Heritage et AL

When they came to Aotearoa, Tangata whenua brought cultural practices with them. These continued to change and adapt to local circumstances. Te Ara has a story on Whakairo / Māori carving and its origins. This story states that by 1800 a ‘Serpentine’ (tuare) style developed in the northern regions of Aotearoa (associated with Hokianga, Hauraki, East Cape and Taranaki, and exemplified by Ngāti Whātua carvings). “The tubular bodies are usually uncarved, but if surface decoration is applied the unaunahi (fish-scales) pattern is the most common, especially in the north... Unaunahi is most prevalent in Te Tai Tokerau (Northland)…” Ref: Auckland Weekly News, A trough shaped curio..., 11 September 1902, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19020911-12-3.

To celebrate Auckland Cup day at Ellerslie today,  we've  had look through various Heritage and Research collections held at Auckland Libraries to find out some the history around the Auckland Racing Club , the Auckland Cup and Ellerslie racecourse. Ellerslie Horses have raced at Ellerslie since 1857 when Robert Graham hosted a race meeting on his property, on the site which is now Ellerslie Racecourse. The Auckland Racing club then purchased thirty-six hectares of land from Graham in 1872 on which the course is situated. Ref: GB Scott Publications Limited, Ellerslie Racecourse, Auckland, New Zealand, 1970s, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 996-1505.

Over the next few months we’ll be running a series of posts featuring the digitised items in the Ephemera collections of Sir George Grey Special Collections, specifically focussing on the Old Colonists’ Museum (OCM) Ephemera Collection. The Old Colonists’ Museum was opened by Mayor J.H. Gunson on the 22 March, 1916 and was located in the same building as the Auckland Public Library and the Auckland Art Gallery. Ref: James D. Richardson,  Looking east from Lorne Street showing Auckland Public Library, c1903, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections,  4- 2416 . It occupied two large rooms on the top floor of the building and contained, “a collection of pictures, maps, prints, documents (printed and manuscript), and objects illustrating the history and development of New Zealand, especially the Auckland Province and City.” This quote is from OCM founder and director John Barr ’s 1922 history of the three institutions, of which he was in charge until his retirement i...