THE VOGEL PAPERS

Turnbull Library Record, Volume 3, Issue 1, 1 March 1970, Page 43

THE VOGEL PAPERS

G. P. Taylor

The private papers of Sir Julius Vogel are held in two separate collections in Wellington; the Vogel Family Papers in the Alexander Turnbull Library, and the Vogel Letters and Newspaper Writings in the General Assembly Library. 1 Between them they contain a wealth of material on Vogel’s private life and on his activities as an international businessman in the 1880 s. Their political content is rather disappointing, however, particularly as far as New Zealand historians are concerned. Very little of the manuscript material relates to either of the main aspects of Vogel’s political career; his first period of office between 1869 and 1876, or his coalition ministry with Stout from 1884 to 1887. But the collection in the General Assembly Library does contain a considerable amount of political correspondence covering the years between 1876 and 1881, when Vogel was New Zealand’s Agent-General in London, and much of the material in his business papers reflects the close connection between his business and political interests in both New Zealand and Western Australia in the 1880 s.

The Vogel Family Papers contain upwards of five hundred letters and other miscellaneous material which is largely of a personal nature, with letters to and from Vogel, his wife, children, and sister forming the basis of the collection. Although some of the letters Vogel wrote to his wife are of political interest, the main value of the correspondence is in the impression it gives of the family life that lay behind his political career. It brings out above all the extremely loving and affectionate relationship that existed between Vogel and his wife and children. He was a man who normally addressed his wife in terms such as ‘My own darling, darling, lovey, Polly’, and referred to her as his ‘own darling, darling, little woman’, and could conclude a letter of admonition to his twelve-year-old son with the words, ‘I will say no more my lovely, loved boy, your fond father . ..’ Vogel’s letters to his family also underline the seriousness of his state of health from the late 1870 s onwards, and the ever-present threat of an early death and worry over financial security for his family that resulted from it. Another aspect of the character of an extremely complex man is demonstrated by the frequent references to his bets and winnings on horse races and at cards in his correspondence with his wife.

The Vogel Letters and Newspaper Writings is a much larger and more important collection, which is of considerable value to New Zealand historians in spite of the deficiencies that have been mentioned above. 2 The material it contains can be divided into several groups of varying degrees of usefulness to the research worker. These are set out below, i. Vogel’s life and career up to 1876 This is the most disappointing section of the Vogel Papers. The material

that does exist, in Vols 1, 10 and 11, and the draft biography in Box File (Red), Miscellaneous Papers, Documents, and Pamphlets, is both sketchy and fragmentary, though it appears to have been used by R. M. Burdon as the basis for some of the early chapters of his study of Vogel. 3 The draft biography is particularly interesting. It appears to have been written by a member of Vogel’s family, from information given in the letters Vogel sent to his sister from Australia in the 1850 s and during his early years in New Zealand. The letters themselves do not appear in either of the two collections of papers. Another item of minor interest in Box File 5 is a testimonial, dated 1852, from the Government School of Mines, London, recommending Vogel as an assayer.

2. Vogel and the Agent-Generalship, 1876-1881 This section of the collection is particularly rich in material, not so much on Vogel’s record as Agent-General but on other matters connected with his period of office. Above all the correspondence, in Vols. 2 and 3, and the two Box Files (Red) containing the miscellaneous correspondence for the period 1871-1882, throws light on the complex circumstances that lay behind Vogel’s tenure of the position. It includes material on his appointment, on the negotiations with Atkinson and Hall especially, over his desire to surrender the Agent-Generalship and become New Zealand Loan Agent in England, and the closely related manoeuvring over the issue of whether Vogel as Agent-General could serve on the boards of private companies or stand for election to the British Parliament. Apart from this, the two box files also contain a large number of long and detailed letters sent to Vogel each month by his friend and former private secretary, Ebenezer Fox. Fox was then Secretary to the Cabinet, and his letters report on the political situation in New Zealand in addition to passing on personal news and items of local gossip. Vogel’s letters to Fox and his other correspondents appear in either the letter copy books or the two box files, and contain much that would seem to be of value to students of the politics of the late 1870 s. In one long letter, especially, Vogel comments on all the leading politicians of the time and discusses their associations with him. 4

3. Vogel as an international businessman, 1881-1885 During the early 1880 s Vogel became involved in the affairs of a number of business enterprises whose interests lay in both Britain and Australasia. Most of them were connected with telecommunications, land and railway development, and electric lighting. His association with the companies he formed or helped control was an extremely vigorous and active one for several years, but by about 1885-6 they had either failed or his connection with them had ended.

