve infrastructure, trenches, and supply depots. However, from August to December 1915 they were re-deployed as infantry with the NZ Mounted Rifles Brigade and were involved in the Battle of Chunuk Bair, suffering significant casualties.

In early 1916, the Māori Contingent was re-formed as a ‘Pioneer Battalion,’ becoming part of the newly formed New Zealand Division, and served on the Western Front. In September 1917, the New Zealand (Māori) Pioneer Battalion was formed.

The New Zealand (Māori) Pioneer Battalion returned home after the 1919 ceasefire. Some of the soldiers are shown here, marching up Queen Street, Auckland, on their way to a welcome home ceremony at the Auckland Domain.

The unit was disbanded in March 1919 and later awarded the King’s Colour.

More than 2700 Māori and Pacific Islanders served in the First World War and we remember and honour each one. Here, we find out about six of them.

Image: Herman Schmidt. Portrait of Lieutenant Awarau of the New Zealand Māori Pioneer Battalion, 
wearing a Returned Soldiers Association badge, 1920. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 31-A4027.

Sheep farmer Hatara Matehe Te Awarau, Ngāti Porou, Reg. no. WW1 16/124, enlisted on 21st October 1914 at Waipiro Bay, East Cape. He was 38 years old at the time and married to Emma Matehe.

Hatara left New Zealand on 14th February 1915 bound for Suez, Egypt, as part of the 1st Māori Pioneer Battalion, B Company on the troopship Warrimoo. His rank was that of Company Quartermaster.

Lieutenant Te Awarau served in the Egyptian Campaign and at Gallipoli. In recognition of his service he was awarded the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.


George Robert Dansey was born in Rotorua on the 26 March 1878. He was a single 37 year old when he enlisted at Narrow Neck Camp, Auckland, on 4th January 1916 and his occupation on the Nominal Roll is listed as Telegraphist. His father, Roger Delamere Dansey of Rotorua, is named as his next of kin, while his mother was Wikitoria Ngamihi Dansey, née Kahuao.

Dansey was a Second Lieutenant with the Māori Contingent, 14th Reinforcements, and departed New Zealand on the vessel Aparima on 16th February 1917. The soldiers disembarked in Plymouth, England, on 2nd May.

Second Lieutenant Dansey served in Western Europe and was awarded the British War Medal and the Victoria Medal.

Image: Herman Schmidt. Portrait of Private Florian of the Māori Contingent, 
New Zealand Māori Pioneer Battalion, wearing a New Zealand Returned Soldiers Association Badge, 1917. 
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 31-F3350.


Gaston Florian (also known as Flanton), WW1 20801, was born in Suva, Viti Levu, Fiji, on 24th August 1885, the son of Aston Florian.

He enlisted on 19th July 1916 at Narrow Neck Camp, Auckland, aged 31 years. The Nominal Roll records his occupation as Storeman and his wife is named as Mrs Filiata Florian of Apia, Samoa. Gaston embarked on his journey to Europe on the troopship Tofua on 11th October 1916 and served with the 9th Reinforcements, Māori Contingency. Lance Corporal Florian served in Western Europe and was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

He also served in World War II between February 1941 and March 1942.

Image: Herman Schmidt. Portrait of 2nd Lieutenant Hēnāre Mokena Kōhere, 
Reg No 16/1018, of the 2nd Māori Contingent, New Zealand Māori Pioneer Battalion, 
wearing campaign medal, 1915. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 31-K2804.

Hēnāre Mokena Kōhere, Ngāti Porou, was born on 10th March 1880 in Te Araroa, Gisborne, the fourth child of Hone Hiki Kohere and Henarata Pereto (Bristow). He was the grandson of the Ngāti Porou chief Mokena Kohere and his wife Marara Hinekukurangi.

He served in the South Africa War (1899-1902) and on 9th June 1915, at the age of 35, enlisted for service in World War I as a Second Lieutenant. The Nominal Roll records that Hēnāre was married. He married Ngarangi Turei, a teacher, in 1905 and the couple had three children. Ngarangi died in 1910. Hēnāre left New Zealand with the 2nd Māori Contingent on board the troopship Waitemata on 18th September 1915, bound for Suez, Egypt.

He served as part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force and at the Battle of the Somme, where he was severely injured. Hēnāre died of wounds on 16th September 1916 at the age of 36 and is buried in Heilly Station Cemetery, Méricourt-I’Abbe, Somme, France, IV. F. 11.

Second Lieutenant Kōhere was awarded the 1914-1915 Star medal and there is a stained-glass window with an image of him in St Mary's Anglican Church, Tikitiki. The church is a memorial to Ngāti Porou soldiers who fought and died in the First World War.


Tawheo Matenga was born in Gisborne on 25th May 1897. At the time of enlistment on 30th May 1917 he was a 20 year old single farmer. His parents are recorded as Rina Waipare of Nuhaka and Waitaniwha Matenga of Gisborne.

Private Matenga embarked for Liverpool, England, with the 22nd Reinforcements NZ Māori Pioneer Battalion on the vessel Corinthic which departed on 13th October 1917 and disembarked on 8th December.

Private Matenga was deployed to Western Europe. He was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

Image: Herman Schmidt. Portrait of Private Percy Rameka, Service number 16/1574 of the 5th Māori Contingent, New Zealand Māori Pioneer Battalion, 1916. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 31-R2107.

Private Percy (aka Pahi) Rameka was born in 1894/5 in Ohaeawai, Bay of Islands to Waikerapuru and Matire Rameka. At the time of enlistment, he was a single blacksmith living in Kaikohe, Northland.

Percy embarked for Europe on board either the troopship Waitemata or Ulimoroa on 29th July, 1916 as a Private with the 5th Māori Contingent, New Zealand Māori Pioneer Battalion.

He died of tuberculosis at sea en route from France to New Zealand on 26 May 1918, aged 24.

Private Rameka is honoured at the Auckland Provincial Memorial, Waikumete Cemetery, Glen Eden, Auckland. His name is engraved on the memorial that commemorates 40 New Zealand servicemen of World War I - as well as a number from World War II - who enlisted in the Provincial District of Auckland and who were either buried in New Zealand, or buried at sea, and have no known grave.

He is also honoured at the Kaikohe War Memorial Hall, Memorial Drive, Kaikohe, as well as at the Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira World War I Hall of Memories.

Private Rameka is commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

The material in this blog post was originally curated for an ANZAC Day exhibition in the J. T. Diamond Gallery, Waitākere Central Library, Henderson, which in the current Covid-19 lockdown could not be held.

Additional images of Māori soldiers, photographed by Herman John Schmidt, can be found on the Auckland Libraries image database Heritage Images.

References and external links:

He Toa Taumata Rau - Online Cenotaph
28th Māori Battalion
New Zealand History Māori and the First World War
New Zealand History Māori soldiers sail to war
Navy Museum Troopships that departed New Zealand during World War One
The New Zealand Māori (Pioneer) Battalion – commemorating 100 years since the return home on 6 April 1919

New Zealand Defence Force Medals
Te Ara Ngā haki Māori and flags
Henare Mokena Kohere biography
Heritage New Zealand St Mary's Church (Anglican)
Auckland War Memorial Museum. Dr Monty Soutar, (2015). The Battle of Chunuk Bair. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chGnU-AvB6c (Accessed: 23 April 2020).

Bibliography:

Pugsley, C. (2015). Te Hokowhitu A Tu: The Maori Pioneer Battalion in the First World War. 2nd Ed. Auckland, New Zealand. Oratia Media.

Soutar, M. (2019). Whitiki! Whiti! Whiti! E! : Maori in the First World War. New Zealand. Bateman.
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The Ways We Remember

April 24, 2020, 3:00 pm
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Contrary to our current state of national lockdown, it does take a lot to cause a society to come to a standstill. Yet, each year on 25 April many New Zealanders embrace an early rise on a cold morning to attend an Anzac service. Bursting with tradition, symbolism, emotion and ritual, Anzac services have been a key part of our national calendar since the first service in 1916. This year marks the first year that Anzac Day will not be commemorated with any large public events and so I thought I would delve into our online databases Kura and Heritage Images to take a trip down memory lane and look at the different, and sometimes uniquely Kiwi, ways in which we have commemorated Anzac Day over the past 104 years.

Unknown, Anzac Day Town Hall, 1920s. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 7-A9270

News of Allied troops landing on the beaches of the far-flung Gallipoli Peninsula reached New Zealand in the days following the now infamous maneuvers of 25 April, 1915. NZ History details what happened in the months that followed in Turkey, a time that saw New Zealand lose 2779 young men in a bloody, and frankly fruitless battle.


Evening Star, Issue 15788, 27 April 1915, Page 8

The long-lasting effects that the Gallipoli campaign had on New Zealand are plentiful. Many scholars have attempted to dissect this moment in time and the long-term impacts, including well-known New Zealand historians and authors. Auckland Libraries holds many publications that explore this complex topic. 

Perhaps the first thing one associates with the Gallipoli is, of course, Anzac Day. Marked on 25 April every year, Anzac Day is not only a national day of remembrance but a chance to reflect on what it means to be a New Zealander and to stand together in contemplation. The first Anzac services took place from 1916 across Australia and New Zealand and continue to be well attended.

Auckland Weekly News, Anzac Day celebrations in Auckland: returned soldiers marching along Queen Street to the Town Hall, where a commemorative service was held. 2 May 1918. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, AWNS-19180502-35-2

Unknown, Anzac Day Service, 1920s, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 755-ALB18-02-3,

One of the key, long-term effects of the Gallipoli campaign was the birth of the distinctive bond known as the ‘Anzac spirit’. As troops belonging to the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps stormed the 600m wide Turkish cove 115 years ago, we experienced a step in the development of our national identity. Prior to the First World War,  New Zealand had not had too many opportunities to consider what it meant to be a ‘New Zealander’- we didn’t even send our first athletes to the Olympics as ‘New Zealand’ until 1920!

New Zealand was still very much regarded as being a British outpost and it is fair to say that the national identity of many British subjects in New Zealand was exactly that- being British in New Zealand. The First World War changed that. For the first time, New Zealand men were sent overseas in large numbers and they were expected to face previously unheard of horrors. Working so closely with Australian troops, it is easy to understand why this ‘ANZAC’ spirit emerged so far home in a trying time of turmoil.

Charles Cecil Roberts, Anzac Day Service at Lion Rock, 1931, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, JTD-04K-01377-G.

Cyril Lee-Johnson, Anzac Day parade, Otahuhu, c. 1940, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collection, Footprints 05530

Unknown, Anzac Day parade, Howick, 1954, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, Footprints 01073. 

John Thomas Diamond, Anzac Day ceremony at Waikumete Cemetery, Glen Eden, 1960, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, JTD-12K-00994-2.

Anzac Day is synonymous with many things- parades, biscuits, the Last Post and, of course, poppies. Reminiscent of the wild, bright red poppies seen growing at the great battle sites across Europe, the poppy became a symbol for war remembrance across the world. In 1922, New Zealand celebrated its first Poppy Day, selling over 260,000 poppies and raising £13,166. Poppies to be worn on Anzac Day have been made in New Zealand since 1931 and they continue to be a popular symbolic aspect of Anzac, and other war commemorations.

Unknown, Anzac Day ceremony, Papatoetoe, 1970s, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, Footprints 01506

Unknown, Anzac Day parade, Papatoetoe, 1980s, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, Footprints 01513.
Unknown, 'ANZACs remembered', Middlemore, 1991, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collection, Footprints 03499. 

While Anzac Day was initially established to remember the men lost in Europe in the First World War, as the years went on the narrative expanded to include people who served in the Second World War. More recently, troops involved in the Vietnam War, the Korean War, and in Peacekeeping activities in Southeast Asia and the Middle East are also remembered. 

Paul Restell, Poppy sellers, Howick, 2000, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, Footprints 04206.

Quick March, Vol. IV. - No. 11. 10th March, 1922, New Zealand Returned Services Association, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, QM_19220310. 

Other library Anzac resources:


https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/journals/search/searchterm/the%20camp%20gazette/field/public/mode/exact/conn/and/order/descri/ad/asc

https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/journals/search/searchterm/featherston%20camp%20weekly/field/public/mode/exact/conn/and/order/descri/ad/asc

https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/journals/search/searchterm/featherston%20camp%20weekly/field/public/mode/exact/conn/and/order/descri/ad/asc 


Sources: 


'Gallipoli landings', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/landing-of-nz-troops-at-gallipoli-turkey, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 17-Apr-2019

'The red poppy', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/anzac-day/poppies, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 16-Apr-2020

Author:

Samantha Waru, Graduate Heritage, Research and Archives. 
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Dog taxes: a transcription tale

April 27, 2020, 2:00 pm
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While our libraries are currently closed some of us in the Heritage Collections team are transcribing the GLNZ letter series from the Grey Manuscripts Collection, held in Sir George Grey Special Collections. This is a collection of letters written in English to George Grey by a variety of correspondents. Some of these were well-known public figures in the nineteenth century, while others were not.

One letter that I worked on recently was a little disturbing in its tone. It begins reasonably enough:

"I took the liberty of writing you these few lines to remind you of your duty towards the welfare of the Country that you represents in Parliament"

Image: The Irish Shepherd, pseud. Letter to Sir George Grey, page 1. 10 July 1876. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, GLNZ I3.

On page two however, things take a different turn:

“I want both you and McAndrew if you value your lives and your property to vote for the Abolition and to lower the dog tax” 
Image: The Irish Shepherd, pseud. Letter to Sir George Grey, page 2. 10 July 1876. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, GLNZ I3.

Signing off as "The Irish Shepherd" the writer was a musterer who was objecting to the dog tax and its dual taxation in multiple jurisdictions. This was a result of the Provincial system operating in New Zealand between 1852, when the six Provincial centres were first established, to 1876 when they were abolished by the Vogel government.

When New Zealand became a Crown Colony, separate from New South Wales in 1841, three provinces were established. They were New Ulster (the North Island, north of the Patea River in Taranaki), New Munster (the North Island, south of the Patea River and the South Island), and New Leinster (Stewart Island/Rakirua). In 1846, this was changed. New Ulster included the whole of the North Island and New Munster, all of the South Island plus Stewart Island/Rakiura. For the first time the provinces were separated from the central government. The system didn’t work as only one of the regional governments met, the other not at all. It was in 1852 that New Zealand was divided into six provinces: Auckland, New Plymouth (later Taranaki), Wellington, Nelson, Canterbury and Otago. Later provinces were set up as the populations throughout the country grew.

By the 1870s, Sir Julius Vogel believed that the provinces had broken down as they were in conflict with the Government on so many levels. He saw them as a financial liability and, except for Otago, where James Macandrew was superintendant, and Auckland, where George Grey was, everyone agreed.

Handcoloured portrait of James Macandrew. 1860s. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 503-1.

Sir George denounced the abolition as a “crime against the whole human race” (Press, 22 January 1876, Page 2), while Macandrew felt that Otago would be financially ruined (Press, 14 June 1876, Page 2).

The Irish Shepherd had to contend with the differing taxes from one province to the next, and as a musterer he had to find work where he could. He also had to have a number of working dogs and to be taxed on this as well, he felt was too much.

In the Otago Daily Times Letters to the Editor, 14 June 1870 issue, a letter writer going by the pseudonym "A Farmer" takes issue with the enforcement of the Dog Tax by police: “surely it is not meant any longer to squeeze this sort of revenue out of the agricultural portion of the community who are obliged to keep dogs for cattle purposes.” He concludes, “There is some reason in charging a high tax on dogs kept within towns, where the people do so out of fancy, without need of them.”

For the same kind of reason, it was the dog tax that nearly lead to violence in the Hokianga in 1898. When Henry Menzies was put in charge of dog registrations for the council in 1897 he only received one shilling per registration as commission, maybe as a consequence of that he sent 40 summons to Pukemiro Pa. This was the village of Ngāpuhi prophet Hōne Tōia who rallied together a large group to protest against being taxed on their dogs. Many Māori owned numerous dogs for hunting and they saw themselves as being discriminated against especially when many had little involvement with the cash economy. A battle was narrowly averted by the last minute intervention of Hone Heke’s grand-nephew and MP for Northern Māori, Hōne Heke Ngapuha.

Kohukohu photographer Charlie Dawes took a series of photographs of the so-called "Dog Tax War" for newspaper publication, including of the arrival and encampment of troops:

Charles Peet Dawes. Soldiers in Rawene, 1898. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 1572-1378.

Charles Peet Dawes. Soldiers in defensive formation at the temporary military camp at Rawene school. 1898. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 1572-429.

Others show Māori surrendering weapons before their arrest and subsequent incarceration in Mt Eden Prison.

Charles Peet Dawes. Surrendering rifles at Waima. 1898. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 1572-357.

Charles Peet Dawes. Arrested leaders: Romana Te Paehangi, Hone Mete, Hōne Tōia (standing), Wiremu Te Makara, and Rakene Pehi. 1898. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 1572-425.

