Heritage et AL

It is becoming a bit of a tradition at this time of the year on Heritage et AL for us to highlight some of the Christmassy items and images we have in our heritage collections at Auckland Libraries. Ref: W. Reid for the Auckland Weekly News, A merry Christmas, 15 December 1904, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19041215-1-1.

Highly adaptive, intelligent and capable of eating pretty much anything, pigs are one of the real survivors of the animal kingdom. Pigs have long been domesticated by humans and this close relationship is evident in the number of sayings in the English language, which relate to pigs - most of which are not very flattering to the poor pig! These idioms, many of which are seen as clichés, include: 'fat as a pig', 'making a pig of oneself', 'pig in a poke', 'happy as a pig in mud', 'road hog', 'porky pies'. Expressions about pigs are also found in other countries around the world including Europe and Africa. In NZ, early explorers brought with them a range of new food sources including pigs. Pigs became an important food for Māori and were often gifted to other iwi. Pigs and baskets of potatoes were also used as a form of currency. Further, feral pigs along with seals, goats, shellfish and roots were an important food source for shipwrecke...

Variously known as the Auckland Free School of Art, the Free School of Art and the Campbell Free School of Art, an art school was founded in November 1878 by Sir John Logan Campbell (1817-1912), who believed that Auckland was in need of such a school. The school was originally housed in one of the Auckland Museum’s earlier locations on Princes Street (this building no longer exists ), close to the Emily Place Reserve. Classes were held in the Lecture Hall & the Main Hall. The school closed at the end of 1889 with the establishment of the Elam School of Art and Design. Ref: 4-RIC99, the Auckland Institute and Museum on the corner of Princes Street and Eden Crescent, c. 1880-1909, Sir George Grey Special Collections Elam was established in 1889  following the bequest of Dr John Edward Elam. Dr Elam was a patron of the arts and he gifted a large sum of money towards the establishment of a free art school for Auckland. The school was located in Symonds Street, Central Auck...

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the death of Sir John Logan Campbell , often considered to be the founding father of Auckland. There are many reminders of Sir John in the Auckland of today, including his gift of Cornwall Park to the people of Aotearoa New Zealand. The deeds for the park  can be found in the Sir George Grey Special Collections at Central City Library.   Ref: 7-C2033, Sir George Grey Special Collections Professor Russell Stone has recently edited  ' Poenamo ', Sir John's pioneer reminiscences. Republished as a complete facsimile of the 1889 reissue,  'Poenamo Revisited: New Zealand's very first adventure story'  is full of additional content, illustrations and biographical details.   Ref: 1-W1497, Sir George Grey Special Collections Stone is an Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Auckland and a specialist on Sir John Logan Campbell. He is...