THE EARLY DAYS.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17809, 7 July 1923, Page 8

THE EARLY DAYS.

i HISTORY OF CANTERBURY. ! ! As the years advance, so our history ;:j-omes more lengthy, if. in the first place, wt- have not allowed death to Fever our links with the past. Such is t:•<-■. cse with Canterbury, and ni> small air.nunl or p'.;i>lir- intercut is centred, at the present time, in s curing an exi a t historical record <»f the days when : the pakeha first lauded in the centra! . portion of the S.v.th Island of New Zealand to found the province of C "n----terbniy. The Canterbury Progress Leagie. .it a recent meeting, decided t■■> . I'ike stops in this direction, and it '. is in be hoped that their efforts will ■ meet with the success which they dek.'V.v, ;r.d which, if successful, will pi-jvi-'n.' an invaluable recuru of the *ii= '- '■ in;i.- : o.' tiie-e pioneers who laid the 1 foundation ot the province as it is to•h'.y. It is of interest to note that already (vrtain ot the records of the cai'iiv;- days of the province have beou Tiivs.'!••,-."«. and are to be found in the '. Ouit. rbury Museum and the Chrisi- , ehureh Library. .Mr IE Speight, curator of the Museum, who'f interviewed by a "Press" I rep;e.-:emative yesterday regarding the i exhibits held by the Museum relating ' to Canterbury''-, early days, stated that ! quite a large amount of matter was i housed in the Early Colonists' room. '■ Amongst this was the famous Godley : (•oire.-.pundeiwe, which had been sent to ,' No..' Zealand by the son of the hu' ! .John Robert Godley. It included let- ■ in-A from such men as Lyttclton, G'.nd- .' stone, and others of high., standing at j Hume, who were interested in !.-olonisa- ; tion. and there were aj.so comnn.nica- | tions from a number of those who had j taken a prominent part in the actual | work of colonisation in Canterbury. j This correspondence, said Mr Speight, j had all been tabulated, and a precis made of all the letters. According to tiie- expressed wish of General Sir A. : Godley, however, the matter contained j in the Godley correspondence was not available f<*r perusal by the public, or for' publication, as it contained ! a largo amount of matter which per- j haps might cause pain to those living j to-day. In .the coiir e of. time, h wever. it will become available :t« the general public. The correspondence is the most valuable in New Zealand dealing with the history of the province. Besides the above, the Museum also has a considerable amount of public correspondence rescued from destruction by Mr Johannes Andersen when he was in the service of the Lands Department in ! Canterbury. There is also a consider- i able amount of correspondence from the j late Mr Broy regarding engineering j problems in Connexion with early pro- i vincial settlement. Quite recently the i executors of the estate of the lato Mr I F. C. B. Bishop presented; the Museum j with 500 volumes deal ng with hist rical j and scientific matters in connexion with j New Zealand, Australia, and the South j Pacific. This bequest was made at the j instruction of the late Mr Bishop, who ■, took a keen interest* in the Museum. ; An exte'ns'h're series of portraits nf: early settlers of Canterbury, especially of those who arrived prior to the \ advent of the first four ships, and assembled by the late Mr J. Hay, are in- '. eluded in the collection in the Early ; Colonists' room, as well as pictures of Christchurch in the early days, etc. Amongst the large number of the more material exhibits, such as the old chair used by Edward Gibbon Wakefield, are ftcveral of exceptional interest from an ; historical point of view.

Collecting the Becords. Speaking yesterday with regard to the collection and preservation of local I records and literature, Mr-E. J. Bell, librarian of the Canterbury Public Library, expressed pleasure that the '. Progress League had decided to go j thoroughly into this important matter. l Mr Bell stated that the collecting of New Zealand literature had not been neglected in Christchurch, because he had always endeavoured to secure everything of local interest, since his appointment as librarian some ten years ago. Mr Bell further stated that the collection and preservation of local ' literature had always been regarded as an important part of a librarian's work, and a necessary equipment of a, ' large public library, and that in most ; of the large libraries in other parts ' of the_ world splendid special and local ; collections were to be found. This j important work was being carried out by the chief libraries in New Zealand, I with a result that the literature of the Dominion would be preserved in the libraries in the various centres. At Christchurch there was a very good collection of New Zealand books, a large number of which dealt with Canterbury and the South; indeed, during the past few years the collection had i fast outgrown shelf space, and much of the literature had to be stored away. However, a much-needed extension was now being erected, and it was antici- ! pated that considerably more room would be available for the local collection. * 1

Regarding the Provincial Council collection, Mr Bell was of the opinion that this would have to be classified, catalogued and specially arranged in order that the contents would be available to the student of local history. This important work would eventually be carried out at the library. There was a good collection of the Journals of Proceedings of the Province of Canterbury; the Canterbury Gazettes; Journals of the Canterbury Association; a large number of letter-books including letter-books of the Superintendents of Canterbury, cash-books, ledgers, and minute books of early Canterbury; also a number of volumes giving particulars of the runs in Canterbury; as well as a host of other volumes of priceless value. Mr Bell considered that it would be a mistake to form two separate collections in Christchurch, and he hoped that efforts would be concentrated on the one collection at the Public Library.