Heritage et AL

Selwyn Church began life as the second Holy Trinity Church in Victoria Avenue (now Mason Avenue) Otahuhu. The church was dedicated by Bishop Selwyn and Bishop Patteson on St John the Evangelist’s Day, 27 December 1863. Ref: 4-8789, Old Holy Trinity Church, Otahuhu, c. 1900-1919, Sir George Grey Special Collections The following poem was recently discovered among Selwyn Church’s archives. It was written by an anonymous, bored synodsman (a church member ) at the Christchurch synod in 1969, probably during a lengthy and tedious debate on the ordination of women.  Enjoy!

Three long lost Robert Burns (1759-1796) manuscripts including letters from the well loved Scottish poet and his friends were discovered earlier this year. Chris Rollie, a researcher discovered the manuscripts inside an Extra Illustrated W. Scott Douglas edition of 'The Works of Robert Burns', from 1877-79. This edition belonged to Burns's publisher, William Paterson. Ref: 35-R1480, unveiling of the Robert Burns statue in Timaru Botanical Gardens, no date, Sir George Grey Special Collection One of the discovered letters is from 'Clarinda' the pseudomny for Agnes McLehose. Burns was in love with Agnes and she was the subject of several of his poems including: ' Clarinda (Mistress of My Soul ' and ' To Clarinda '. After Burns' death in 1796, Agnes had requested that the intimate letters she had written to Burns be returned to her by Burns' friend and doctor William Maxwell.

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 ...

The Sir George Grey Special Collections has recently acquired a collection of 475 glass plate negatives taken by the photographer C P Dawes in and around Kohukohu, a small settlement on the Hokianga Harbour, in the early years of the 20th century. This rich treasure trove was found unexpectedly in an antique shop in Kaitaia, by a staff member who was holidaying in the area.

Dr Alexandra Barratt, Georgia Prince and Kate deCourcy, Sir George Grey Special Collections Auckland Libraries staff have made a remarkable discovery: a manuscript that is more than 1,200 years old! Fragments of the centuries-old manuscript were found sewn into some of Auckland Libraries' oldest books, a late-15th Century bible held in the Sir George Grey Special Collections. Manuscript fragments in bindings, Sir Geroge Grey Special Collections   Papal indulgences 1510, Sir George Grey Special Collections More information .