In his 1876 letter the Irish Shepherd concluded, “I am on my way to Napier looking for shepperding[sic] or mustering when the season comes for it and as sure as I am a poor Irish Shepherd I will have both you and McAndrew burnt out of your houses and your lives won’t be very safe for I got plenty of my Countrymen about Auckland and Dunedin...”

Image: The Irish Shepherd, pseud. Letter to Sir George Grey, page 3. 10 July 1876. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, GLNZ I3.

A threat indeed but you can understand the frustration. We have many books on the early days of mustering, and shepherds, early colonial and Māori life at Auckland Libraries and you can read this letter and others online at Manuscripts online.

 Author: Bridget Simpson, Heritage Collections

Further reading


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For the love of animals: Dogs, cats and chooks!

May 3, 2020, 3:30 pm
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Kura Heritage Collections Online is a treasure trove of photos of every subject imaginable. We thought you might like to see a selection of lovely images of people and their pets. What do you find interesting about these photographs? Is it the animals, the people, the history or the fascinating reflection of our lives?


Image: Pat Reynolds. Children in a landscape, Whitford, ca 1965. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, Footprints 03855.

Kids and dogs go together like Weetbix and milk. Can you imagine the fun this lot must have had, racing up and down the hills with that long-legged dog? (We think it might be an English Pointer.) 


Image: W. A. Austin. Cat on show, Papatoetoe, 1971. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, Footprints 08674.

This must have been one of the grandest and fluffiest cats in the country in 1971, let alone Franklin! Surely that expression is simply due to irritation at the paparazzi’s adoration. Shohala Dior was voted the most popular cat in the show. 


Image: Russell Middlebrook. A boy with a dog on his back, 1933. J.T. Diamond Collection. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, JTD-04A-01151-1.

Now that’s the way to travel! This dog seems very relaxed on his young playmates back. If you think the weatherboard building behind them looks a little bit like a schoolhouse, you’d be right. It’s the original school for the Piha Mill settlement.

Image: Jessie Gunson. Cat and kitchen, Totara Park, 1939. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, Footprints 03184.

Even in the kitchen of a big house, with more ovens than you could shake a stick at, the cat is always welcome. This is just one of a series from Lady Jessie Gunson’s album ‘Around My Home’ which shows Totara Park homestead in the 1930s.


Image: Standard III class, Papatoetoe, 1928. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, Footprints 06227.

Can you spot the feline student in this class? I’ll wager he doesn’t do his homework and is always on the wrong side of the classroom door!


Image: Tomoana Full-Feed dog crackers stand, New Zealand National Dog Trials Championship, about 1968. Westfield Collection. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, NZMS-1803-00108-21.

Back in the day dog trials were a major event in New Zealand. Remember when they had a regular spot on TV? They were nail-bitingly tense for many viewers, watching the dogs wrangle those frustratingly crafty sheep!

Image: Pet Day at Waitakere School, 1931. J.T. Diamond Collection. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, JTD-15K-04531.

Do you remember the excitement of pet day at your school? You can tell Waitakere School was rural by the children’s choice of animals. What an exciting day it must have been!


Image: Neil Barr with his aunt and puppies at Beresford, southern Kaipara Harbour. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, JMB0144

Puppies are adorable, there’s no other word for it. This dog and her pup are at ‘Beresford’ farm in Rodney, now Gibbs Farm. Let’s guess what they named the puppy… 


Image: Pet day, Tuakau Primary School, 1979. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, Footprints 00226.

These kids with a pet chicken are posing just for fun, just what the photographer was looking for! This 1979 photo is from the Franklin Courier collection. Isn’t it a great shot? 


Image: Woman and pet dogs floating on air mattress, Laingholm Bay, 1920s. J.T. Diamond Collection. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, JTD-09K-04397-2.

Soggy dogs on a Li-Lo! Air mattresses have been around for a while, this lady is enjoying a lovely summer’s day at Laingholm Bay with her pups. This isn’t a Li-Lo though, they weren’t invented until the late 1940s. 


Image: Frank Morris. Three kittens in a pot, 1930s. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, FMO-0168-P.
Image: Frank Morris. Kitten in a pottery jug, 1930s. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, FMO-0169-P.

The marvel of something so tiny and so cute is eternal it seems. Putting tiny kittens in Very Small Things and taking photos of them has never gone out of style.  


Image: C.P. Dawes. Girl and kitten, 1910s. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 1572-1647.

I can’t imagine those Shirley Temple curls will last long! This girl in her pretty dress holding her kitten has a mischievous look about her! 


Image: Jack Gyde. Two men and a dog on the back of a ute, c1958. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 931-002.

This photo is titled ‘Two men and a dog on the back of a ute’. Pretty clear don’t you think? And so quintessentially Kiwi. Even if you grew up in the city it’s still part of the nostalgic identity of New Zealanders. Without dogs by our side where would New Zealand be?

Author: Liz Bradley, Research West
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Transcription tales: Rev. Benjamin Ashwell and the mission school at Kaitotehe

May 5, 2020, 9:29 pm
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During the COVID-19 lockdown, I have been transcribing Grey New Zealand Letters and was tasked with working on letters by authors whose surname begins with the letter 'A'. This includes 10 letters by Rev. Benjamin Yate Ashwell (1810-1883) spanning 1849-1871 (GLNZ A13.1-A13.10). Ashwell wrote these letters to Sir George Grey (1812-1898) who was twice governor of New Zealand, first from 1845-1853 and again from 1860-1868. All the letters that I, and my colleagues have been working on, are digitised and available via Manuscripts Online. The transcription work we are doing will not only assist with online searches but will help you read the letters, since nineteenth century script and abbreviations can be frustrating at times to read!

Envelope with seal and letter from Rev. Benjamin Ashwell to Sir George Grey. 27 December 1852. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, GLNZ A13.5.

Envelope with seal and letter from Rev. Benjamin Ashwell to Sir George Grey. 27 December 1852. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, GLNZ A13.5. 

Ashwell was born in Birmingham, England and trained with the Church Missionary Society in London (1831-1833). He spent a few years as an Anglican lay missionary in West Africa before emigrating in 1835 to New Zealand. Between 1839 and 1842 he helped Rev. Robert Maunsell (1810-1894) establish a mission station at Maraetai, Waikato Heads. Graduating from these duties, Ashwell set up and ran a mission station in the Waikato (1843 to 1863). Ashwell did not forget his missionary colleague though and remained in contact with him, mentioning him often in his letters to Grey.

The mission station Ashwell ran was located a short distance from the rear of the pā at Kaitotehe. The pā had been built at the foot of the sacred mountain, Mount Taupiri, by King Pōtatau Te Wherowhero (?-1860), paramount chief of the Waikato tribes. Kaitotehe lay on the flat and fertile land of the west bank of the Waikato River, opposite the settlement of Taupiri and within close vicinity of Ngāruawāhia. From this location, Ashwell was responsible for a large district of around 70 miles, comprising thirty villages and extending as far as Port Russell. Despite not having very robust health, Ashwell’s already busy working life was also occupied with running the mission station’s school for Māori children. Under his direction and indefatigable energy, the school grew and developed. From a colonial perspective it was successful (up until the war in the Waikato), leading Cowan to describe it as the “centre of religion and secular learning on the mid-Waikato” (1934: 21).

Two paintings, the top showing the Kaitotehe Mission Station where Rev. Ashwell was stationed, with Taupiri Mountain in the background, the bottom painting of Ruarangi[?]. 1858. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 4-1250-1. 

Ordained by Bishop George Augustus Selwyn, Ashwell is described as being temperamental and eccentric. Despite this he was influential and respected by the Waikato Māori, who called him Te Ahiwera or Hot Fire. He was not, however, supportive of the growing Kīngitanga (King) movement in the area and his letters are full of references to the growing unrest. When war broke out in the Waikato in 1863, he evacuated to Auckland. Based at Trinity Church in Devonport from 1866, he ran the Parish of the Holy Trinity, which at the time incorporated all of the North Shore. Whilst in this role, he also continued working as a missionary with Māori, holding a “Maori Service once a month at the Lake” (located between the suburbs of Takapuna and Milford), as well as working with communities in North Mahurangi and Te Muri (1871, GLNZ A13.10). After working again in the Waikato during the 1870s, he permanently returned to Auckland. He retired in 1883, ending a missionary career of over 49 years.

An engraving from the Missionary Register showing the mission station at Pepepe (Kaitotehe) near Taupiri, on the Waikato River. Engraving derived from an original by George French Angus. c.1864. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 4-1275.

The mission station at Kaitotehe was much drawn, painted and later photographed, including by the painter George French Angus (see above) and photographer Bruno L. Hamel (see further on). The latter visited the area in 1859, as part of the Government Scientific Exploring Expedition conducted by Dr. Ferdinand Hochstetter (see photographs further on). In addition to impressions showing the whole mission station, artists and photographers also focused on capturing specific elements. This included not only the school but also the church, which combined both Māori and Gothic Revival architectural elements, as seen in the sketch below. Hochstetter described the church as “a pretty specimen of a Maori building” and noted “its door-posts and gable-beams [were] gayly painted” (1867: 308).

Wood engraving from a sketch by Augustus Koch (mapmaker) of the Church at the mission station at Taupiri. Photographed by James D. Richardson. n.d. From: New Zealand Its Physical Geography, Geology and Natural History …  by Dr Ferdinand von Hochstetter, 1867, p308. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 4-6909.

Wood engraving from a photograph by Bruno L Hamel of the Mission station at Kaitotehe, Taupiri. Photographed by James D. Richardson. n.d. From: New Zealand Its Physical Geography, Geology and Natural History … by Dr Ferdinand von Hochstetter, 1867, p303. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 4-6901. 

Schooling at the mission was conducted in a "highly finished and ornamental weatherboarded house" containing a central school room, dining room and dormitory (New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, 14 September 1853) It is this mission school, that was the subject of many of Ashwell’s letters to Grey during the 1850s. Although Grey does not appear to have visited the school until January 1863, as the war in the Waikato was beginning to ignite, he was, however, pivotal in establishing and setting the tone for Māori education policies during the 19th century and well into the next. Grey believed in colonial theories of ‘civilisation’ and racial amalgamation (retaining and combining the most desirable aspects of European and Māori culture), although the affect was more akin to assimilation (ensuring Māori learnt European ways). Central to achieving these goals was his approach to education policy and for this he consulted with Rev. Maunsell, who was considered an authority on Māori education. Accordingly, when first in office Grey established the Education Ordinance 1847 to support Anglican, Roman Catholic and Wesleyan mission schools throughout New Zealand with public funds. This policy was founded on instruction in religion, the English language and training in manual and domestic skills, and was officiated by government inspectors. The later Native Schools Act 1858, which provided subsidies for ‘native’ mission boarding schools, was also based on these principles but additionally required Māori children to board on site.

Ashwell references Grey’s involvement in education policy when he wrote to him in 1852, stating "[k]nowing the interest which you take in the formation of Schools for the instruction of the Aborigines I take the liberty of bringing under your notice the present position and prospects of the School at Kaitotehe" (25 November 1852, GLNZ A13.4). Over the years of their correspondence, Ashwell informed Grey about the growing numbers of pupils at Kaitotehe. This was perhaps as a less informal way of reporting on the mission school’s progress, although Ashwell was also officially licensed inspector. For example, in 1850 Ashwell states that the number of pupils had risen to around 30-40 (24 May 1850, GLNZ A13.2). Less than two years later, he is pleased to report the number of pupils had nearly doubled to “sixty[,] chiefly girls" (27 December 1852, GLNZ A13.5). By the time Hochstetter visited in 1859, it had risen again to 94 pupils, consisting of 46 girls and 48 boys (1867: 307-308).

Bruno L. Hamel. Pupils posed outside the Kaitotehe Mission Station school. Taken during the Government Scientific Exploring Expedition, conducted by Dr. Ferdinand Hochstetter. 1859. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 7-A15830.

Although Ashwell does not describe the daily routines of school life in his letters to Grey, he does elaborate on this in Recollections of a Waikato Missionary:

“The rules were as follows:-- An hour before breakfast--6 a.m. in summer, 7 a.m. in winter--the bell rang: prayers and Bible-class for an hour; this I always took. 8 a.m. in summer, and 9 a.m. in winter, the bell rang for breakfast. 9 a.m. in summer, and 10 a.m. in winter, the bell rang for school. 1 p.m., dinner. 2 p.m., the sewing-school for girls, and farm work for boys, till 5 p.m. At 6 p.m., tea. After tea, the elder girls were engaged knitting, and the others in a reading class. Our usual course of instruction was reading, in native and English grammar, geography, history, writing, arithmetic, and singing …” (Ashwell, 1878: 20).

As the rules outline, there was a close adherence to the Education Ordinance fund regulations. This included foci on literacy and religious studies, as well as gendered activities for the pupils (as was typical of the time); namely indoor household work for the girls and outdoor farming for the boys. The latter is also revealed by Hochstetter’s description of the school during his visit. He observed that “Maori girls, who are here instructed in different branches of domestic work, while the boys are trained for agriculture and all sorts of useful trades” (Hochstetter, 1867: 309).

Despite Grey's departure from New Zealand in late 1853, to take on the post of governor of Cape Colony (South Africa), Ashwell continued to advise him about schooling in the Waikato and ask for assistance. In 1855, for example, he writes:

"I feel assured that your Excellency still feels an interest in the progress of Education amongst the Aborigenes [sic] of New Zealand. The Waikato Schools I believe are still progressing. Mr Maunsell Number 80 Scholars Mr Morgans 30 Half Castes & Native and Taupiri 52". (GLNZ A13.8, 1 September 1855).

The school was supported by annual government funding of around £100 through the Education Ordinance fund, but by 1852 the school was in debt. Ashwell relayed this to Grey explaining "[i]n 1850 I erected a large School House containing three rooms on one wing of mine own dwelling. This Building cost £280, and for its erection I received £50 from the Government Grant, and no other assistance" (24 November 1852, GLNZ A13.4). Further on in the letter, Ashwell catalogues the costs of running the school, describing how this often resulted in shortfalls. This was despite taking on boarders from 1846 and seeking other forms as revenue, such as mats woven by the female pupils. He notes:

"We have maintained, an average number of 50 Boarders, during the last three years and for their support have received only £100 per annum, from Government Grant, besides these scholars we board and pay an English Female Assistant. We are now more than £300 in debt. The question has now been forced on my attention whether I should not considerably diminish the number of scholars. This step I should deeply regret …" (ibid.).

Grey responded to Ashwell's request for assistance by sending him £100 towards the costs (27 December 1852, GLNZ A13.5). As this and other letters show, Grey played an important role in supplementing the school’s funding.

Something which we can identify with today, is the cost of food. Ashwell advised Grey in 1852 that he feared "food rising in price in consequence of the late discovery of gold in this Hemisphere" (24 November 1852, GLNZ A13.4). This comment is probably in reference to Charles Ring’s discovery of a small amount of gold near Coromandel town in 1852. As a solution, Ashwell informed Grey that he had bought around 100 acres of land, located 2 miles away, with the intention of enabling the mission station to be self-sufficient. In outlining his plans, he strategically appealed to Grey to help finance this endeavour:

"Revd. R Maunsell has undertaken that his school should plough and harrow it for us. For his preliminary operation, we need between £30 & 50, and my object now is to solicit this assistance from your Excellency. I forbear enlarging on the advantages which I expect to result to us from this undertaking. I am aware that your Excellency has more than once expressed strong opinions, upon the desirableness of helping Institutions to gain their own support, and I indulge strong hopes that the economical way in which the aid hitherto gained to us has been expended will induce your Excellency if possible to grant us the aid so much needed, at this juncture" (24 November 1852, GLNZ A13.4).

This tone and approach reappear in subsequent correspondence, where Ashwell states "[t]he kind interest your Excellency takes in our institutions is an encouragement to persevere" (27 December 1852, GLNZ A13.5). Even after Grey had left for South Africa, Ashwell continued to seek personal funding from him, and he was evidently successful. In his letter of 1855, he thanks Grey, stating "[t]he benefit Taupiri Institution has received from your present of Plough and Horses, induces me again to thank you for your many kind favours which have greatly encouraged us in our work. We trust that Agricultural Labours will eventually render the Institution self supporting" (GLNZ A13.8, 1 September 1855).

Evidently the strain of debt wore Ashwell down, as did reports by Rev. Maunsell about the school’s financial situation. In his letter of 28 March 1853, Ashwell took great pains to explain the reasons for the debt to Grey. He also enclosed accounts to back up his statement, which included a stated annual cost of £4.5.0 per child:

"I have the honor [sic] of forwarding for your inspection an account of the Funds of the Taupiri Institution from which your Excellency will see that the amount of the Debt was £321.0.0 at the time you so kindly sent the £100. Probably a mistake arose through a letter published in the New Zealander by the Revd. R Maunsell in October last he only knew that the School was considerably in debt, which being sufficient for the object of his letter he never enquired the amount. The annexed account was given to the Inspector in October last. it will be seen that the outlay in a suitable Building is the cause of the debt being so heavy. Your Excellency will be pleased to hear that this the blessing of God our School continues to prosper and still affords us much satisfaction" (28 March 1853, GLNZ A13.6).

