Heritage et AL

Ref: John Daley, Lorne Street, 1974, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 7-A13628. THIS TOTARA TREE WAS PLANTED BY THE AUCKLAND CITY COUNCIL TO HONOUR THE MEMORY OF RONALD ALLISON KELLS MASON POET AND NATIVE SON OF THIS CITY 1905 - 1971 I knew that the tōtara planted hard against the library edge was planted for R. A. K. Mason but the plaque has weathered in this exposed comer of Rutland and Lorne Streets. When I saw the photograph by John Daley of the new building the decision to plant a memorial here made sense. This is a resonant corner with a new modern library and a wow factor. I researched the back story in the library's own New Zealand Card Index, now digitised for convenient access. The two articles indexed from the New Zealand Herald give a sense of the difficult road to achieving Mason's memorial which the simple plaque text gives no indication of. They are also an insight into the value of this remarkable index.

To get into the spirit of the season we currently have a Christmas related display in the Special Collections reading room on the 2nd floor of the Central Library. On display until the end of December are two pop-up Christmas books by Robert Sabuda. Robert Sabuda has interpreted many classic children’s books including Peter Pan, the Wizard of Oz and the Little Mermaid in his renowned intricate pop-up style. First is his advent calendar-style alphabet, where small objects like a ribbon-decorated gift spring from behind paper ‘doors’. Robert Sabuda.  The Christmas alphabet.  New York : Orchard, 1994.

Lily Lee and Ruth Lam, the authors of the book ' Sons of the Soil ' have done a good job of pulling together what little 'original' documentation there was available about early Chinese market gardeners - such as newspaper articles, account books, photographs. The families described in the book sometimes set up gardens in different parts of the country and moved around and frequently inter-married. So staff at the Central Auckland Research Centre decided that it would be very useful to index families mentioned in the book and add this information to Auckland Libraries heritage online database: Index Auckland . The goal was to help people track down the families mentioned in the book and set up useful connections. Index Auckland is a rich resource of history, art, theatre, film and music references sourced from Auckland area newspapers and journal articles. Whilst the index predominantly covers Auckland, other regions are also covered, which means that the index a...

Leading Auckland retailer and benefactor Dennis Nathan passed away on July 8th, 2012. Find out more  about this man, who along with his three brothers took over the family business LD Nathan in the 1930s and set up some of New Zealand's largest retail stores. The brothers' grandfather, David Nathan  started the company in 1840, exporting flax and kauri gum. It was sold in 1988 and merged with Lion Breweries. On a heritage note, the Nathan family have a connection to the Sir George Grey Special Collections, through the records of LD Nathan, which Lawrence Nathan gave to the library in 1974. Lawrence Nathan was Dennis' brother and author of 'As old as Auckland ', copies of which are available at Auckland Libraries. Ref: NZMS 690, Sir George Grey Special Collections Records relating to the Nathan family can be viewed online through Manuscripts Online or in the reading room at the Central City Library. They include the following: GLNZ A16c ...

Working at  Research Central , one does tend to fancy oneself as a bit of a Nancy Drew at times. As we locate missing relatives and solve mysteries, we hope don’t start too many world wars in unsuspecting families. Whilst scrolling through microfilms on a job for a customer, I came across an interesting photo in a 1948 copy of the Auckland Star. The caption reads: “Juliet Hulme and William Brown make a colourful picture in their bright tartan slacks when they arrived at Whenuapai this morning.” The issue was dated Tuesday 23 March 1948.  Could it be .... I wondered. Was this the murderess Juliet Hulme, aka Anne Perry, aka Kate Winslet in ‘Heavenly Creatures’? And why was Juliet and the boy, who appeared not to be related, wearing matching tartan slacks? Juliet did have a younger brother called Jonathan but it seems he arrived in New Zealand much later in the year with their parents. Naturally, I went ahead and sleuthed.  Ref: Auckland Star, cutting from 23 ...

Read all about it, The Central Auckland Research Centre at the Central City Library has the final instalment of the microfilm version of the New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review ! Coverage includes: 2 August 1890 - 25 July 1901, 7 August 1902 - 31 July 1913, 7 January 1914 - 12 November 1914, 7 January 1915 - 15 Aprril 1942.  Ref: Image courtesy of Yale University Library David Verran of the research centre notes: "As the title suggests the magazine focussed on sport, particularly horse racing, boxing, cricket and rugby, as well as on reports of stage performances and later also the motion picture industry. It was aimed more at men and generally those with a reasonable income, but included social pages for those who could afford to run a car. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century it was also an industry magazine for the liquor trade, and more likely available in hotel bars for patrons to read. Those issues include profiles of publicans,...

At the Dunedin Public Libraries’ Reed Gallery, there is currently an exhibition showcasing the letters and manuscripts collected by the Dunedin publisher, Alfred Hamish Reed (1875-1975) over a sixty year period. Our Will and Pleasure: Royal Autographs, Letters & Memorabilia of the British Monarchy covers the seventeenth century through to the early twentieth century and includes items written or signed by members of the royal houses of Great Britain from the House of Stuart to the current House of Windsor. The exhibition is timed to coincide with the wider events marking the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. It is also available as a rich online exhibition detailing the individual case items, along with excerpts and background information and high resolution zoomable scans.