Heritage et AL

Ngā Kākano o Matariki / Seeds of Matariki, an exhibition of selected works by students of Ngā Kākano Reo e Rua Kura is currently on display at the West Auckland Research Centre, J T Diamond Reading Room, Level 2, Waitakere Central Library, Henderson  from 16 July to 27 July. Seeds were planted in the minds of local rangatahi (youth) this Matariki, during two wānanga held at the West Auckland Research Centre, celebrating Māori New Year. Students from Ngā Kākano Christian Kura Reo E Rua attended two environmental presentations at Waitakere Central Library, then produced art work based on what they had learned. Their prints celebrating our relationship with Papatūānuku, our earth mother, have blossomed into a celebrated body of work in the sanctuary of the J T Diamond exhibition space. Ngā Kākano o Matariki / Seeds of Matariki exhibition is on display for the following weeks as Matariki Celebrations conclude and te wiki o te reo Māori, Māori language week begins.

When James K. Baxter was dismissed from his job at the Chelsea Sugar Refinery, it's well known that he wrote a rather 'unrefined' poem to express his disgruntlement: "I had the job of hosing down The hoick and sludge and grit For the sweet grains of sugar dust That had been lost in it. For all the sugar in the land Goes through that dismal dump And all the drains run through the works Into a filthy sump". Despite this unsugared description, a copy of 'The Ballad of the Stonegut Sugarworks' is lodged in the Chelsea Sugar Archives (at Birkenhead Library), sandwiched between a 1962 plan of the 'Disposition of Buildings' and a 1976 letter from the Refinery Manger to the Managing Director about managing absenteeism. A positioning which is at once random, and oddly relevant - though I couldn’t locate that impressive sounding ‘sump’ on the plan (see below).  Ref: 1962 Plan CSR-B94127, Chelsea Sugar Archives As to the letter, it reads as...

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 ...

One of the delightful aspects of the research centres is the absolute diversity of material we have here. Some might question just why we collect the material we do but there are times when one feels particularly pleased with the powers-that-be who have, over the years, built up the collections.   In this case, I am talking about the work of the renowned Kiwi romance writer, Essie Summers .  She was a Mills and Boon phenomenon, a pastor’s wife who began writing for the publisher in the 1950s, and became one of their best selling and most loved authors. She died in 1998, but her popularity is such that at times M&B still reprint her novels as part of their Bestseller programme.  Essie Summers books at the Central Auckland Research Centre A few months back, a customer came in to the Central Auckland Research Centre looking for the fiction. She was a huge Essie fan and, as all fan-girls do, she was going through a re-reading stage. However, she was missing a few tit...

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,...

Auckland Libraries is fast approaching the end of a project to digitise all the Auckland Weekly News photographic supplements published between 1898 and 1943. You can already see all of the photographs up to 1927 on the Heritage Images database. The project has turned up some fascinating and intriguing images, such as an 1886 design by John Crook of Ponsonby for an airship (see below), imaginatively seen flying over central Auckland.  Ref: AWNS-19020710-1-2, Sir George Grey Special Collections From the outset it was decided to digitise all the published photographs, not just those obviously relating to New Zealand. One of these images from around the world, is a rather dramatic photograph of Victor Grayson, addressing a crowd of unemployed workers at Tower Hill in London in 1908 (see below).  Ref: AWNS-19081210-7-3, Sir George Grey Special Collections Inspired by this image, research has revealed that Grayson was an intriguing character. Du...