Excerpts of accounts enclosed with a letter by Rev. Benjamin Ashwell to Sir George Grey. 28 March 1853. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, GLNZ A13.6. 

Excerpts of accounts enclosed with a letter by Rev. Benjamin Ashwell to Sir George Grey. 28 March 1853. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, GLNZ A13.6. 

Excerpts of accounts enclosed with a letter by Rev. Benjamin Ashwell to Sir George Grey. 28 March 1853. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, GLNZ A13.6. 

A more formal report about the school, including its finances, appeared in the Supplement to the New Zealand Herald on 11 June 1853. This report was written by Ashwell and formed part of a series of official ‘Accounts of the Schools in the District of Auckland’ in the supplement. Without any apparent concern for modesty, Ashwell ended his report by stating “[th]e personal and painstaking labours of the Rev. Mr. Ashwell and of Mrs. Ashwell, in teaching the children, and in the general care of the school, are most exemplary” (ibid.).

Bruno L. Hamel. People standing outside the Kaitotehe Mission Station and school with Mount Taupiri in the background. Taken during the Government Scientific Exploring Expedition, conducted by Dr. Ferdinand Hochstetter. 1859. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 7-A15853. 

As well as discussing the school’s debts with Grey, Ashwell wrote to inform him that his departure for South Africa was still felt by Waikato iwi, even after more than a year had passed:

"The Natives of Waikato often speak of your Excellency, and do not forget the many benefits they received from your kind and judicious administration. They much regret your not returning. We also join with them in their regrets, but as there is something selfish in our wishes, our prayer to God is that it may please him to make you equally successful in your endeavours to benefit the numerous Aboriginal Tribes of Southern Africa as you were in this country" (1 September 1855, GLNZ A13.8).

These feelings are echoed by a farewell address to Grey, that was published in the Maori Messenger: Te Karere Maori at the time of his departure in late 1853:

'Farewell Address From The Scholars of Taupiri School' from the Maori Messenger: Te Karere Maori, Volume V, Issue 131, 29 December 1853, p4. 

The article also lists the female students who signed the address, one of whom is perhaps the pupil Ashwell wrote to Grey about in 1855:

"[o]ne of our School girls, who presented the address to your Excellency wishes to write to you. I gave her permission as you expressed yourself pleased with her. I enclose her letter which is entirely her own you will excuse it as such" (1 September 1855, GLNZ A13.8). 

Unfortunately, this letter does not accompany Ashwell’s letter and searching using the students’ names from the newspaper article has not been fruitful. However, it may yet be waiting to be found somewhere in the library’s collections.

Patrick Joseph Hogan. Taupiri Maori signing an address to Sir George Grey prior to his departure from New Zealand. 1853. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 5-785. 

The Grey New Zealand Letters contain a wealth of information about 19th century colonial life in Aotearoa New Zealand, including missionaries and missionary stations, religion, governmental policy and education. At the heart of these letters and indeed any correspondence, are the relationships between people and the way these develop, strengthen or may even rupture over time through the activity of writing. Hopefully this post has inspired you to dip into the letters available online and make your own discoveries; for this period in time remains hugely relevant to the present day, including the reclamation of Mātauranga Māori and whakapapa.

Author: Dr Natasha Barrett, Senior Curator Archives and Manuscripts

Bibliography

Letters







Newspapers

Ashwell, Rev. Benjamin (1853) 'Taupiri School'. In: New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IX, Issue 847, 14 September 1853, p4. Available at: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZSCSG18530914.2.10 [Accessed: 16/04/2020].

Anonymous (1853) ‘Farewell Address from the Scholars of the Taupiri School’. In: Maori Messenger: Te Karere Maori, Volume V, Issue 131, 29 December 1853, p4. Available at: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MMTKM18531229.2.14  [Accessed: 16/04/2020].

Other publications

Ashwell, Rev. Benjamin (1878) Recollections of a Waikato Missionary. Auckland: William Atkin, Church Printer. Available at: 
http://www.enzb.auckland.ac.nz/document/?wid=4636&page=1&action=null [Accessed on: 17/04/2020]. N.B. The letters in this publication were originally published in the New Zealand Herald and then re-printed in the Auckland Church Gazette (1874-1876).

Cowan, James (1934) ‘Famous New Zealanders: No. 18: The Rev. B. Y. Ashwell: Missionary of Waikato: The Story of a Peacemaker’. In: The New Zealand Railways Magazine. Volume 9, Issue 6, 1 September, pp17-22. Available at: http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Gov09_06Rail-t1-body-d7.html [Accessed 20/04/2020].

 [Accessed 18/04/2020].

Lineham, Peter (n.d.) The Development of Churches on the North Shore, Auckland. Available at: http://www.methodist.org.nz/files/docs/wesley%20historical/northshorereligionrev6a.pdf [Accessed: 17/04/2020].



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“Puzzle fiends”: the crossword craze in New Zealand

May 17, 2020, 6:00 pm
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In the mid-1920s a craze hit the world which was described as a “mania,” “cult,” and “epidemic,” (Evening Star, 7 February 1925) and which had an impact on social activities, reading habits, films, music, and even fashion: the craze for crossword puzzles.

The first known crossword was created by Arthur Wynne, a journalist from Liverpool, and was published in the Sunday newspaper New York World on 21 December 1913. You can try your hand at the world’s first crossword here. Other American and British newspapers began to publish crosswords in the early 1920s. Simon & Schuster had the bright idea in 1924 to publish a book of crosswords; the result was a mania which swept the nation and then the globe. By February 1925, the original crossword puzzle book had already sold 600,000 copies (New Zealand Herald, 5 February 1925).

Puzzle mania inspired hit songs such as Crossword Mama, You Puzzle Me, Cross Word Puzzle Blues, and Since Ma’s Gone Crazy Over Cross Word Puzzles. American railway companies put dictionaries on their trains for the use of crossword-mad commuters. People solved crosswords on ferries, at home, at work, and at parties. They were even blamed for breaking up homes: it was claimed that in America “there have been reports of police magistrates sternly rationing addicts to three puzzles a day, with an alternative of ten days in the workhouse, because wives have complained that their misguided spouses have been neglecting the support of their families.” (Poverty Bay Herald, 21 February 1925).

Crossword, Auckland Star, 17 January 1925.

Solution, Auckland Star, 24 January 1925. 

The craze hit New Zealand in early 1925. The Auckland Star was the first local newspaper to publish a puzzle, on the 17th January, along with an explanation for readers on how to do it. The solution was published the following Saturday.

Other papers soon followed suit. The Manawatu Times assured readers in February that it would be introducing a crossword section, “in conformity with its policy of incorporating the latest and best features procurable in the newspaper world.” (Manawatu Times, 21 February 1925). The Otago Daily Times likewise published instructions for the new amusement, and a warning: “The thing seems so easy that it is difficult to resist the temptation to try ones’ hand—or rather one’s head. Ere long a snag is reached, and the help of another member of the family is asked; soon the entire household is involved, and a dictionary is brought into requisition.” (Otago Daily Times, 24 January 1925).

Cross-word puzzles, New Zealand Herald, 11 May 1925. 

By the middle of May, the New Zealand Herald reported that “the cross-word puzzle ‘craze’ or ‘mania,’ as some prefer to call it, has taken a firm hold of Auckland.” (New Zealand Herald, 11 May 1925).

Two Auckland theatres offered free tickets for the correct solution to a series of puzzles and had 500 responses. Other businesses and newspapers offered competitions with cash prizes, which led some to question the legality of crosswords (Poverty Bay Herald, 26 January 1926) and whether they might be considered gambling, as they were declared in South Australia (Evening Post, 18 June 1925).

Nevertheless, as the Herald related, “The vogue of the cross-word is now apparently in full swing. One may see enthusiasts at their self-appointed tasks on nearly every tram […] One young  man who was accustomed to solving knotty problems on his way home from work is said to have become so engrossed in a puzzle that he failed to notice the fact, when his tram reached the terminus. When he did look round triumphantly, on the completion of his task, he found that he was repassing the front of his office in Queen Street.” It was not only men entranced by the new fad; one father complained, “I never see the Herald Supplement nowadays. The girls grab it to do the puzzles.” (New Zealand Herald, 11 May 1925)

The Herald writer predicted that the craze would fizzle out by the end of winter, when people’s attention would turn to the “counter attractions of an Auckland summer […] Of course it is possible to solve the puzzles in the open air. But can one imagine anyone sitting on the beach and working out a cross-word puzzle?”

However, this was just the beginning!

Advertisement for Milne & Choyce, Auckland Star, 7 April 1925.

Sales of puzzle books soared, along with demand for dictionaries, thesauruses, and encyclopaedias. One large book-selling establishment in Auckland was reported to have completely sold out of puzzle books (New Zealand Herald, 11 May 1925), and library patronage suddenly increased. Reports from overseas claimed that  “many minor free libraries have removed their dictionaries from the shelves in consequence of the damage done by cross-word puzzle searchers, and the British Museum has now banned admittance to all such people,” (King Country Chronicle, 21 February 1925), while in the Los Angeles public library, high demand meant that dictionaries were only allowed to be used for five minutes at a time (New Zealand Herald, 7 March 1925). London museum staff were somewhat bemused by the sudden increase in visits and queries by crossword clue hunters. (Manawatu Times, 3 April 1925).

The Auckland Public Library published statistics in January 1927 showing the increased numbers in 1925 compared to 1926; according to Chief Librarian Mr Barr, this was “accounted for by the fact that in 1925 abnormal use was made of the library by persons interested in crossword puzzle competitions.” (Evening Post, 7 January 1927).

Despite some mockery of the new craze, people speculated that at least it was better for the intellect of the nation than some other more recent fads. Crossword puzzles may be “the new lunacy,” says one article in the Evening Star, but it cannot be denied that “they are teaching lots of persons to spell who previously had only sketchy ideas on the subject.” (Evening Star, 4 December 1924).

Cartoon, Auckland Weekly News, 5 February 1925, originally from London Punch. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, AWNS-19250205-49-5.

Even more intellectually challenging than solving crosswords was the activity of designing original puzzles. The rules of design were far stricter than they are now; a crossword was supposed to be exactly symmetrical, with only one in six squares blacked out, and words interlocking both ways (Timaru Herald, 16 January 1925). A cartoon reproduced in the Auckland Weekly News shows a fashionable woman sitting amongst rolls of black and white square patterned lino; “Oh, just send one sample of each,” she instructs the poor shop assistant, “My husband finds they give him such good ideas for his cross-word puzzles.”

A puzzle designed by a local reader and sent into the New Zealand Herald was much criticised: apart from having vague clues, not being perfectly symmetrical, containing too many black squares and two-letter words, it employed words from languages other than English, including the Māori words for ‘before’ (mua) and ‘behold’ (nā) which were “not in common English use.” (New Zealand Herald, 9 April 1925) (Incidentally, when libraries reopen, you might want to test out your reo skills with this book of fifty-six Māori crosswords!)

The much-criticised design. “Cross-word puzzles,” New Zealand Herald, 8 April 1925. 

The crossword craze had an impact on popular culture in New Zealand, and permeated social events up and down the country. The Evening Post reported that “Crossword teas are now popular,” and joked that “anybody who can successfully juggle with a cup of tea, a cream-cake, and a dictionary deserves a prize.” (New Zealand Herald, 8 April 1925). Women even made checkerboard sandwiches to serve, which “can just as well be called crossword sandwiches to-day, if one is given to that sort of play, and especially if one wants to give a crossword party.” These were constructed from slices of white and dark brown bread, layered together with butter, cut and “put together in such a way that a white block will alternate with a brown one, making a checkerboard appearance.” (Stratford Evening Post, 7 December 1925)

“Page 9 Advertisements Column 3,” Evening Post, 30 May 1925. 

The first crossword dance in New Zealand was held in Abel Smith Street, Wellington, on the 30th May 1925. At these events, already popular overseas, couples had to try and solve the crossword clues without stopping dancing! An illustration by Achille Beltrame on the cover of the Italian Domenica del Corriere shows a ballroom scene of that same kind:

Achille Beltrame, cover of La Domenica del Corriere, 15 February 1926.

Crossword mania even made its way into fashion. The Waikato Daily Times reported the London trends in January 1925: “The first cross-word frock appeared on Bond Street yesterday, indicating Britain's final surrender to the crossword puzzle craze. The familiar black and white squares, arranged in fantastic groupings, adorned the frock, the ends of the scarf, the front of the small felt hat, and the sides of the new fashionable envelope-shaped handbag. Cross-word jumpers are also appearing daily.” (Waikato Times, 12 January 1925). New Zealanders did not take the fashion to quite such extremes, but the influence of the crossword was nevertheless felt. Novelty crossword puzzle handkerchiefs were advertised throughout 1925 and 1926:

“Page 6 Advertisements Column 2,” Nelson Evening Mail, 13 May 1925. 

Readers of the Poverty Bay Herald were informed, somewhat wryly, that “crossword puzzles are said to be responsible for the return to favour of check patterns for both men and women’s garments. The 'horizontal’ and ‘vertical’ effects are so pronounced that they can be interpreted without consulting a dictionary.” (Poverty Bay Herald, 14 March 1925). Most New Zealand women would have sewn their own clothes, or had them made by a dressmaker, rather than bought them ready-made. Crossword patterned fabrics were advertised for children’s clothes, especially for making little girls’ dresses (Timaru Herald, 24 September 1925), and crossword pattern rompers were likewise popular even through until 1927 (Gisborne Times, 3 February 1926). Fabrics for women’s clothes were also advertised, though not as frequently.

Advertisement for Scotts Drapers and Clothiers, Karangahape Road, Auckland. New Zealand Herald, 24 February 1926.

Although plenty of children and adults dressed up as “crossword puzzles” for costume parties and dances over the winter of 1925 (Press, 13 July 1925) New Zealanders mostly limited the faddish pattern to accessories and trimmings in their daily dress, such as around the lapels and pockets of this coat design from the Waikato Times:

“A smart effect is obtained by the check trimming which relieves this handsome coat of tan velour cloth,”. Waikato Times, 21 May 1927.

These tennis dresses advertised by Beath & Co., Christchurch, show the popularity of checks that season; in fact, the dress on the left is described specifically as “finished with a cross-word puzzle border.”

Tennis frocks, “Page 11 Advertisements Column 3”. Press, 27 October 1925.


Compare to this tennis dress in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Made in 1926, it is trimmed with green linen appliqué in in a chequered pattern very reminiscent of a crossword design.

Tennis dress, made by Miss Hepburne Scott, 1926. © Victoria and Albert Museum. 

By 1927 the mania in New Zealand was fading. In March of that year, a writer in the Auckland Star noted that “the crossword puzzle craze has abated,” although “even today, when interest in it has languished, there are signs of the “puzzle fiends’” energy to be found in the reading department at the Wellesley Street institution.” (Auckland Star, 29 March 1927). Nearly a century later, newspapers continue to publish crosswords daily, and “puzzle fiends” are still found puzzling in our public libraries. Those who count themselves in that number will rejoice in the gradual reopening of libraries over the next few weeks, and in the meantime may enjoy perusing the links below to online crosswords and puzzle resources.

Author: Harriet Rogers, Heritage Collections


eBooks

B.J. Holmes, Pocket crossword dictionary, A. & C. Black, 2005.


David Astle, Cluetopia: The story of 100 years of the crossword, Allen & Unwin, 2013.


Oxford English Dictionary Online

Use advanced search to help solve word puzzles:
Look on the bottom right of the advanced search screen for a search box titled Restrict to entry letter or range. Type in the letters you have in the word separated by asterisks (*). Click the search button, and results are displayed - your answer should be among the them.
Access through Auckland Libraries

PressReader

Get instant online access to today's eMagazines from around the world in full colour, full-page format. Just like reading the print edition, you can browse articles and other key content, such as pictures, advertisements, classifieds, comics, crossword puzzles and notices.

Stuff

Daily crosswords and other puzzles.

L.A. Times

Games sections for crosswords and more.

New York Times

Crosswords and puzzles, some free, some subscription.


The Guardian

Regular and cryptic crosswords


Mirror

Crosswords and more.

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Frederick Jenner's diary

May 26, 2020, 1:00 pm
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As part of Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections working from home effort, our teams are busy transcribing letters and manuscripts from our collections which have been digitised and are currently available on Manuscripts Online. My transcription tale is from a 'Diary kept from 1861-1865 by Mr. Frederick Jenner of Teviotdale, Canterbury, containing an account of his voyage from Liverpool to Lyttleton on the S.S. Great Britain, and of his subsequent life on his sheep run, and at Christchurch'.

