HISTORY IN OLD CHEST

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22197, 26 August 1935, Page 8

HISTORY IN OLD CHEST

DUNEDIN DISCOVERY STORY OF EARLY OTAGO A remarkable discovery linking the present day with the earliest period of settlement in Otago has been made by Mr. 11. G. C. McNab, principal of John McGlashan College, Dunedin. In an attic of his house, which was formerly the home of Mr. John McGlashan, secretary of the Otago Association, Mr. McNab has found a chest containing a collection of documents and papers that will, it is believed, throw a great deal of fresh light on the early history of the province. Students of New Zealand history in Otago and other parts of New Zealand have often been surprised that the literary remains of John McGlashan, one of the founders of the settlement of Otago. were so scanty. From time to time searches have been made in what were considered likely quarters, but without success. He was known to have been a thorough correspondent, and it was thought that his legal training would have dissuaded him from destroying any papers likely to be of public interest. For 71 years documents and letters of considerable importance to New Zealand have lain in his old home in Maori Hill. Locked in a inetal case, they have suffered not tho slightest damage. The papers, which were discovered in the course of a recent house cleaning, consist of about 50 pamphlets, a largo collection of manuscripts, a parcel of newspapers and miscellaneous odds and ends. The documents relate to the early history of Otago, the affairs of the Otago Association, under the auspices of which the settlement was formed, and of the New Zealand Company.