Since land and public works development was one of the most important elements in colonial politics at the time, it is not surprising

that Vogel’s business interests often have a political significance as well. His connection with the New Zealand Agricultural Company has already been examined from this point of view, but the large amount of material on his activities in Western Australia and his association with the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company have not yet been studied, though a similar link between business and politics existed here. But even where Vogel’s business interests had little or no connection with politics they can still be examined with profit, if only as a contribution towards the full interpretation of his life and career that has yet to be made. 5

4. Vogel in politics, 1884-1887 Once again, there is very little material that directly relates to this aspect of Vogel’s career. However, Vols 6 and 8, and Box Files 1 and 2 contain a great deal on the Agricultural Company and the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, while Vol 14 has a useful collection of newspaper cuttings. Among the latter are the leaders from the Evening Bell which discuss political affairs from the inside, in that they were written by Vogel during the first half of 1886 when he was a member of the government. 6 The volume also contains a pamphlet, ‘The Political History of Two Great Men’, which was issued under Vogel’s supervision during the 1884 election campaign. In comparing his achievements with those of his opponent in the Christchurch North electorate it makes an interesting analysis of Vogel’s political career from his own point of view. 5. Vogels last years, 1887-1899

Most of the material on this period is in Vol 9 and Box File 4. It tends to underline the increasing hardship that Vogel and his family faced in the last years of his life. He became involved in company promotion again, but in shakier and shadier schemes, like the attempts to form a syndicate to build the Simplon Tunnel through the Swiss Alps, and exploit an iron ore and oil lease in Taranaki. He also made further strenuous attempts to obtain payment of the commission he believed was due him from the government as a result of the negotiation of the 1879 loan. Vogel also turned to writing in an attempt to make money, and the box file contains the correspondence with Hutchinson’s, the publishers of his novel Anno Domini 2000, which to Vogel’s surprise and continued disbelief, flopped badly. And the result of all this? A copy of his will is in Box File (Red), Miscellaneous Papers, Documents, and Pamphlets. He left his wife -£l7B 5 s As will be realised, a full account of the contents of the two collections cannot be given in an essay of this nature, or in the more detailed appendix which follows. Among the material of interest that has not been referred to are letters from and to Sir Robert Herbert, the Perma-

nent Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1871 to 1892. Herbert had a business association with Vogel in Western Australia during the 18 80s, and the two men were on terms of distant friendship in the 1890 s. The correspondence between them in these files is enough to modify, as a long-term judgement, the often-repeated opinion Herbert expressed of Vogel in 1873 that he was ‘the most audacious adventurer that perhaps has ever held power in a British colony’. The Papers also contain a record of a very large part of all that Vogel officially said or wrote on his varied range of interests, from sugar beet cultivation to the condition of the British Empire; while the files on the period between 1876 and 1882 contain correspondence from and to most of the leading New Zealand political figures of the time. Apart from the difficulty of referring to everything the two collections contain, it should also be noted that much of the material on a given topic will be scattered through several files, but that only the more important contents of each file have been listed. In addition, with some topics, correspondence in the Turnbull collection relates to material in the General Assembly collection and vice versa. A more serious problem which faces anyone using the Papers is that Vogel’s handwriting is extremely difficult to read. The problem this poses is compounded in many of the letter copy books, where the copies are also indistinct. A combination of the two factors makes much of what he wrote virtually indecipherable.

University of Waikato

APPENDIX Alexander Turnbull Library: Vogel Family Papers: MS Papers 178 A. Mainly personal letters from Vogel to his wife, together with genealogical notes and some printed matter. B. Mainly general letters to Lady Vogel and biographical material concerning her. C. Mainly letters from Vogel’s sister, Frances, between 1884 and 1887. She looked after his affairs in England at this time and acted as guardian to Vogel’s sons who were at Charterhouse. D. Letters from, and material connected with, Vogel’s son Harry. E. Letters from, and material connected with, Vogel’s son Frank. F. Letters from, and material connected with, Vogel’s son Julius. G. &H. Letters from, and material connected with, Vogel’s daughter Phoebe. I. Papers of the Clayton family, and letters from them to Lady Vogel. General Assembly Library: Vogel Letters and Newspaper Writings (N B - The main library catalogue does not list all the material in the collection. The listed files are those numbered Vols 1-16. The Box Files are not listed, but some arc numbered separately. The unnumbered ones have red binding on them, and have been listed here as Box Files (Red).)

Vol. I Letter Copy Book, Mainly government business matters Vogel was 1871-72. concerned with. Lot on San Francisco mail service. Vol. II Letter Copy Book, Period when Vogel Agent-General. Semi-official 1876-79. and private letters to Atkinson, Hall, Grey, Macandrew, Richardson, E. Fox, etc. Letters re Agricultural Co. Vol. 11l Letter Copy Book, Letters to business and political associates in New 1876-83. Zealand and Britain. Letters re Agricultural Co. Vol. IV Letter Copy Book, Mainly business correspondence - Oriental 1882-83. Telephone Co, Consolidated Telephone Co, Australasian Electric Light Co, Wellington and Manawatu Railway Co, Western Australia.