Image: Diary kept from 1861-1865 by Mr. Frederick Jenner, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, NZMS 1.

I was drawn to this manuscript for a number of reasons. The S. S. Great Britain was a famous ship and there is an interesting passenger list for the voyage, including the first English cricket team to tour Australia and Thomas Hocken, who worked as the ship's doctor.

The scope and contents of the journal also appealed. This is a substantial journal of 200 plus pages and covers a significant time in the history of Aotearoa. In hindsight it was hubris to think transcribing the journal could be quickly or easily completed.

The S.S. Great Britain departed from Liverpool on 20 October 1861 and arrived at Melbourne on 24 December. I initially really struggled with the handwriting but after some web searches and reading about sailing I have managed to figure out most of the words that were stumping me and I'm learning a lot about rigging and sails!


Thursday Oct. 24th
Fresh breeze & a fine wind
howling to S... in all squall
sails. Noon ditto wind & weath
Lat. 45. 33N Long 11°7'W 225 'm[iles]

Friday Oct. 25th moderate breeze
& fine. Passed an American
Barque. Standing at ?
Midnight squally with
heavy rain, Noon moderate
& fine wind very variable
Lat. 42° 18'N Long. 12° 27'W 204 '[miles]

Saturday light breeze and fine
set all ? studding sails
noon in all studding sails...

This page is a good example of the informational entries in the diary.

Building on an interest in late 19th century cricket tours I was hoping to read about the English cricket team's preparation for their Australian tour but there is disappointingly little on-board gossip so far. Each day's entires consist mainly of weather and wind reports, latitude and longitude readings and a total of how many miles the ship has covered along with the occasional sighting of other vessels and of islands: Porto Santo, Gran Caneria and, most notably in the journal, Trindade and Martin Vaz.

The entries from the page below covering November 16th and 17th stand out. They sight two other ships; one "large ship with a double topsail" and the other an "American barque." There are sketches of these ships and another of Great Britain sailing between the islands of Trindade and Martin Vaz.

 
Image: From 'Diary kept from 1861-1865 by Mr. Frederick Jenner', page 20.
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, NZMS 1.

The day after S.S. Great Britain passed between the islands the journal continues: "at 7.30 one of the 3rd class passengers (an old man) had a fit and died...2.pm committed the body to the deep." This page stands out from the previous weeks' wind and weather reports.

I have often wondered how I could imagine the ocean journeys our ancestors took to come to Aotearoa. Reading and transcribing these entries has made me consider how the repetitive days of an Atlantic crossing compare to the repetitive days of transcribing an Atlantic crossing during the Covid-19 lockdown. Frederick was young, in his late teens or early twenties at the most during the journey. I wonder if reading his later, more substantial journal entries will illuminate his character and provide clues as to his reticence in these early entries.

Great Britain was a luxury liner and, when launched in 1843, the largest vessel afloat. It is not too much of a problem then that Frederick doesn't tell us a huge amount about life during this crossing or add much to the collected stories of journeys on-board Great Britain as life on board has been well documented by passengers. Indeed, a book was published about this very journey and a reproduction is available at the Bill Laxon Maritime Library.


Image: Illustration of the S.S. Great Britain in 1853, after her refit to four masts, retrieved from Wikipedia.

I have cheated a little and looked ahead and Jenner does write fuller entries as the voyage goes on. Happily we will be able to add this account to the existing record of the famous ship's voyages across the Atlantic.

I do not know if this task exacerbates the Groundhog Day feeling of the past few weeks or if it provides some perspective on repetitive days. Either way it has provided meaningful work from home and promises to get more and more interesting. In addition to recording his experiences of Aotearoa life in this time the transcription will have value in the names and places he records. This enables others to add to their knowledge of how their tupuna lived here.

Author: Andrew Henry, Heritage Collections
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Auckland Libraries’ research services during Alert Level 2

May 27, 2020, 3:58 pm
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We are excited to be able to reopen Auckland Libraries' research spaces to customers at Alert Level 2. But we are not quite back to business as usual yet.

Making sure customers and staff are safe is important to us. We have temporary measures in place including limits on the number of people who are allowed into our libraries, limits on time spent inside and compulsory sign-in for contact tracing.

Due to physical distancing requirements we cannot currently offer lengthy one-to-one research assistance but there is a lot we can do to help you find the information you need.

Image: National Publicity Studios. Students at Auckland Central City Library, 1959.
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 895-A59647.

What can you do from home?

We have a handy guide for researching your family history from home and you will find additional guides to help you get started with your research on the Auckland Libraries website.

If you are looking for news items, Papers Past is a rich source of full text New Zealand newspapers published up until the 1940s. Or if your topic is more contemporary search for references in the Auckland People and Events section of Kura Heritage Collections Online. Kura is a great resource in general, whether you are looking for information about your family, local history or wanting to explore our heritage collections. If you are looking for photographs, search on Heritage Images too. 

We are continuing to run our popular HeritageTalks series via Zoom, along with other special events like our upcoming Democracy 2020 talk series. Check out the latest event listings on our website. Or you can catch up on past sessions on Ngā Pātaka Kōrero Auckland Libraries podcast or on our YouTube channel.

What do you need to know to prepare for your visit?

We have contact tracing in place at all our sites. You will need to check in each time you visit. If you have a smart phone it is a great idea to bring this along as it makes this process a bit quicker. If you do not have a smart phone, paper sign-in sheets are available.

There are limits on the number of customers we can have inside the library, so depending on demand on the day of your visit there may be a limit to how much time you can spend inside.

We have set things up a bit differently to allow for physical distancing so there are fewer computers, desks and microform readers available.

The best thing you can do before you come in to see is us get in touch. We can help you with things like booking time on our microfilm readers, preparing the material you need so it is ready when you arrive or we may be able to help you get what you need without coming in.

Image: National Publicity Studios. Students in a library at the University of Auckland, 1950s or 1960s. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 895-A73924.

How to get in touch…

We are here to help – whether you would like some virtual assistance by phone or email or you would like to talk to us before you come to the library.

Please find research centre specific email addresses below and click on the research centre names to view their opening days and hours.

Research Central: arc@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

Research North: library.northheritage@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

Research South: library.southheritage@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

Research West: library.westheritage@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

Sir George Grey Special Collections: specialcollections@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz

If you have a general research enquiry, please fill in our online query form or give us a call on 09 377 0209 and we will find the right person to get in touch with you.

Author: Stacey Smith, Manager Research Delivery
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Happy birthday Smith & Caughey’s

June 1, 2020, 3:12 pm
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Smith & Caughey’s is one of the few remaining old-style department stores that is still delivering quality goods and a touch of luxury to their customers. I walk past the Queen Street department store on my way to work and always pause to look at their artistic and imaginative window displays. Seeing that Smith & Caughey’s is celebrating their 140th year in business this year prompted me to take a look at what we have in the Auckland Council Archives collection about this venerable store.

Smith & Caughey’s building on Queen Street, 1982.  Photographer J Nelson, Auckland City Council. Auckland Council Archives, ACC 024/2ar.

Smith and Caughey’s building on Queen Street is in fact made up of two buildings that are joined together across the lower four levels to form the department store. Auckland Council Archives holds many beautifully detailed building permit plans for the buildings that make up the present-day store, including these drawings by architect Roy Lippincott for the extension to the store on Wellesley Street in 1929.

Smith & Caughey Limited, Wellesley Street extension (south façade and north elevation), 1927. Architect Roy Lippincott. Auckland Council Archives, AKC 336/1047 sheet 3 of 21.

Smith & Caughey Limited, Wellesley Street extension (west and east elevations), 1927.  Architect Roy Lippincott. Auckland Council Archives, AKC 336/1047 sheet 4 of 21.

Roy Lippincott (1885-1969) was an American architect. In 1921, he entered a design competition with Edward Billson for the Auckland University College arts building. Lippincott and Billson won the competition and later that year Roy moved to Auckland. While based in Auckland, he designed many distinctive buildings which often incorporated intricate ornamental design motifs. The best known of his work is what we now know as the Old Arts Building at the University of Auckland.  He also designed the University’s biology building, the Berlei factory (on the corner of Hobson Street and Wellesley Street West) and the tearooms in the Farmers Trading Company building (now The Heritage Hotel on Hobson Street). Roy Lippincott returned to America in 1939, eventually retiring from practice in 1958.

Smith & Caughey Limited, Wellesley Street extension (cross section and longitudinal section), 1927.  Architect Roy Lippincott. Auckland Council Archives, AKC 336/1047 sheet 5 of 21.

Smith & Caughey Limited, Wellesley Street extension (half elevations and sections), 1927.  Architect Roy Lippincott. Auckland Council Archives, AKC 336/1047 sheet 7 of 21.

Auckland Council Archives has three offices where the public and Council staff can access the archives of the former councils and undertake research. The archivists can advise visitors about the nature of the information they can expect to find, research strategies and navigating the archives database. At present under Level 2 of the Covid-19 lockdown, Auckland Council Archives remains closed to the public. We are still answering phone and email enquiries and be contacted via archives@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz or ph: 890 2427.

Author: Vicky Spalding, Senior Archivist (Outreach) Auckland Council Archives


You can also learn more about the founders of Smith & Caughey’s and the history of the store by reading Smith & Caughey’s own blogs on their website.

Founding a family business: William Henry Smith and Andrew Clarke Caughey, brothers-in-law and partners, building a lasting legacy.

Marianne Caughey Smith-Preston: The inspirational journey of our Smith & Caughey's Founder.
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The Mackelvie book bequest at Auckland Libraries

June 14, 2020, 2:00 pm
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The book bequests from James Tannock Mackelvie are jewels in the Library’s Heritage Collections. Scottish-born James Mackelvie was already an experienced businessman when he arrived in Auckland in 1865 to take up a junior partnership and fifth share in the firm of Brown, Campbell & Company. Six years later he left New Zealand a wealthy man, and spent his life selecting works to send back to Auckland for the “cultural education of the young and the enjoyment of Aucklanders”. These well-chosen gifts continue to attract interest and scholarship at Auckland Libraries.

Image: James D. Richardson.  Portrait of James Tannock Mackelvie.  Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 4-1343.

The books include five works featured in Real Gold: treasures of Auckland City Libraries. These items can be found in the online exhibition based on this book on the library website.

Since the publication of Real Gold in 2007 we have developed the Kura Tūturu Real Gold case in the Library’s Reading Room. This allows us to showcase the works in the book – a new treasure each month – to let visitors see the originals up close. As part of this programme we record a podcast talk with library experts to hear more about the works. This is in line with James Mackelvie’s wish that the collection be a teaching collection. We are learning more about these works as we share them more widely through displays, podcasts and research opportunities.

In 2020 we also welcome Mary Kisler as the Auckland Library Heritage Trust Scholar. Mary is currently working through the original letters to and from James Tannock Mackelvie held in Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections. Mary’s research will result in a long-awaited monograph on JT Mackelvie as well as transcriptions, which the Library will add to our catalogue records to enhance the records we hold. Mary has already made some notable discoveries about some of the bequests gifted to Auckland and about JT Mackelvie and his family through the extensive correspondence.

Image: Mary Kisler in the reading room.


Hear about the Tapa Book. This was printed for Alexander Shaw in London in 1787 and three centuries later it has been the focus of new research, with a seminar – Tapa Talks - held at the Central City Library and much interest in the thirty-nine specimens of barkcloth which make this a unique work.


You can view every page of this extraordinary book on Kura Heritage Collections Online, and hear Daren Kamali, Pacific Heritage Advisor discuss it here:




You can also hear Georgia Prince, Principal Curator Rare Books talk about one of her favourites, Auguste Racinet’s book, Polychromatic Ornament, and see it in the Real Gold online exhibition.


Listen to the track here.

The complete title of this work, translated from the French gives a sense of the contents:

‘Polychromatic ornament : one hundred plates in gold, silver, and colours, comprising upwards of two thousand specimens of the various styles of ancient, oriental, and mediæval art, and including the renaissance and the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries / the subjects selected and arranged, in historical order and in a form suitable for practical use, by A. Racinet; with explanatory text, and a general introduction’

Image: Auguste Racinet. Polychromatic Ornament, 1877. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections.

And it should be noted that this volume is described as ‘elephant’ in terms of size.


Alongside Racinet’s work on design Auckland visitors can also see Owen Jones’ The Grammar of Ornament thanks to James Mackelvie’s bequest. Published two decades earlier than the Polychromatic Ornament, in 1856, this seminal work with 100 plates is still in print. Read more in the Real Gold online exhibition. 

Image: Owen Jones, The Grammar of Ornament, London 1856. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections.


And James Mackelvie made sure that New Zealand works were part of his bequest from the outset. This exceptional work with fold-out plates depicting the New Zealand landscape and newly arrived Company settlers was published in London in 1845. Read more about Edward Jerningham Wakefield and Adventure in New Zealand in the Real Gold online exhibition. 

One of the most admired of all New Zealand books, Walter Buller’s A history of the birds of New Zealand, first published in 1873, was gifted to Auckland by James Mackelvie. Only 500 copies of the hand-finished coloured plates were produced.

When the Mackelvie Society was formed in 2019 to support the work started with James Mackelvie’s bequest and the work of the Mackelvie Trust, the Library was delighted to support this initiative. Along with the Auckland War Memorial Museum and the Auckland Art Gallery, who also have significant works thanks to James Mackelvie, the Library invites you to enjoy these books – in person and online.

Author: Jane Wild, Manager Heritage Collections


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Working from home: COVID-19 - A snapshot in time

June 16, 2020, 8:30 pm
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We would like to invite Aucklanders to take part in a contemporary archive collecting initiative designed to create a resource for researchers to use in the future.

We are currently collecting voices from communities across Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland in order to:

● Include the real voices and sounds from the communities.
● Include an accurate and true recording of our lives during this crisis - 'A snapshot in time'.
● Gather a good spread of material from communities across the region.
● Have a wide variety of voices represented, including different age groups.

Image:Sharon Smith. COVID-19 Student desk 1 set-up in garage, Titirangi. Carefully constructed desk made from old unused door, plastic storage boxes covered with sleeping bags, and old office chair, April 2020.
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, NZMS 3925.
What types of things?

Writing such as diary entries, thoughts, recollections of feelings, poems, photographs and drawings, collected screen shots of social media posts, sounds, a combination of things is also fine.

Who can I ask?

Yourself - thoughts, feelings, accounts about life at the moment, and how COVID-19 has impacted your day to day life over the past few months. What are your reflections, and your hopes for the future?

Children - what were children's impressions of life under lockdown? Impressions from a parenting perspective would be great also.

Groups - Perhaps you could do this as a group activity – such as the small group within Council ICT who have been running a COVID-19 photograph competition, or a writing group, sports group - any group, or religious community.

We made an earlier archive collecting call out to Auckland Council staff. Here is a photo-essay on the topic of working from home during the pandemic, it features a selection of these images and an audio interview clip.

Image: Sharon Smith. COVID-19 Work desk 2 set-up in garage, Titirangi. Makeshift office desk featuring old fruit box supports and length of painted plywood, and fancy office chair, April 2020.
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, NZMS 3925.

Image: Sharon Smith. COVID-19 Bedroom office, Titirangi, April 2020.
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, NZMS 3925

For those of us office workers who were not part of essential services, or a multi-agency response team such as the Regional Isolation and Quarantine Team, we may have been working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Image: Renee Orr. "Thank you Essential Workers” sign, Oxton Road, Sandringham, Auckland, April 2020.
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, NZMS 3925.

On the 20th of March 2020 it was announced by the Mayor of Auckland, Phil Goff, that Auckland Council libraries, pools and recreation centres, the Maritime Museum, War Memorial Museum and Art Gallery were to close for two weeks. In reality, it took a bit longer than that to re-open…

On Saturday the 21st of March, he called on all Auckland businesses that can do so to support their staff to work from home, to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 (novel coronavirus).

COVID-19 Alert Level 4 came into force at 11:59pm on Wednesday 25 March 2020. 

The people of Aotearoa New Zealand were told to “Stay home” to “Save lives”.

Image: Stephen Lasham.“Stay home, Save lives” billboards, Onehunga, May 2020.
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, NZMS 3925

The Government advised that we needed to stay at home unless we were travelling to or from essential work or making necessary trips such as grocery shopping and trips to doctors, pharmacies and vets.

Image: Sharon Smith.“We’re going home” sign, front door, Titirangi Medical Centre, April 2020.
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, NZMS 3925

A rush ensued, we had to get ready to work from home with little time to spare. Ad hoc desks and workstations were set up in people’s homes. Advice for working from home was supplied by businesses, tools such as Skype for Business, and Microsoft Teams were suggested as ways to keep in touch with our team. 

