H.—32

1945 NEW ZEALAND

GENERAL ASSEMBLY LIBRARY (REPORT OF THE CHIEF LIBRARIAN FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1945)

Laid on the Table of the House of Representatives by Leave

To the Chairman, Joint Library Committee. Sir, — I have the honour to report on the operations of the General Assembly Library for the year 1944-45. Accessions.—The number of books accessioned during the year was 3,152, which is still slightly below the average for the previous decade. At 31st March, 1945, a total of 171,413 books had been accessioned. The accessions for the year were classified as follows : bibliography, 90 volumes ; newspapers, 108 ; philosophy, 28 ; religion, 96 ; sociology, 755 ; parliamentary, 168 ; philology, 42 ; natural science, 98 ; useful arts, 293 ; fine arts, 136 ; literature, 385 ; travel, biography, and history, 724 ; fiction, 229. Owing to modification of steamer services due to war conditions, books from abroad have not come to hand so promptly as in the two preceding years, and there is again a considerable commitment for books on order and not yet received. lam glad to report that there were no losses during the year from enemy action. The Year's Work. —Extra accommodation has been provided by the erection of shelves and a gallery in the reference-room. This has made possible the consolidation of the 300 (sociology) section, which is now all assembled in the sociology-room and the reference-room. This shift, which entailed the moving of approximately 15,000 books, made possible the arrangement of the overseas magazine section in No. 2 stack, giving easier access to periodicals which were formerly housed in the attic. The space available there has been used to rearrange the New Zealand magazines. A start has been made in organizing the American official papers in a large room which has been set aside for this purpose and has been partly shelved. Staff. —The staff is still short owing to the absence of five of its members, of whom three are still overseas. Lieutenant J. O. Wilson, who has been with the Royal Navy since 1941, was awarded the D.S.C. for distinguished service against submarinesin the Atlantic Ocean. Miss Marion Hogg has completed her M.A. degree. Mrs. Perry resigned from the staff during the year, and two temporary appointments have been made : Misses Jocelyn Goodwin and Ngaire Holland. The Manuscript Collection. —The year has been an exceptional one for the wealth of manuscript donations to the Library. Chief amongst these are the papers of Christopher William Richmond, which have been deposited by his daughters, the Misses M. and E. Richmond. Richmond had a brilliant career in New Zealand. He was a member of Parliament and of the first Stafford Ministry (1856-61), and then a Judge of the Supreme Court until his death in 1895. This collection includes letters of the highest historical importance from such figures as Sir George Grey, Sir Thomas Gore Browne, Alfred Domett, Sir Edward Stafford, Sir Frederick Weld, and other leading men and women in New Zealand and abroad, which shed much light on disputed points of historical fact, particularly in regard to the Taranaki war. A unique feature of the collection is a series of letters over a period of forty years by Jane Maria Richmond (afterwards Mrs. Arthur Atkinson) which furnish an absorbing commentary on affairs in Europe and afterwards in New Zealand. There are also in the collection C. W. Richmond's letter copy books and many diaries in the hands of C. W. Richmond, James C. Richmond, and Henry R. Richmond, Sir Harry Atkinson, Arthur Samuel Atkinson, and Mrs. C. W. Richmond. The papers as a whole cover a period of more than a century, and authentically document the history of New Zealand through the recollections of the brilliant Atkinson-Richmond family. These valuable documents have been arranged by the Chief Librarian and bound for preservation. Another important gift, which came from Mr. P. J. Rolleston (Attorney-General, 1926-28), comprises the papers of his father, the Hon. William Rolleston, who was Superintendent of Canterbury (1868-76), a member of Parliament (1868-99), and Minister of Lands in the Hall, the Whitaker, and the Atkinson Ministries from 1879 to 1884. These papers (which have not yet been arranged) contain much valuable source material which the Hon. W. Downie Stewart used in writing his life of Rolleston. From Mrs. R. L. Macalister (Wellington) we received an interesting collection of papers belonging to Dr. Isaac Earl Featherston, who was Superintendent of Wellington Province (1853-71), a member of two Fox Ministries in the " sixties," and Agent-General for the colony (1871—76). Though Featherston's own letters are mainly of a personal nature, there are also some valuable official documents and private letters (including a note written by one of the Maungatapu murderers). The Hon. C. F. Skinner, M.P., has presented to the Library the journal of his grandfather, Thomas Skinner, who in 1849 was stationed as missionary at Taupo and Rotoaira. Another valuable deposit, presented by Messrs. C. A. L. Treadwell and A. H. L. Treadwell, is a collection of fifty-seven legal documents from the old Wellington practice of R. D. Hanson and Robert Hart. These instruments, which are mostly on parchment, begin with a declaration of sale of land at Porirua Harbour from Ki to Joseph Toms, dated Ist May, 1838. A few months later Rangihaeata, Te Rauparaha, and others conveyed to Thomas Evans a small island off .Kapiti. There are numerous deeds of feoffment over land at Kawhia, Pelorus River, and elsewhere to John Jones and his associates. Not the least interesting is Robert Hart's appointment as notary public at Wellington, which is dated 15th February, 1843, and signed by the Archbishop of Canterbury ; and there are also three patents of appointment of Hart as district Judge in 1859 and his summons to the Legislative Council in 1872.