Collection of Historical Data

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 82, 7 April 1938, Page 3

Collection of Historical Data

FOR CENTENNIAL CELEBRATIONS The opening session of the Feilding W.E.A. on Tuesday evening was largely attended when Dr. Guy Scholefield, of Wellington, chairman of the Wellington Provincial Historical Committee, delivered an address on the subject of the various activities connected with the collection of historical data for the forthcoming centennial celebrations. Dr. Scholefield said that the National Historical Association would function in the direction of advising the Government in the preparation of historical matter for publication and also generally in connection with the celebrations. This organisation was concerned with the nation aspect of the celebrations, while in each province there would be provincial centennial committees, representative of local interests, who would be concerned with the purely provincial efforts to mark the celebrations. Some of the celebrations would be of a national character, such as, for instance, the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, the National Exhibition and the commemoration of the granting of sovereignty to New Zealand. Such celebrations would be managed by the central committee. Provincial efforts would be managed by the provincial committees, while local commemorations would be in charge of local committees wherever it was decided to mark the occasion.

It was proposed to issue a numbor of popular books giving surveys of major historical events in the early history of New Zealand’s colonisation. These would deal with the discovery of tho islands, the colonisation, the early period of settlement, a survey of the dairy industry as welL as the development of transport. In addition it was proposed to issue an historical atlas, a .compilation which would record a fund of interesting data relating to place names throughout New Zealand. Many of the original place names had been forgotten and historical research activities were being directed towards collecting information respecting these place names for the purpose of Including them in the historical reference atlas. In addition it was proposed to publish a national biography in which would be included an account of the lives of all of those who played an important part in the history of New Zealand. The statistical side would be covered by a special centennial issue of the official year book All of the foregoing publications would be financed by the Government out of the grant made for the celebrations. Provincial and district celebrations would be subI sidised by the Government to the extent of £1 for £3.

Dr. Scholefield went on to deal with the need for a special effort towards collecting historical knowledge and said that one of the best channels for gathering historical facts was through the columns of the early newspapers. In these the daily happenings were, errors and omissions excepted, generally faithfully recorded and no better medium was offering the student who deisred to obtain information respecting the social and economic progress of any district. Pictures of old settlers as well as pictures of original houses were also of great value. While he confessed that the one time familiar family album was now rather painful to look at, they were nevertheless very valuable from a historical point oi view. Another source of information of the past was through the church registrars of births, deaths and marriages, and he suggested tdat an effort should be made to obtain copies of these records for filing away. There were also the minute books of the one-time road boards which ultimately became absorbed in county councils. Local bodies could do a great deal in delving into these records and obtaining copies for preservation. It was the “small beer” that really counted in historical research and as an instance of this Dr. Scholefield recalled tho time when the late Dr. Hocken proceeded to England to go through the papers and records of the old New Zealand Company. Dr. Hocken marked ail the papers which he considered should be kept aud these taken over by the Record Office, London, while the remainder were packed in a case and sent out to New Zealand. It was very fortunate that this residue was sent to New Zealand and not destroyed, because among the not wanted papers were many interesting documents which threw a light upon the activities of the company and the work of Wakefield. It appeared that the offic* boy of the company was allowed 4d a week for snuff and among the papers was found several receipts for this allowance proving, said the speaker, that Dickens’ characters did really live. Early electoral rolls were another source of historical information, while old letters and diaries were aso of great value. Tho speaker mentioned these matters with the idea that any local activities towards gathering historical data would have something to work on. Tho field was large and. a proper investigation carried out now would be productive of much that would prove of untold interest. If all that was collected was carefully recorded it would prove very valuable 50 years hence. There was no doubt that there were people in the town who would be quite prepared to assist in this matter and his suggestion was that a local committee be set up to go thoroughly into the whole question of collecting historical data connected with the progress of Feilding aud district. (Applause.) Mr. A. J. Humphreys presided at the meeting and warmly welcomed the speaker, who was accorded a hearty vote of thanks for his interesting address. Several of those present expressed agreement with Dr. Scholefield’s suggestions and after a number of questions had been answered the meeting closed.