We needed to find out about what was expected of us in this new world order. Suggestions of working in manageable chunks, having a ‘to-do’ list, being realistic about what we could achieve, and having a daily routine. Tips on how to avoid procrastination and household chores were given, we were encouraged to share successes and learning on how to work well remotely, including how to arrange a schedule so it works for everyone in your whare. We were also advised to be aware of the unusual work situation we were in and to limit stress, and to be kind to ourselves, and to others.

Image: Bridget Simpson. Transcribing letters from the Sir George Grey New Zealand Manuscript collection.
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, NZMS 3925.

Among other things, staff from the Libraries Heritage Team worked transcribing Sir George Grey’s New Zealand letters, cataloguing photographs in the Auckland Weekly News, writing blogs for this site, and starting the 'COVID-19 – A snapshot in time' archive.

Existing online resources such as Lynda.com, LinkedIn Learning and in-house resources were suggested for those interested in increasing their capability to work remotely and for those leading a remote team.

Other ways of connecting with people included via the business intranet social groups and email.

Some people have loved being able to work from home, citing the advantages of less interruptions, greater productivity, the enjoyment of not having to spend time commuting to and from the office, less pollution from exhaust emissions and more time to exercise.

Image: Natasha Barrett. Grafton Gully cycleway and motorway off-ramp, devoid of traffic, Grafton, Auckland, May 2020. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, NZMS 3925

Image: Sharon Smith. Walking shoes discarded at the front door, Titirangi Road, April 2020.
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, NZMS 3925.


Many people have appreciated keeping things simple, a new way to work, and have experienced an increased sense of wellbeing and self-determination. Some dogs have been on more walks than they may care to remember.

COVID-19 Alert Level 3 came into force at 11:59pm on Monday 27 April 2020.

As part of the 'COVID-19 - A snapshot in time' archive, Sue Berman – oral historian – talked with colleague Brent Giblin from Research West on the last day of the Level 3 lock down.


Listen to the track here.

Image: Bridget Simpson. Tilly watches the daily 1pm announcement at Alert Level 3, April 2020.
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, NZMS 3925.

Following this announcement an increasing number of home delivery options for businesses swung into action.

Image: Stephen Lasham. Home delivery sign in butcher shop at Greenwoods Corner, Auckland, April 2020.
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, NZMS 3925.

COVID-19 Alert Level 2 came into force at 11:59pm on Wednesday 13 May 2020. 

Some of us were invited to come back into the office, travel restrictions on buses remained, social distancing in the workplace set out, and ‘work bubbles’ were encouraged. Regular hand washing was still seen as imperative.

Image: Natasha Barrett. “Please stand here” decal, Tattoo, Karangahape Road, Auckland, May 2020.
Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, NZMS 3925

COVID-19 Alert Level 1 came into force at 11:59pm on Monday 8 June 2020.

It will be interesting to see what the appetite for working from home is for employees and employers in the weeks and months ahead. What will be the future of working from home, what will it look like?

We are keen to hear about your experiences working from home, did it work out for you? What did the set-up look like? Would you like to continue to have the option as part of your work in the future?

Please consider contributing items to the Auckland Libraries, Heritage Collections team’s 'COVID-19 - A Snapshot in Time' collection. We are seeking to gather more material to document Aucklanders response to COVID-19, now and in the future.

Please contact Sharon Smith via email (sharon.smith@aucklandcouncil.govt.nz) if you would like to take part.

To those who have donated to our archive, thank you very much. Recording and collecting Auckland’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic will allow the public of Auckland, Aotearoa and beyond, a resource that will be researched, cared for, and cherished for generations to come.

Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou.

Author: Sharon Smith, Senior Librarian Archives & Manuscripts
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Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland: stories of change

June 22, 2020, 6:30 pm
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In Aotearoa / New Zealand, as in the rest of the world, we find ourselves facing a time of unprecedented and unsettling change. Our biggest city Auckland, economic powerhouse and largest population centre is currently engaged in a difficult task of re-calibrating for the new environment. While we as citizens of Auckland face this collective challenge, we are also presented with an unusual opportunity; a chance to decide what the next steps in the city’s journey will be.

Image: Mark Gosper. Auckland City, April 2020.

The following podcasts have been drawn from across our collection, each reflecting on an aspect of Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland's journey to date as we look toward the stories yet to be told.

“In 1900 Auckland was home to five hundred gas lamps and fifty thousand people. A city in name if not yet in earnest, it was barely past its frontier beginnings. A canyon of robust stone buildings now hinted at permanence astride a lumpy isthmus, lapped by the tides of two large harbours, this unpretentious outpost of Britain remained wedded more to nature than man.” So begins our first track taken from the popular Books and Beyond radio and podcast series, hosted by Karen quoting from Maurice Shadbolt’s Dove on the Waters, and Louisa who celebrate Auckland’s anniversary with poems, historical recollections and scenes from classic and contemporary literature which pay tribute to our beautiful city.


Listen to the track here.

Hēnare Mātene Te Whiwhi praises the well-behaved European population of Auckland in the next track. Te Whiwhi was an influential young rangatira and closely related to Te Rauparaha to whom he is writing here. He was impressed by the British monarchy which inspired him to establish a similar system of governance for Māori in Aotearoa. Such attempts were frustrated by events such as the mid-century Waikato wars, sorely testing Te Whiwhi’s idealism and striving for peace among his people. The track initially appeared as part of the Kīnaki series which presented a sample of letters written to Sir George Grey and his contemporaries in te reo Māori.


Listen to the track here.

Also seeking harmony in settler New Zealand was Sarah Mathew, wife of the surveyor Felton Mathew, who arrived at the Waitematā Harbour in 1840 to assist her husband in selecting a site for the capital of Aotearoa, New Zealand. The couple soon moved into a tent in the area we now call Britomart. In a box beside the tent was what Sarah refers to in her diary as, “my devoted piano”. In this track from our 2019 spring concert series Dr Polly Sussex gave us a glimpse of recreational music in pioneering life in early Auckland using examples from the musical scrapbooks of the family of early missionary Henry Williams. Now held at Auckland Libraries, these scrapbooks of hand copied music contain fine examples of the sort of music played. Not many families had grand pianos at that time, so the practical second-best was the square pianoforte on which Dr. Sussex performed.


Listen to the track here.

Far from “a canyon of robust stone buildings” which “hinted at permanence” Auckland’s centre of gleaming sky-scrapers and bustling footpaths is now the busy hub of what Hugh Dickey labels our “primate city”. In his talk from our 2019 HeritageTalks series Hugh presented a fresh perspective on the growth of our towns and cities revealing a story behind the statistics.


Listen to the track here.

A significant part of Auckland’s story of growth is migration, both domestic and international. Aneta Jean Hart’s experience is one common to many Māori who became part of the “urban drift” from rural New Zealand to the cities during the early to mid-twentieth century largely in search of employment. Hart worked in the cannery department at Westfield freezing works, a large employer which was based alongside the southern railway line near Ōtāhuhu. The works was one of many employers which provided a surrogate community for people displaced from papakāinga to the melting pot of the city. She also lived for a time at Camp Bunn, a transit camp for people waiting on State houses to be built.


Listen to the track here.

Dorothy Butler was also looking for a home; a playcentre for the young people of Birkenhead. Told by the all-male local council she could have an old tin sports shed, if she moved it, she recalls of the experience, “I can remember baking hot scones for all these dripping rats of men”. Not one to take the heat off a task she jumped at the opportunity when an old home set for demolition appeared to be the perfect prize. Her persistence eventually saw success in creating a place that the children could call their own: “I mean if you look back on your life you see it as a series of strong women ultimately getting what they want”. Listen to Dorothy’s first-hand account in a track which originally featured as part of the Suffrage exhibition “Wāhine Take Action”


Listen to the track here.

Women were often on the front line of calls for action and change as further illustrated by Elizabeth McRae’s recollection of His Majesty Theatre’s demolition in the early hours of a January morning in 1988. The theatre, alongside the Mercury off Karangahape Road were long time homes to many local Auckland theatre productions and had become a beloved part of the city’s cultural scene. Hear Elizabeth talk about Auckland’s theatrical scene and the protest in a track from our series which accompanied 2019’s Curtain Up! exhibition.


Listen to the track here.

Many of Auckland’s oldest buildings can be found in the city’s suburbs where change is often, though not always, at a more gradual pace. You may be living in one yourself. If you’ve ever been curious about the history of your home, or indeed any older building, our series on researching your property is full of potential pathways to find out the stories behind your brick walls. The track selected here focuses particularly on the services offered by Auckland Council’s Heritage Unit. You can find the complete series in our HeritageTalks 2020 playlist.


Listen to the track here.

In our final selected track University of Auckland student Isabella Wensley interrogates the symbolism of Maungakiekie/One Tree Hill. Her research was conducted as the result of a Summer Scholarship awarded by the University and supported by the Auckland History Initiative. The obelisk which stands atop the hill is she says “a complicated monument that can and does communicate different messages. Dictating exactly what message is intended would always be silencing the voice of another… even the most identifiable spaces so closely linked to Auckland are not really always ours, and sometimes the use of them can be outside of our control”.


Listen to the track here.

We hope you enjoy these stories of Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland; reminders that while we are shaped by our history our environment is ever changing and part of a conversation in which we can all participate. What messages would we want our city to say about us?

Author: Mark, Research Central



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Let the people decide: referendums in New Zealand History

June 24, 2020, 2:00 pm
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Image: Advertisement from the Wairarapa Age. 2 December 1911.

Normally, the task of writing, debating, and approving legislation is delegated to our elected members of parliament. In a referendum, though, the public are given the opportunity to vote directly for or against a proposal. As Nigel Roberts writes on Te Ara,“referendums are a means for Parliament to avoid making decisions on controversial and divisive issues without public approval”. The issues at play in parliament-authorised referendums are inevitably highly contested.

The two referendums taking place during this year’s general election are no exception. In 2020, New Zealand voters will be given chance to vote in favour or opposition of legalising recreational cannabis, and the End of Life Choice Act 2019. These referendums are the result of extended processes of political debate both inside and outside parliament, culminating in the poll of public opinion to authorise legalisation.

With that in mind, it is worth asking: when did we start holding referendums? We might look back to the year 1893 to learn more about the first popular votes in New Zealand history.

It’s all about alcohol

You may already recognize 1893 as the year the women’s suffrage movement achieved victory in New Zealand, when parliament gave women the right to vote on the same grounds as men. The successful campaign centred around the efforts of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). Temperance supporters saw the root of many social problems in the prevalence of alcohol in colonial society. They regarded the right of women to vote as essential to support prohibition and other social reforms.

A major element of the WCTU’s tactics in campaigning for women’s suffrage involved pressuring political leaders by demonstrating popular backing for women’s suffrage. To this end, the WCTU expanded the suffrage cause by founding Women’s Franchise Leagues across New Zealand to accommodate non-temperance supporters of the suffrage movement. The suffragists also famously presented a series of pro-suffrage petitions to Parliament from 1891 to 1893 which featured increasingly larger numbers of signatures from women. The last petition in 1893 carried almost 32,000 names, around a quarter of the unenfranchised female vote—making it then the largest petition ever in New Zealand to that point.

Prohibitionists also saw popular politics as the route to achieving prohibition. As the prominent Liberal Party MP and prohibitionist Robert Stout explained in an 1893, “[The prohibitionists] do not ask this Parliament for prohibition. They ask that this question should be sent to the people.” These words came as Stout argued for a bill had introduced in 1893, which would create district elections for continuance, reduction, or prohibition of liquor licenses. Votes were to take place every three years and allow the participation of all general election voters.

Image from the Alcoholic Liquors Sale Control Act (1893)

The final Alcoholic Liquors Sale Control Act (1893) came instead from Prime Minister Seddon. It was all but identical to Stout’s proposal except for provisions designed to protect the liquor industry. Seddon proposed a 60% majority for prohibition to pass, and the participation of at least 50% of a district’s voters to produce a valid result. From 1895 the licensing elections also took place together with the general elections, further linking prohibition with national politics.

The cause of prohibition grew in popularity over successive elections as New Zealand entered the twentieth century, leading prohibitionists to push for a binding national referendum on prohibition. The first national referendum on liquor licensing took place during the general election of 1911, with prohibition failing by less than 5% of the vote.

New Zealand Graphic. Map of North Island voting patterns in the local option for liquor licenses. 13 December 1911. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, NZG-19111213-19-1.

The prohibition vote suffered an even narrower defeat in 1919 after the special votes of overseas soldiers carried continuance by only 2%.

Leslie Hinge, Auckland Weekly News. Men gathered at night in Cathedral Square, Christchurch to await the results of the liquor referendum,  17 April 1919. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, AWNS-19190417-34-3.

National support for prohibition remained significant if in slow decline until the 1930s, when the failure of prohibition in America discredited the cause. But triennial referendums on licensing continued to be held, barring wartime exemptions, until 1987. Parliament finally abolished the requirement in 1989 in an overhaul of liquor licensing laws. Despite its remarkably contentious beginnings, Neill Atkinson observes in Adventures in Democracy the end of the long-running referendums took place with barely any notice. Although liquor licensing is no longer so deeply divisive an issue, it is notable that New Zealanders went to the polls 24 times during the 20th century to vote about alcohol. Just 12 referendums took place on other subjects during the same time.

Toward the present

Perhaps the most consequential exercise of the popular vote took place during the 1993 constitutional referendum, despite its inauspicious beginnings. The promise of a referendum on a new electoral system infamously began as an off-the-cuff remark by then Prime Minister David Lange during a 1987 election debate. Before long, Lange’s National Party opponents also found themselves supporting an electoral reform referendum to capitalise Labour’s reluctance to carry out this promise. In truth, neither party bore enthusiasm for changes to the electoral system to their potential disadvantage. However, upon taking power in late 1990, the National government under Jim Bolger could hardly avoid delivering upon the earlier pledge of a path to electoral reform.

The reform process culminated in the binding 1993 referendum in which New Zealand voted to drop our British-style First Past the Post elections in favour of the German-inspired Mixed-Member Proportional (MMP) system still in use today. A further consultative referendum in 2011 reaffirmed MMP continued to be the preferred choice of New Zealand voters.

Through independent developments, 1993 also saw the adoption of the Citizens Initiated Referenda Act allowing a national referendum to be triggered if more than 10% of registered voters supported it during a 12-month period.  Five of these public petition-triggered plebiscites have taken place since the Act came into effect in 1994. However, the actual significance of Citizens Initiated Referenda is open to question, notes Nigel Roberts on Te Ara. Parliament is not bound to follow the outcomes of Citizens referenda and chose to ignore the results of all five votes when legislating upon the issues concerned.

Most recently, the National Government under John Key asked New Zealanders whether to change the New Zealand flag in a public consultation process over 2015-2016. Part of the consultation allowed the public to submit their own design proposals, thousands of which were received. This process culminated in a final referendum in March 2016 in which most voters preferred to keep the current national flag. At the National Business Review, Chris Keall wondered whether the process involved “too much democracy”, allowing the flag-change referendum to become derailed and discredited by flag designs intended as comedy rather than serious successors.

The questions at hand in the 2020 referendums are much more focused. In the case of the End of Life Choice Act (2019), the outcome of the referendum directly controls whether the law enters effect, as specified in the legislation. The process will be different on cannabis legalisation since the referendum will ask whether voters support or oppose the introduction of the proposed Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill. The Bill will still need to pass through parliament to become law, leaving the potential for further politicking yet.

Whatever your positions on the issues, remember the prohibitionists when you cast your vote—and the long legacy of their efforts. After all, they very nearly succeeded.

For further reading about the broader history of referendums, Nigel Roberts’ story on Te Ara is a good starting point: https://teara.govt.nz/en/referendums

You can learn more about the 2020 referendums at the official New Zealand government website https://www.referendums.govt.nz, including the text of the End of Life Choice Act (2019) and the proposed Cannabis Legalisation and Control Bill, as well as the finalised wording of the referendum questions.

Author: Liam, Research Central


Bibliography


Alcoholic Liquors Sale Control Act 1893.
http://www.nzlii.org/nz/legis/hist_act/alsca189357v1893n34394 (accessed 17 June 2020).

New Zealand. Parliament. Parliamentary debates. v.81 1893. (30 August 1893).
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.32106019787743&view=1up&seq=7 (accessed 17 June 2020).

Chris Keall. “Five reasons the flag-change campaign failed”. National Business Review, 24 March 2016.
https://www.nbr.co.nz/fail (accessed 23 June 2020).

Conrad Bollinger. Grog’s Own Country: The Story of Liquor Licensing in New Zealand. Auckland: Minerva, 1967.

Neill Atkinson. Adventures in Democracy: A History of the Vote in New Zealand. Christchurch: University of Otago Press, 2003.

New Zealand Government. “Referendums 2020”. 
https://www.referendums.govt.nz (accessed 18 June 2020) .

Nigel Roberts. “Referendums”. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand.
http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/referendums (accessed 12 June 2020).