Vol. V Letter Copy Book, Western and South Australian business interests. 1883. Vol. VI Letter Copy Book, Western Australia: Pacific Cable Co, Agricul--1884. tural Co. Vol. VII Letter Copy Book, Contains little: Largely indecipherable. 1884. Vol. VIII Letter Copy Book, Wellington and Manawatu Railway Co, Pacific 1884. Cable Co, Agricultural Co, Western Australia. Vol. IX Letter Copy Book, Largely correspondence relating to businesses in 1889-90. England and New Zealand. Evidence of growing personal difficulties. Vol. X Newspaper Articles and Leaders and articles apparently written by Vogel Leaders, 1863-64, for the Otago Daily Times. Letters Vogel wrote 1871-79. to other newspapers. Leaders and articles about Vogel. Vol. XI Press Cuttings, Mainly reports of debates in the Otago Provin--1863-68. cial Council. Some speeches by Vogel on important questions printed separately. Vol. XII Newspaper Clippings, A few general clippings. 1876.

Vol. XIII Hansard Cuttings, 1876. Vol. XIV Press and Hansard Letters to newspapers. Speeches, etc, during 1884 Cuttings, 1884-93. election campaign. Leaders from Evening Bell, January to June, 1886, written by Vogel. Vol. XV Press and Hansard Speeches by and press references to Vogel. Cuttings, 1886-87. Vol. XVI Box File. West Western Australian interests, 1882-84. Australian Railways. Scrapbook Mainly mining company reports from news-

papers. Scrapbook Newspaper cuttings, mainly leaders, 1871-72. Newspaper Cutting Book Not Vogel’s own. Compiled during 19305. Mainly cuttings of series of biographies of nineteenth century New Zealand politicians. Box File 1 Correspondence, Western and South Australian interests, Con--1881-87. solidated Telephone Co, Australasian Electric Light Co, East and West Coast and Nelson Railway, Midland Railway.

Box File 2 Correspondence, Consolidated Telephone Co, Australasian Elec--1883-85. trie Light Co. A little on Wellington and Manawatu Railway Co. Box File 3 Correspondence, Material on official government matters - land, 1886-87. insurance, sugar beet, etc. Newspaper cuttings and other material on Vogel v Roydhouse and Wakefield libel action. Box File 4 Correspondence, Correspondence with Hutchinson and Co re 1888-89. book Anno Domini 2000. Letters from son Frank in Mashonaland Police to parents, brothers, and various uncles and aunts. Draft unpublished article on imperial confederation. Letters from Sir Robert Herbert on this.

Box File 5 Scrapbook Three general, unimportant scrapbooks and a few miscellaneous letters and papers. Box File Miscellaneous Letters from Vogel to E. Fox, 1874-75. Cor(Red) Correspondence, respondence with Atkinson and Fox, 1876-77. 1871-77. Material on Polynesian Co. Box File Miscellaneous Large number of letters Vogel to E. Fox and (Red) Correspondence, Fox to Vogel. Letters to Hall, Ballance, Rey--1878-82. nolds, etc, and some from Hall. Box File Miscellaneous Western Australian interests. Business letters (Red) Correspondence, from Sir Robert Herbert. 1883-87. Box File Miscellaneous Papers, Draft, handwritten biography of Vogel up to (Red) Documents, and 1860 s. Articles of association, prospectuses, etc, Pamphlets. of many of the companies Vogel was associated with. General newspaper cuttings. Proof of article on imperial federation.

FOOTNOTES 1 See the appendix for details of the two collections. 2 Among the work based on the Vogel Papers that has been done already, see D. A. Hamer, ‘The Agricultural Company and New Zealand Politics, 1877-1886’, Historical Studies, Australia and New Zealand, X, No 38, May 1962, PPI4I-164. Work currently in progress includes the study of the New Zealand Agent-Generalship being made by Mrs R. M. Blackstock of the Victoria University of Wellington, and my own examination of Vogel as a businessman in politics and an imperialist. I intend publishing papers in the near future on Vogel’s activities in Western Australia during the early 18 80s and on his imperial thought. 3 R. M. Burdon, The Life and Times of Sir Julius Vogel, Christchurch, 1948. Incidentally, the private letters in the possession of Julius Vogel (Vogel’s son) that Burdon referred to are now included in the General Assembly collection. 4 Vogel to W. H. Reynolds, 27 December 1879. Burdon quoted from this letter, op. cit., P 136 (note 4), but misread the name of Vogel’s correspondent. s The main files that contain material on this section are Vols. 3 to 8, Vol. 16, Box Files 1 and 2, and Box Files (Red) Miscellaneous Correspondence, 1883-87, and Miscellaneous Papers, Documents, and Pamphlets. In addition, Vol. 2 and Box File (Red), Miscellaneous Correspondence, 1878-82, also contain correspondence relating to the abortive Broomhall Company, which attempted to establish a temperance settlement in New Zealand, and the Agricultural Company. 6 See Vogel to Lady Vogel, 24 January 1885, Vogel Family Papers, Box 1, folder 6, for details of the agreement he made with Mitchelson of the Evening Bell.