Wairarapa Age. Volume XXXII, Issue 10493, 2 December 1911, Page 5. https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WAG19111202.2.22.7 (accessed 23 June 2020)

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McCallum’s chip

June 30, 2020, 3:25 pm
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Image: Di Stewart. Jervois Road, Herne Bay, Auckland, showing a footpath covered in red stone chip, 1996. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 802-13-11.

While walking in the city, I scan my environment like I do while walking on the beach. I actively look for interesting patterns and curiosities. One day my eye tuned into a ‘red stone’, I saw it everywhere: as loose stone chip, in concrete foundations, floors and small ready-mix concrete applications; The council uses it on road islands, in concrete for raised pedestrian crossings and down the shoulders of the motorway. Albert Park is completely paved in this loose red chip. The more I looked the more I saw it.

Image: Finn McCahon-Jones. Piece of footpath covered in red stone chip.
Collected in Surrey Crescent, Auckland, 2003.

This red stone, I would argue, is as iconic as the Mt Eden basalt kerbstones seen around the city, and as easily identifiable. This ubiquitous stone has become part of the aesthetic of the Auckland streetscape, yet somehow it remains purely as a material commodity, and unlike the kerbstones, it has not yet transformed into a cultural object.

Image: Auckland Weekly News. Little known island composed almost of shingle and metal in the Hauraki Gulf … (Pakihi Island), 18 June 1930. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, AWNS-19300618-45-4.
    Commonly known as ‘McCallum’s chip’, this red chert gets its name from the McCallum family who have been mining and distributing this stone across the city for over one hundred years. The McCallum Bros Ltd started mining chert on Pakihi Island in 1906, and Karamuramu Island in 1908.

    Image: Whites Aviation. View of Ponui Island, 1951. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, Footprints 06073.

    Pakihi and Karamuramu Islands are part of the Hauraki region which is home to many iwi. Until European contact, Ngāti Pāoa occupied most of the land from the Thames estuary, the Hūnua Ranges, east Tāmaki, Waiheke Island and the coast northward to Whangaparāoa. The iwi Ngāi Tai was part of an extensive coastal trading network between Tāmaki, the Coromandel, Aotea (Great Barrier Island) and across the Bay of Plenty to Tōrere Bay, where another Tainui-related tribe, Ngāti Tai, live today. 

    Karamuramu Island can be seen just offshore from Kawakawa Bay in east Auckland, and along with Pakihi Island is comprised almost entirely of chert. In other countries chert is considered a semi-precious stone and is used in art and architecture. Unfortunately, the Auckland chert has fine dust fractures throughout its composition which means that it easily shatters, and is no good for fine work. So instead it has been used as a building material. 

    Stone is crushed on Karamuramu Island before being shipped across the Manukau Harbour to the Auckland CBD on boats, where it is put to use in all aspects of the building industry.


    Image: Arthur Buchanan. Showing the square bilge ketch 'Bee', built in 1891 at Matakana, and owned for many years by the McCallum Brothers, 1909. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 7-A15513.

    In 2020 Karamuramu Island is still being mined. According to the McCallum Bros website Karamuramu Island currently consists of several million cubic meters of rock, and they will be supplying this stone for many more years. I think about how the island is slowly disappearing from the harbour, and reappearing across Auckland. How something seemingly immovable such as an island can become so ephemeral. It is bittersweet seeing the island reconstituted and remade as traffic-islands in the city street. I lament the destruction of the island, yet enjoy seeing this unique stone all around the city.

    I am constantly amazed how this small island has become such a physical presence in the city.

    Chert, sometimes called jasper, is a sedimentary rock that was formed over millions of years and is made up of the shells of dead micro-plankton.This stone is commonly found on the beaches of East Auckland, especially around Karaka Bay.

    Image: Unknown photographer. Loading shingle, Kawakawa Bay, 1925.
    Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, Footprints 00790.

    Before Pakihi and Karamuramu Island were mined for stone, it was a regular sight to find flat bottomed boats, called scows, parked on the beaches collecting shingle. With a plank and barrow, men would load the boat full of beach shingle until it was lifted again by the incoming tide.

    For the past ten years, I have been making an artwork with this red Karamuramu Island chert. I collect it wherever I see it with the idea that I am going to rebuild the island in my house. I love the fact that the stone is identical, coming from the same source, but spread over a large area and across time. My collection consists of hundreds of pieces of this stone that all look the same until you read the location I have carefully written on each piece.

    Image: Finn Ferrier. Finn McCahon-Jones’ collection of chert collected around Auckland, 2008-2020, May 2020.

    Through making this artwork I hope people can see red chert not just as a commodity, but a thing unique to our environment. And that our streetscape is actually a landscape built from multiple landscapes across time.

    Image: Henry Winkelmann. Looking north, towards the North Shore, showing the first stages of Campbells Point being graded to reclaim St Georges Bay, March 1919. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 1-W481.

    From the late nineteenth century until the early 2000s Auckland was being built with our own materials. Headlands, mountains, beaches and rivers were used to make the city. Our local materials were inherent in our concrete and roads. Owairaka Mt Albert sits below SH16 towards Te Atatu and airplanes land on tarmac made from Maungarei Mt Wellington, to name a few.

    Queen Street, until the 2008 upgrade, was lined with polished red Karamuramu chip concrete pavers. Now Queen Street it is paved with Chinese basalt to “reflect” the city’s rocky heritage, rather than retaining any of our actual heritage. 

    Image: Finn McCahon-Jones. Auckland Council sign, showing inanga stone,
    corner Victoria and Queen Street, 2008.

    The nuances of the city are slowly being overwritten and replaced by signs to represent the very things that have disappeared. Ngati Whatua worked with Auckland Council to reintroduce whitebait to Te Wai o Horotiu (the stream that runs from Aotea Square to the Waitemata Harbour) in the form of engraved basalt blocks. It is a sad replacement, but at least the inanga are there.

    Apart from Karamuramu Island, no stones come from central Auckland any more. Maungarei Mt Wellington was the last mountain to supply stones to the city. Currently stone for roadworks mostly comes from the Hunua Ranges, south of Auckland; and new basalt to pave our streets is imported from China. 

    Image: G.B. Scott. Showing the fountain in Albert Park, with the university buildings and clock tower behind, and ground covered in red stone chip, 1960s. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 996-190.

    We are lucky to live in a city that expresses so much of its history in its immediate landscape, yet without much thought we tend to overwrite and alter the landscape irrevocably. There are a lot of clues in our environment, echoes to the time just before now which we should preserve consciously.

    We need to consider the cultural aspect of our built environment as well as the material one, preserving and renewing what we have, rather than replacing them with symbols reflecting what is gone. The recent protests at Ihumātao have shown many Aucklanders that the material and social aspects of this city are more closely entwined than some might realise. Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland has a far deeper and richer history than we are often led to believe; we should take the lead of local iwi in understanding that our environment has many intangible dimensions.

    I would like for everyone to use the materials we have wisely, by using things carefully, recycling and reconstituting materials where possible. Right now we are seeing one of the biggest social turnarounds in recent history, where symbols, systems and old perspectives are being challenged and new perspectives embraced. I hope the future use of materials will include an understanding that the local landscape is not full of inert materials to be exploited, but that it is a rich realm in which to reinforce local histories in our built and social environment.

    Next time you see red chip covering the ground think of Karamuramu Island. Not as red chip but as an island.

    Image: Finn Ferrier. Map drawn on chert pebble from Kawakawa Bay, 2010.

    Author: Finn McCahon-Jones

    Author note: Finn McCahon-Jones is one of the 2019/2020 Auckland Library Heritage Trust scholars. This blog post is part of a larger project that he is working on concerning the movement of local materials within our cityscape. He has been using Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections image databases, Heritage Images and Kura Heritage Collections Online, to try and understand where our inner-city headlands and beaches have gone, and to search for local character in an otherwise dense city façade.
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    Tactile Verse: Aotearoa Letterpress Poetry Books

    July 9, 2020, 5:15 pm
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    The three-dimensional bite of metal type into paper gives text a sculptural depth that brings new life to poetry. Who can resist the urge to run their finger along rows of impressed text - engaging with the words both physically, and as a reader? This union of 15th century printing technology and contemporary Aotearoa poetry and visual art has resulted in a range of beautiful hand crafted books, key examples of which can be viewed in the Angela Morton Room | Te Pātaka Toi Art Library.

    the fruits of (2009)

    Typographer Tara McLeod has said the printer’s challenge is to find the letterforms that are right for a given message. He and poet Riemke Ensing have collaborated on many collections, and Ensing has noted that “Not only is there an absolute commitment to retain the integrity of the work [by McLeod] and convey the feeling inherent in the poem, there is that sensitivity to the use of colour, light, space and form to capture the essence of the poems in these new and startling environments.”

    O lucky man (2009)

    The tactile letterpress experience is enriched by the choice of sumptuous handmade papers, as in Ensing’s “O Lucky Man” (2009), a set of poems commemorating Charles Brasch’s centennial. “The end papers alone were a treasure,” she said. “Made from a plant in Nepal, the texture and the lush vermillion colour [replicated at times in the fabulous images made by artist and printmaker Inge Doesburg] give the whole book a sense of luxury and something exquisite.”

    Watermarks (2019)

    In 2019 a fold-out book of Ensing’s poetry Watermarks was published. This included vitreographs by Claire van Vliet depicting dramatic rock formations at Muriwai, where the poems are set. Watermarks is dedicated to print artist Beth Serjeant who initiated the project. When Ensing and Serjeant received their copies of the book they felt van Vliet’s images captured the essence of Muriwai, the reef and the pool where Serjeant swam in her youth. They also loved the greenish tinge and sandy texture of the paper, and the ‘watery’ feeling of the font. At first, Ensing thought the Neue Hamme Unziale font chosen by van Vliet might be difficult to read, but she gradually saw van Vliet’s intent to bring something like a shimmer of light in water onto the page. “It is almost as though the font replicated the waves, the lift and fall of water – the shape of the text,” she said.

    The Silences Between: (Moeraki conversations) (2016)

    Van Vliet’s images also feature in Keri Hulme’s poetry collection The Silences Between: (Moeraki conversations) (2016). This substantial 114 page publication incorporates alternative book structures: some pages are split horizontally, like a flip book, with text below and images above; some have a die-cut moon; and others can be popped forward for a three-dimensional wagon-wheel display. Van Vliet has said that she wants “the physicality of the book to create a physical message through the hands and the eyes that makes the reader more susceptible to the text.” The Silences Between: (Moeraki conversations) is housed in an elegant maple and tamarack tray case which has a map of Kiwa’s Sea inset, and there is an accompanying Māori glossary prepared by Hulme.

    Swell (1987)

    In 1987 Alan Loney published Swell. This was the 27th book he had printed but only the third presenting his own writing, and he also created the book’s letterpress prints. Loney has said that the collaboration between poet, artist and printer is often too fluid for separate acknowledgement; with Swell he fulfills all three roles. Gregory O’Brien wrote that in this book “Every layer of production investigates the possibilities of the book as a vehicle for image and language – the language is an ‘opening out’ of the image, the image ‘opening out’ the language.”

    the fruits of (2009)

    A wonderful example of typography opening out language is on display in the fruits of (2009), where the lines of a poem describing Psyche rising into the air on the updraft of a storm are set in a way that suggests paraglider flight. This rare publication is poet Murray Edmond’s retelling of Apuleius’ Eros and Psyche story, illustrated and designed by Joanna Forsberg, and hand printed by Tara McLeod. This beautiful book consists of 16 unbound folded leaves housed in a luxe cloth box, in a limited edition of 35 copies.

    page.stone.leaf (2013)

    Dinah Hawken’s collection “page.stone.leaf” (2013) was designed and printed by McLeod and includes images from stone rubbings of runes by sculptor John Edgar. Nicholas Wright wrote “one is struck by [the book’s] materiality: for a volume of such spare poems, it is a heavy book… This sense of the material is evident also in the impressions made by the letterpress-printed words in the pulp of the cut pages. Nostalgia materialises, one might say, in the page’s imperfect absorption of the ink, suggestive of a saturated past all but lost except for its tracings in these spectral letter-figures.”

    Pine (2005)

    Printer Brendan O’Brien said the Pine project resembled a dialogue or conversation. “Bill Manhire’s poems have their own life in his books, but they also gain other lives as they meander in and out of Ralph Hotere’s artworks. ‘Pine’ collects and records the spirit of these encounters.” O’Brien was printer-in-residence at Otago University’s Bibliography Room in 2005, the year it was renamed the Otakou Press. Together with Manhire and Hotere he produced Pine, an ideal project to mark this renaming because Hotere had created his PINE series there in 1973-1974, combining printing with wooden type, with hand-painted texts. He had used text from postcards Manhire sent him from London in the early 1970s. Hotere had also planned a book but it didn’t eventuate. When the publication subsequently came together in 2005, Manhire found two further poems which he hadn’t sent. O’Brien said that “while discussions with Ralph about the curious effects he achieved ‘inking’ the type unearthed some unorthodox techniques (numerous cleaning brushes, clothes and sponges all featured in the mix). The 'Pine' project served to recover the missing Manhire poems, the ‘lost’ Hotere printing techniques and to produce a book that somehow escaped publication 30 years earlier.”

    Pine trees in the key of F and a rose in the key of G (2005)

    James K. Baxter’s poem Pine trees in the key of F and a rose in the key of G was also unpublished until 2005 when the Bibliography Room brought out a limited edition of 85 copies with Inge Doesburg as the illustrator/printmaker, printed by John Holmes. The binding by Catherine Gubbins comprises three rose paper boards, hinged with red linen. Folded shut, these panels enclose the poem and illustrations – opened out, they form a self-standing triptych.

    Freda du Faur (2016)

    In 2016, poet Rhian Gallagher collaborated with artist Lynn Taylor and printer Sarah Smith to publish poems on the life and activities of Freda Du Faur (1882-1935), the first woman to climb Aoraki/Mt Cook. “Working with Lynn and Sarah was, like the book itself, an unfolding experience,” said Gallagher. “Sarah developed the concept for the book and Lynn brought a unique visual element to the work. Both Sarah and Lynn worked incredibly hard during the printing itself – they literally brought the book to life.” Together, they produced an edition of 120 concertina style books alluding to the mountain range and Freda Du Faur’s journey.

    Journey to Portugal (2006)

    Michele Leggott wrote the poems in “Journey to Portugal” (2006) which was designed by Gretchen Albrecht and letterpress printed by Tara McLeod. Albrecht wrote: “I chose to place combinations of coloured blocks of paper to contrast with the complexity of Michele's text, and within the limitations of colours available, letting the heat of Portugal and its earthy dusty landscape with occasional glimpses of sea dictate my choices." She used a form of collage to create the images - Chine Colle – where thin Japanese handmade art papers are torn into shapes and then glued and pressed in a ‘nipping’ press to the page. Every image was hand-done, in collaboration with book-maker Elizabeth Steiner. As a result each of the images, and thus each book, is unique.

    For more examples of these stunning poet, artist and printer collaborations, please see the catalogue of Aotearoa letterpress poetry collections held in the Angela Morton Room.

    Author: Leanne

    Instagram @angelamorton.room



    Books


    “Dawn/Water” colophon
    Text by Bill Manhire, images by Andrew Drummond
    Hawk Press, 1979

    “The Head, The Heart & The Hand: Private press printing in the digital age”
    By Tara McLeod
    Pear Tree Press, 2007.

    “Tara McLeod: A Typographic Journey”
    Katsura, 2020.

    “The Holloway Press 1994-2013 A checklist of publications”
    Edited by Francis McWhannell

    “components of a special collection: a collaboration with The University of Auckland Fine Arts Library”
    By Taarati Taiaroa and Tracey Williams
    The University of Auckland, 2010.


    Articles

    “Notes on reading Riemke Ensing’s Watermarks or Gesturing Towards the Metamodern Self”
    By Alexandra Dumitrescu
    Forthcoming issue of MAI Journal: A New Zealand Journal of Indigenous Scholarship

    “On and Around Creation: The Hand-made Books of Alan Loney”
    By Gregory O’Brien
    Art New Zealand, Number 57, Summer 1990-1991

    “Paradoxes of knowledge and knowing,” by Nicholas Wright.
    NZ Books, 29 August 2014

    “University of Otago Printer in Residence”
    Otago Bulletin, 28 October 2016



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    Snow in Northland

    July 14, 2020, 7:15 pm
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    On 30 July 1849, Richard Davis, an Anglican missionary in the Bay of Islands, made this surprising entry in his daily weather diary: “Hail storms. This morning the southern hills and Poutahi covered with snow.” The next day, he noted that the hills were “again covered with snow.”

    The Davis family - Richard and Mary and their children - lived at the Church Missionary Society’s station at Waimate North, inland from Paihia, and the snow he referred to had just fallen on the hills behind the small mission settlement. It wasn’t the only extreme weather he would record in the nine years he documented Northland’s climate, but it was probably the most unexpected.

    Image: James Richardson. An engraving from the Missionary Register showing the mission station at Waimate with Bishop Selwyn's house, left of centre. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 4-1274. 

    There are two weather registers by Richard Davis in Special Collections at the Central City Library, and together they cover the period from 1839-44 and 1848-51. The volumes are foolscap-sized notebooks, and in them he recorded the temperature at 9am and again at midday at Waimate North and later at Kaikohe after he and his family moved there in 1845. At midday he also recorded the atmospheric pressure, wind direction and made remarks on the general weather conditions.

    The two diaries remained in the Davis family until 1918, when the first of them (NZMS 378) was presented to the Old Colonists Museum by Richard’s youngest son John King Davis. After the Museum closed, this volume was transferred to Auckland Public Library. The second volume, NZMS 14, was presented directly to the Library by John’s widow in 1923 and they are now part of Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections at the Central City Library. 

    Image: James Richardson. Looking north east from the vicinity of Hobson Street, with Albert Barracks. 1852.
    Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 4-9016. 

    We now fast forward eighty-five years to 2008. Dr Andrew Lorrey is a principal scientist with the National Institute of Weather and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) and he leads the Climate Present and Past project, which focuses on climate change and historic climate research. In 2008, he came across a reference to the Davis weather diaries in the National Register of Archives and realised that the data Richard Davis had collected could be of significance to his own work. In the 1850s, the Royal Engineers, who were stationed in Auckland, had begun making regular instrument-based weather measurements and these were some of the earliest known long-term data for New Zealand.The Davis records clearly pre-dated the Royal Engineer records, but would they prove to be accurate enough to be of value?

    Dr Lorrey and his NIWA colleague Petra Pearce contacted Manuscripts Librarian Kate de Courcy at the Central City Library and were given access to the Davis weather diaries. They cross-referenced the measurements against logs from expeditionary ships anchored in the Bay of Islands in 1840 (including James Clark Ross’s HMS Erebus and Dumont D’Urville’s Astrolabe and Zelee) and verified their accuracy. Dr Lorrey describes these records in his testimony in support of registration of the Richard Davis Weather Registers on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register as “some of the oldest continuous, multi-year and multi-daily weather observations in Oceania outside of continental Australia. These meteorological registers are special because they represent a contribution to the earliest scientific heritage for New Zealand”.

    Image: Unknown photographer. Portrait of Reverend Richard Davis, 1850s or 1860s.
    Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 5-2735-16. 

    So, who was Richard Davis?

    Davis was born into a farming family from the village of Piddletrenthide in Dorset, and he was thirty-four when he arrived in Northland with his wife Mary and their six children. (There would be three more children born before Mary’s death in 1837, and a son from a later marriage to Jane Holloway King). At the time of his arrival he had only been with the Church Missionary Society (CMS) a year, but his mix of piety and practical skills were clearly what the society was looking for. The family settled at the Mission Station in Paihia, where Richard would work for the next six years as a gardener, teacher and lay preacher. 

    Image: Ron Clark. Te Waimate Mission House at Waimate North, about 1950s.
    Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 1207-1649.

    Image: Ron Clark. Gravestones in the churchyard at St John the Baptist church, Waimate North, with the old Clarke homestead in the distance, 1950s. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 1207-1648.

    In 1830 Richard and Mary were asked to go to Waimate North, inland from Paihia, where Samuel Marsden had bought land from Ngāpuhi. They and fellow missionaries William Yate, James Hamlin and George Clarke and their families were tasked with developing a mission station and farm. Understanding the local climate was essential to understanding how to farm successfully in this new setting, and it was after he moved to Waimate North that Richard began to collect weather data in earnest. In 1843 he was ordained an Anglican minister and two years later he was sent to Kaikohe. He returned to Waimate North in 1854 and remained there until his death in 1863. He is buried in the cemetery of the Te Waimate Mission House.

    Image: Creator unknown. Illustration of Swarraton, Waimate, Bay of Islands, unknown date.
    Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 5-1951.

    One hundred and eighty years later, the Richard Davis records have not only provided a baseline for climate science research in New Zealand, they have also been incorporated into important international climate databases that use historic data to produce models to look at early weather patterns and predict future change. In 2020, the two weather diaries were accepted into the UNESCO Memory of the World Register, where they join the Church Missionary Society’s archive in the Hocken Collections, University of Otago Library. The CMS records include Davis' personal diary. 

    Image: Richard Davis. NZMS 378 Register of thermometer and barometer [Jan 1 1839-Jan 31 1844; Jan 1 1848-March 31 1849. Extract showing the record for early February 1840. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections.

    One final point of interest about the diaries: Waimate North is just over 20 kilometres west of Waitangi. Richard Davis wasn’t present when the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, but thanks to the observations he made that day, we know that on Thursday 6th of February 1840, the weather was fine, variable and a relatively cool 19 degrees. 

    Author: Kirsty Webb, Principal Curator, Archives & Manuscripts, Heritage Collections

    References

    Davis, Richard. NZMS 378 Register of thermometer and barometer [Jan 1 1839-Jan 31 1844; Jan 1 1848-March 31 1849], and NZMS 14 Register of thermometer and barometer April 1849 [to 20 September 1851]. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections.

    Huffadine, Leith. “The ‘weather detectives’ using clues from the past to study changing climate”. Stuff, 12;58 p.m., Dec 06 2017. https://www.stuff.co.nz/science/99501713/the-weather-detectives-using-clues-from-the-past-to-study-changing-climate, accessed 23/07/2019.

    Lorrey, A. M. and Chappell, P.R. “The ‘dirty weather’ diaries of Reverend Richard Davis: insights about early colonial-era meteorology and climate variability for northern New Zealand, 1939-1851”, Climate of the Past, vol. 12, pp. 553-573, 2016. (See also online link https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-12-553-2016).

    Lorrey, A.M. Testimony in support of registration of the Richard Davis Weather Registers on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register, November 2019.


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    The saga of Boyd’s Zoo

    July 21, 2020, 1:00 pm
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    Boyd’s Zoological Gardens was a commercial enterprise established by John James Boyd in Upper Aramoho, Wanganui in late 1909, after he had imported a lion and lioness, a tigress, and breeding pairs of bears and black buck antelopes, together with four macaws, two vultures and two demoiselle cranes from a zoo in Hamburg, Germany. By early 1910 he was ready to open his zoo. The New Zealand Graphic published the following photo of some of his animals in their issue on 9 February 1910:

    New Zealand Graphic. Zoological gardens in Wanganui, 1910. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, NZG-19100209-19-1.

    Soon he must have expanded his menagerie because a photo published by the Graphic of 13 July 1910 includes an emu. This photo also shows his vultures:

    New Zealand Graphic. In the Wanganui zoo – an interesting collection, 1910. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, NZG-19100713-23-1.

    However Wanganui did not prove to be a good location, with poor attendances for Boyd’s zoo. Early next year he decided to move to Auckland. On 17 May 1911 the New Zealand Graphic published the following photo of the animals, including a forlorn-looking bear, about to be moved to Auckland:

    New Zealand Graphic. Going to Auckland, 1911. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, NZG-19110517-29-1.

    At this time there was no other zoo in Auckland, so naturally the local journals were also excited by this coming attraction. On 27 July 1911 the Auckland Weekly News included the following photo of Boyd’s menagerie, which now included Australian cockatoos and domestic poultry:

    Auckland Weekly News. About to change their place of residence, 1911. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, AWNS-19110727-11-1.

    Specifically, Boyd chose to establish his zoological garden in suburban Onehunga.  He purchased 6½ acres of land on the corner of Symonds Street and Trafalgar Street for his new commercial enterprise.  On 6 July 1911 the Weekly News included the following photo showing the construction of cages and houses for Boyd’s zoo on his Onehunga site.

    Auckland Weekly News. Building the Auckland zoo, 1911. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, AWNS-19110706-12-2.

    Boyd also applied to import further animals for his zoo. To do so he had to meet strict council public health regulations about the care and maintenance of the animals. He complied with all of Onehunga Borough Council’s requirements and started expanding his animal collection. On 10 August 1911 the Weekly News included the following photos of more animals from Australia and even more exotic, faraway lands:

    Auckland Weekly News. To be treated with respect. A noble pair of leopards for the Onehunga zoo, 1911. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, AWNS-19110810-16-1.

    Auckland Weekly News. Australian visitors. Wallabies for the Onehunga zoo, 1911. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, AWNS-19110810-16-2.

    Boyd’s Onehunga zoological gardens opened with great fanfare in 1912 and for the first few years crowds flocked to see the animals and other entertainment attractions put on at the zoo. However before long the council began to receive residents’ complaints about the noise and smell emanating from the zoo.  Presumably standards of hygiene and care for the animals’ welfare had deteriorated, and later photos of sad animals in overcrowded cages also indicates this. In 1914 the council passed its first by-law which seemed likely to close Boyd’s zoo down:

    Auckland Weekly News. Soon to be withdrawn from exhibition, 1914. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, AWNS-19140319-51-1.

    Despite this, Boyd’s Zoological Gardens managed to survive. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and in an attempt to thwart his enemies Boyd audaciously stood for Onehunga Borough Council in the 1917 council election. And unexpectedly his fellow councillors endorsed him as mayor! But the zoo’s bad smell followed him into the council chamber. Soon afterwards an embarrassing situation arose when council officers had to notify their mayor that he must remove the large advertising sign outside his zoo in Symonds Street.

    Mayor Boyd wisely stood down. However the final blows were struck when there were reports that lions had escaped on two different occasions from Boyd’s zoo:

    Press, Volume LIII, Issue 16096, 29 December 1917, Page 8.

    On a later occasion a lion escaped into Symonds Street, bounded down Trafalgar Street and rampaged down Queen Street, terrifying some of Onehunga’s citizens. Mr Boyd’s son, Edward, was finally able to recapture it, but the council was now resolved that the zoo must go. Boyd was notified he must close his zoo or legal action would be taken to do so.

    Boyd fought a vigorous rearguard action to keep his zoo open. His lions were obviously the main problem. On 6 October 1921 the Weekly News published two photos of bored and frustrated lions in their overcrowded cages:

    The new council by-law banned Boyd from keeping his animals at the Onehunga zoo for more than five days each week. On the other two days they were required to be taken on tour outside the Borough. 

    Auckland Weekly News. Some of the lions at the Onehunga zoo which have been the cause of considerable litigation, 1921. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, AWNS-19211006-34-6.

    Auckland Weekly News, The lions of the Onehunga zoo, which are now being taken on a tour of New Zealand, 1921. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, AWNS-19211006-35-1.

    Matters came to a head when Mr Boyd was threatened with charges of animal cruelty and had to leave his animals for 13 days continuously at the zoo to give them room to exercise while he improved their travelling caravans. This gave the council grounds to successfully prosecute him.

    Auckland Weekly News. Wanted – a zoo for Auckland, 1922. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, AWNS-19220622-31-2.

    Finally Mr Boyd was forced to close his Onehunga zoo in 1922.  He managed to sell some of his animals to private buyers. According to the Weekly News, the rest would have to be put down unless Auckland City Council bought them for a new zoo somewhere else in the city. The City Council decided to save the animals, and they became the basis for the menagerie at the new Auckland Zoo which was opened on 16 December 1922 at Western Springs.

    Author: Christopher Paxton, Heritage Content and Engagement


    Further reading


    Janice C. Mogford. The Onehunga Heritage. Auckland: Onehunga Borough Council, 1989.

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    Early record of Auckland democracy

    August 4, 2020, 5:57 pm
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    The Auckland Library Heritage Trust has recently acquired a printed, annotated burgess roll for the City of Auckland for 1887 to 1888 that is believed to be unique. They have kindly lent it to Auckland Libraries where it is currently on display in the Heritage Collections reading room at Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero, the Central City Library. Stamped ‘Mayor’s Office’ in gilt on the binding, the roll is preceded by a manuscript list of 32 alterations authorised by council between May 1887 and April 1888. In most instances these correspond to amendments in the six individual ward rolls within the volume. No copy of this roll is held by the National Library or the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington, nor by any other Auckland research library. Auckland Libraries, Council Archives and Auckland War Memorial Museum have the most comprehensive collections of rolls, though wards are missing for some years in what has survived. Council Archives’ rolls cover 1872 to 1899 (series ACC 396).

    Manuscript list of alterations to the burgess roll agreed by Auckland City Council between May 1887 and April 1888. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections.

    Of most obvious interest to family historians, the burgess roll will equally appeal to those concerned with the social and political history of Auckland. The burgess roll was spotted by Archives’ staff in an Art + Object auction catalogue that pleasingly took information from our section of council’s website. It was purchased by the Auckland Library Heritage Trust at auction on 27 May 2020 and is now held on deposit in Special Collections. Colin Davis, Chair of the Auckland Library Heritage Trust, comments 'We are delighted to make this rare burgess roll available for family historians and for researching 19th century Auckland.'

    The burgess roll was originally compiled and printed in compliance with the Municipal Corporations Act 1886. It was based on the council’s rates valuation rolls and records the names of all adults who owned or occupied rateable property in an area of Auckland that is now principally within the Waitematā and Gulf Ward of Auckland Council. ‘Burgess’ is a word of French origin used in England since the thirteenth century and the term ‘burgess roll’ since the fifteenth century. The Oxford English Dictionary explains that a burgess was ‘An inhabitant or resident of a borough, especially of a town; a citizen […] Frequently used more narrowly to denote a person possessing the full municipal rights to which inhabitants or residents of a borough fulfilling certain criteria are entitled, or on whom such rights have been conferred […]. Even when used in a more general sense the word usually suggests relatively high status or respectability’.

    Burgess roll for the North Ward, 1887/1888. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections.

    Each Auckland City burgess was automatically entitled to cast between one and five votes, depending on the annual rateable value of his or her property. The owner or occupier of a property rateable at less than £50 had one vote, while one with rateable property valued at £350 or more had five votes. A burgess could have commanded as many as 30 votes, if they had owned or occupied properties of sufficient value in all six wards. The butchers William and Richard Hellaby, for example, had 14 votes as they owned or occupied properties in four wards. Josiah C Firth, flour-miller and politician had almost as many because he was also listed in four wards. Other notable Auckland businessmen racked up similar totals: brewer Louis Ehrenfried and the Honourable Thomas Russell each had ten votes. From the roll numbers, it is easy to determine that there were originally 5,621 burgesses, South Ward having the most (1,401) and Grafton the least (362). Each burgess was not necessarily a separate person or organization because one person or organization could have multiple roll numbers. The division of Auckland into wards as in earlier years resumed in 1879, the city being divided into three wards, designated North, South, and East. In 1882 the amalgamation of three road districts with the City of Auckland increased the number of wards to six: North, South, East, Ponsonby, Karangahape, and Grafton. Each ward elected three councillors. Auckland City eventually abolished its ward system in 1903.

    Clifton Firth, J.R Hanna. Portrait of Josiah Clifton Firth. 1888. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 34-130.

    Entries for each of the six wards in the burgess roll are in alphabetical order by surname. The roll lists number on the roll, name of burgess, occupation, description and situation of property, the number of each property on the council valuation roll and its rateable value, and the number of votes to which the burgess was entitled. There are no street numbers. Valuation numbers are from the city’s rates valuation rolls (Council Archives’ series ACC 210) and manuscript amendments to the roll are based on decisions recorded in council’s minute books (series ACC 101). Burgess rolls were open for public inspection without charge at the Town Clerk’s office and objections could be made in writing that would subsequently be heard by council. The roll was printed by Henry Brett, a printer and newspaper owner who was mayor of Auckland in the late 1870s and was knighted the year before his death.

    James D Richardson. Looking south west from Queen St (foreground) towards Wellesley St West (left to right across centre) showing the temporary premises of the United Services Hotel, a gas lamp and the premises of A Seuffert, V Morter and G Tremery. 1870s. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, 4-87.

    While many surnames reflect the British origins of the majority of burgesses, other Europeans are included, such as the distinguished Austrian cabinet maker Antoine Seuffert. A few Chinese burgesses stand out, like Ah Chee, boarding house-keeper, James Ah Kew, merchant, and Hung Pan (Jimmy), listed with the occupation ‘Chinese gardener’. Further research might lead to the identification of any Māori burgesses. Although no woman chose to stand as a candidate for municipal office in Auckland City until the next decade, the roll includes a number of married, widowed, and single women and some organisations are listed as burgesses, for example the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Company. Burgesses’ occupations range widely, from gentlemen, settlers, professionals like accountants, doctors, politicians, and solicitors and even a Roman Catholic bishop, to publicans, bakers, saddlers, and labourers.

    A report in Henry Brett’s newspaper the Evening Star of 10 May 1887 complained of the creation of ‘Faggot votes’ in the city’s South Ward and to illegitimate swelling of the burgess roll. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a ‘Faggot vote’ as ‘A vote for a particular candidate or party fraudulently contrived by nominally transferring sufficient property to a person who would not otherwise be qualified to vote’. This was similar to ‘roll stuffing’, where additional voters were fraudulently added to electoral rolls in the hope of altering the outcome of an election. This seems to have been a persistent problem – Council Archives’ burgess rolls include one annotated during an investigation in 1898 of South Ward roll irregularities. The solution proposed by the Evening Star in 1887 was abolition of the property vote and ‘to give every man and woman one vote – and one vote only’. In 1898 the Municipal Franchise Reform Act abolished plural voting, though it survived for county council elections almost into the final quarter of the next century. This Act extended the franchise to tenants and sub-tenants subject to conditions on the length and cost of their tenancy, but those with residential qualification to vote could not do so at polls concerned with either loans or rates.

    It would be interesting to know more of the roll’s provenance. The 20-shillings price on the front endpapers suggests that it was probably offered for sale before the introduction of decimal currency in July 1967. The previous owner was Peter Stratford, a collector and historian based in Auckland whose private library was known as the Epsom Trust Collection. It is not clear how or when the burgess roll left the ownership of Auckland City Council. Once its immediate use had passed, was it rescued or taken as a souvenir by someone who recognised that it had lasting value even though no longer consulted by council officers? Perhaps this happened in 1911, when council staff moved from municipal offices within the Wellesley Street building that housed the free public library and city art gallery to accommodation in the new Town Hall. Statutory protection was not given to local authority archives until 1977 by an amendment to the Local Government Act 1974. That also referred to responsibilities for documents of abolished local authorities and to ‘classes of local archives that may not be destroyed by the local authority having the custody of them, either at any time or before the expiration of a specified time, without the prior approval of the Chief Archivist and without notifying the Chief Archivist of its intention to destroy those archives’. Thankfully, the current list of protected records for local authorities issued by Archives New Zealand under the Public Records Act of 2005 includes ‘Electoral Records created by the local authority including signed rolls and ratepayers’ lists’.

    Burgess rolls for the early 1870s, 1880s, and 1890s have been transcribed by Archives’ volunteers and are included in the Auckland Council Archives searchable database of Burgess Rolls for the City of Auckland as one of its family history databases searchable through the main council website.

    The recently purchased burgess roll can be consulted in the Heritage Collections reading room in the Central City Library (call number NZ Printed 352 A8) and is on display there in the Kura Tūturu/Real Gold case in August during Family History month.

    Author: James Armstrong, Team Leader Archives Management


    Sources:

    G W A Bush. Decently and in Order: The Government of the City of Auckland, 1840-1971. Auckland: Collins for Auckland City Council, 1971.

    Graham Bush. Local Government & Politics in New Zealand. Second edition. Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1995.

    R C J Stone. Makers of Fortune: A Colonial Business Community and its Fall. Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1973.



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    The hula-hoop – coming full circle

    September 2, 2020, 6:35 pm
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    Who would have thought something like a simple plastic hoop could provide so much fun and have such an interesting history?

    Did you know that the ancient Greeks were known to have used grapevine hoops as exercise equipment to tone up the waist? And as far back as 3000 BC, Egyptians commonly used materials such as reeds and rattan to work into circular shapes or hoops. They would roll the hoop along the ground with a stick, or throw it up in the air or rotate it around the waist - just as we do now.

    Image: Photographer unknown. Miss Westland and kindergarten children with a hoop from an Auckland Kindergarten Association photo album, 1931. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, NZMS 1275-14-4.  
     
    The hoop was used not only for fun, exercise and education, but also for religious and artistic purposes. The Lakota people added extra religious significance to the hoop by viewing it as representing the circle of life. Out of this they developed the hoop dance, a sort of story-telling dance incorporating as many as thirty hoops used as props to embody different elements from the story.

    The hoop’s popularity continued through time and across continents. We can see from the well known Breugel painting Kinderspiele, from 1560, that in the middle ages the hoop was alive and well and fairly common place in Europe.
    Making and using homemade hoops was an everyday pastime in English households in the fourteenth century, and they were used by all age groups, not only children. Apparently, hooping was prescribed by British doctors to treat various ailments such as bad backs and heart problems. We may have a different approach to medical treatment these days, but they clearly understood that there were some health benefits of exercise using the hoop.

    The hoop toy continued to be popular across the world but it was another 300 years until the toy got the name 'hula hoop'. When British sailors visited Hawai’i they could not help but see the similarity in the swaying hip movement of the traditional hula dance with that of hooping. It made sense that they then joined the two concepts together to create the name 'hula-hoop'.

    On our own shores, in the early 19th century, New Zealand hoops and tops were probably the most popular toys. Māori created piori (hoops) using aka (vines) which were either thrown or propelled with a stick. In the early period of European settlement iron hoops could be purchased cheaply from a local blacksmith and moved along with a stick. By the early 20th century the common material to make the hoop from was bamboo.

    Image: Charles Mann. A group of children holding hula hoops at Campbell Free Kindergarten in Victoria Park, Freemans Bay, 1922. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 1122-ALBUM-218-44.
     
    By the mid-twentieth century many more varieties of toys had became available and small New Zealand toy companies became swamped by large overseas manufacturers.

    The popularity of the hoop continued to grow and consequently it drew the attention of two American toy manufacturers, Richard P. Knerr and Arthur "Spud" Melin, the founders of Wham-O. They began producing brightly coloured plastic hoops that they re-named “hula-hoops” and in combination with an aggressive marketing campaign and the new medium of television, they really took off. The hula-hoop became very popular in 1958, when twenty-five million Wham-O Hula Hoops® were sold in four months. While the name Hula Hoop® was trademarked they were not able to trademark the hoop itself because of its long history and they could not identify exactly who invented it. 

    The hula-hoop craze got caught up in the rapid world wide interest in all things Hawai’ian. This had its roots in America’s relationship with Hawai’i before the Second World War. Events in Pearl Harbour in 1941 and Hawai’i becoming a state of America in 1959 brought international attention to the islands. Helped along by Elvis Presley and the movie industry, the hula-hoop ran alongside the likes of tiki culture, all things surfing and developing tourism in Hawai'i.

    The hoops commonly used by hoopers today are heavier and have a larger diameter than the classic toy hula hoop. Clever hoopers rotate the hoop not just around the waist but also the hips, chest, neck, shoulders, thighs, knees, arms, hands and even thumbs! We have also seen the evolution of the hula hoop into the worlds of art, fashion and even technology with Nintendo creating a virtual version of the popular game for its Wii console.

    Although the craze has faded somewhat in recent times, enthusiasts young and old still use a (real) hula hoop for fun and exercise, so why don’t you give it a go and keep this ancient pastime going!

    “If I do have a talent it is hula-hooping. I can hula-hoop forever” - Michelle Obama.
     
    Author: Marilyn Portman, Heritage Collections
     
    Image: Frank Douglas Mill. Young boy holding a hoop. Date unknown. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections FDM-0162-G. 

    Books at Auckland Libraries about hula hooping:

    Alistair Bryce-Clegg. 50 fantastic ideas for physical activities outdoors, Featherstone Education, 2013. 

    Thelma Lynne Godin, illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton. The hula-hoopin' queen, Lee & Low, 2014.

    Hoopnotica hoopdance. Beginning level 1, DVD. Hoopnotica, 2007.

    References:

    Bellis, M, 2019, History of the Hula Hoop, viewed 24 August 2020. 
     
    Buschle, C. M, 2010, Uncovering the history of the hula hoop, viewed 24 August 2020. 

    Peter Clayworth, 'Children’s play - Traditional Māori and settler children’s play', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, viewed 24 August 2020. 

    Kearnes, L, 2015, America became obsessed with Hawaii in the 1960s, viewed 9 September 2020.

    HistoricHawaii.org, Hawaii modernism context study, n.d., viewed 9 September 2020. 

    History of Hawaii/ Hawaii in popular culture, n.d., viewed 9 September 2020.
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    The many lives of E. Mervyn Taylor’s mural Te Ika-a-Maui

    September 14, 2020, 1:00 pm
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    Te Ika-a-Maui in Takakpuna Library.

    The NZ Post Office commissioned Te Ika-a-Maui in 1961 as part of a nationwide celebration of the new Commonwealth Pacific Telephone Cable (COMPAC) - which was going to triple the country’s capacity for international calls. A cable terminal was built in Akoranga Drive, Northcote. Te Ika-a-Maui was installed in the foyer and open for the public to view. A COMPAC press release stated “Being in ceramic tile, the mural which is one of Mervyn Taylor’s outstanding works, will be assured of the permanency it undoubtedly deserves.” The mural appeared in newspapers around the country, and in the souvenir booklet Voices Through The Deep, which noted it was the focal point of the terminal’s entrance vestibule. E. Mervyn Taylor felt there was an analogy between the ‘fishing up’ of the North Island by Māui, and its modern counterpart, this new cable that would draw New Zealand out of the Pacific into the telephone systems of the world. 

    However, the permanency forecast in the press release did not eventuate. In the late 1980s the Post Office was divided into three enterprises and a few years later one of these, Telecom, was sold to USA-based businesses Bell Atlantic and Ameritech. A high-security fence was installed around the Northcote terminal complex, sealing off public access to Te Ika-a-Maui. Over time, the ceramic tiles began falling off the wall. At some point in the 1980s the mural was taken down, stored in cardboard boxes, and forgotten for around 30 years.

    Cable Terminal, Northcote from SEACOM (1966), NZ Post Office. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections.

    In 2014 Te Ika-a-Maui was itself fished up from those dusty cardboard boxes, and eventually rehomed in Takapuna Library, by artist Bronwyn Holloway-Smith. She had been researching the cultural aspects of the Southern Cross Cable (SX) as part of her PhD in Fine Arts, when a colleague mentioned once seeing the ceramic tile mural in Northcote. This led Holloway-Smith to the now-defunct cable building where she and the station manager found the tiles. She subsequently restored, digitised, and made a photographic reconstruction of Te Ika-a-Maui.

    Holloway-Smith felt it was important for this major artwork, financed by public money, to be made available to the public again. The Spark Foundation worked with Auckland Council to find a suitable home for the work and chose Takapuna Library partly because it was on The Strand – and both the COMPAC and SX cables had been laid where The Strand reaches the beach. This has been a landing site for submarine cables since an early telegraph cable in 1912, and later COMPAC was laid there in 1962 – a technological advance that was also commemorated with Wedgewood plates, films, stamps and brochures, and a function at the Wellington Town Hall where 450 guests watched Her Majesty the Queen appear via the cable. 

    Compac cable, map from Voices Through The Deep (1963), NZ Post Office. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections.

    In 1983 the Post Office laid its replacement – the ANZCAN cable – in the same spot. This new cable had 20 times the capacity of COMPAC, and it took two weeks to lay it on Takapuna beach. Usually the haunt of swimmers and sunbathers, the beach was strewn with large drums holding the bright yellow cable and machinery, while Post Office staff dug a metre into the sand to lay the submarine cable out into the Hauraki Gulf – the land cable having already been laid from the Post Office yard in Akoranga Drive. Once again, the Queen officially opened the new network at a ceremony in London, televised live to a function at Parliament House.

    Installing the PacRim East cable on Takapuna Beach, North Shore Times Advertiser, 26 November 1992. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections.

    The next cable to land at Takapuna was the PacRim East cable in 1992. Divers, bulldozers and truck-mounted winches brought it ashore from a specialist cable ship moored two kilometres away. This optical fibre cable created more than 30 times the call capacity of the previous network, allowing for up to 60,000 simultaneous phone calls.

    Takapuna subsequently became one of the landing points for the Southern Cross Cable in 2000, a trans-Pacific network of telecommunications that is the main source of this country’s international internet traffic.

    Installing the ANZCAN cable on Takapuna Beach, North Shore Times Advertiser, 24 March 1983. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections.

    E. Mervyn Taylor created twelve murals for major New Zealand buildings, but Te Ika-a-Maui is the only one he made for one in Tāmaki Makaurau. Some of his murals have been destroyed or presumed lost, and of the eight surviving ones only three are made of ceramic tiles. Te Ika-a-Maui has been on display in the Research North area on level one of Takapuna Library since 2019. It was unveiled by Taylor’s daughter Rebecca Jane Taylor at a special ceremony, also in attendance were Holloway-Smith, Taylor’s granddaughter Natasha Jane Smyser, and conservator Rose Evan who assisted with the restoration of the mural.

    Taylor was one of the most celebrated Aotearoa artists of the 1930s-1960s. He was highly regarded as a wood engraver, painter, illustrator, sculptor and designer, and by the early 1960s murals had become a major part of his work. His biographer, Bryan James, has said that “The demand for murals, previously virtually non-existent in New Zealand, reflected greater prosperity and interest in art in public buildings, as well as an awareness of what was happening with public art in buildings overseas.”  

    James said that one feature which always distinguished Taylor’s work was his incorporation of Māori life and culture. “It was something he consciously set out to do, because he saw Māori as an essential part of the natural order of life in New Zealand, who could no more be excluded from his art than could the bush, the landscape, or the individual creatures he featured. His use of Māori legends was deliberate, he was inspired by them and could use them in context with the land imagery he employed.”

    Catalogue from the Exhibition of Works by E Mervyn Taylor 1967. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections.

    Taylor died in 1964 and in 1967 an exhibition of his work was held in Wellington. This was the largest retrospective of a single artist ever held in Aotearoa at that time and included about 570 works. At the official opening, the Chief Justice Sir Richard Wild said “It was in the portrayal of Māori folklore and mythology, drawing his inspiration from his native countryside, that Mervyn Taylor was at once a pioneer and a great artist.”

    If you can’t visit Takapuna Library to see the mural, you can view Bronwyn Holloway-Smith’s digitised version which can be explored tile by tile, in high-resolution, here. Holloway-Smith also created a photographic version of the mural which was exhibited at marketing agency JWT’s Queen Street office. In 2015 the mural was installed for one day at Massey University to launch the E. Mervyn Taylor Mural Search and Recovery Project. The Spark Foundation arranged for replica tiles to fill the gaps left by sixteen missing ones. The fully-restored work was exhibited in the City Gallery Wellington’s 2018 show This Is New Zealand as part of Holloway-Smith’s multi-platform installation The Southern Cross Cable: A Tour.

    Wanted The Search for the Modernist Murals of E. Mervyn Taylor.

    Finding Te Ika-a-Maui was also the catalyst for Holloway-Smith to edit the beautiful book Wanted: The Search for the Modernist Murals of E. Mervyn Taylor, which documents the journey Te Ika-a-Maui has taken from one public space to another, including its time gathering dust in cardboard boxes, and its careful restoration. This book also details the hunt for Taylor’s other murals, it is rich in scholarly essays and visual material from his sketches to his finished works, to photographs of Taylor in his studio, and playing with his children.


    Author: Leanne

    Angela Morton Room Te Pātaka Toi Art Library

    Instagram: @angelamorton.room


    Reference materials

    Websites

    https://hollowaysmith.nz/te-ika-a-akoranga/


    Publications

    COMPAC (1963), NZ Post Office.

    E. Mervyn Taylor Artist: Craftsman (2006), Bryan James.

    Exhibition of works by E Mervyn Taylor (1967), New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts.

    SEACOM (1966), NZ Post Office.

    Voices Through The Deep (1963), NZ Post Office.

    Wanted The Search For the Modernist Murals of E. Mervyn Taylor (2018), Ed. Bronwyn Holloway-Smith.


    Articles

    The Big Idea, 28 May 2014, “Artist rediscovers long-lost mural.”

    Dominion Post, 12 November 2015, “Solving a Wellington art history mystery.”

    New Zealand Geographic, Number 87, September-October 2007, “Mervyn Taylor: The renaissance man of Karori.”

    NZ Herald, 2 March 1912, “New Tasman Sea Cable.”

    NZ Listener, 17 March 2018, “Back to the wall.”

    North Shore Times Advertiser, 24 February 1983, “ANZCAN submarine telephone cable to be laid from Takapuna.”

    North Shore Times Advertiser, 15 March 1983, “ANZCAN cable to start at Takapuna.”

    North Shore Times Advertiser, 24 March 1983, “Takapuna cable-laying causes interest.”

    North Shore Times Advertiser, 18 October 1984, “Queen to open cable link.”

    North Shore Times Advertiser, 16 July 1992, “Telecom cable to run from Takapuna Beach.”

    North Shore Times Advertiser,17 November 1992, “Ship to Shore.”

    North Shore Times Advertiser, 26 November 1992, “Lines to better communications.”

    The Rangitoto Observer, 24 May 2019, “Rediscovered modernist work unveiled in library.”

    The Spinoff, 1 April 2020, “The Single Object: The internet cable that connects us to the rest of the world.”


    Kura Heritage Collections Online is a great resource for researching local history and accessing Auckland Libraries physical magazine and newspaper collections. Search within the collection 'Auckland People and Events - He Tāngata, He Huihuinga o Tāmaki Makaurau' to find this content.

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