Tag Archives: photography

Queen Sälote of Tonga (1900–65) composer and poet

5 September 2012 – 5.16pm

 This week is Tongan Language Week – Uike Kātoanga’i ‘o e Lea Faka-Tonga. This is the third blog post where the Pacific Cultures team highlight collection items that relate to Tongan language and culture. 

In Tongan Language week it is difficult to look past the contributions of Tonga’s Queen Sälote (1900–65) to the preservation and creative use of the Tongan language. Queen Sälote was a celebrated writer of poetry and song. She composed over one hundred songs, lullabies, laments and dances.[i]

Nuku’alofa Tonga 1963 photographer Ans Westra

Queen Sälote has a connection withNew Zealand that began in 1909 when she was sent to school in Auckland where she stayed until she was 14. She visited New Zealand regularly throughout her life. In 1952, the Tongan government bought an Auckland residence, ‘Atalanga. This became Queen Sälote’s home away from home and later included a hostel for Tongans studying in Auckland. Her visits were mostly private, but she was acknowledged by both government officials and Mäori dignitaries.

When Queen Sälote died in 1965, she was deeply mourned. She was a loved and respected monarch.Queen Sälote’s children and grandchildren continue to maintain close links with New Zealand, especially with the Mäori monarchy, the Kïngitanga.

Te Papa has several treasured items and images associated with Queen Sälote in the Pacific Cultures Collections. They include a kie (fine mat) once owned by Queen Sälote, photographs featuring her by renowned photographer Brian Brake, and a ngatu launima some 23 metres long that was placed beneath her coffin when her body was flown back to Tonga from New Zealand in 1965.

In remembrance of Queen Sälote, we present a selection of images and artefacts below that you can click on to enlarge. We also offer a link to the blog site of Tongan/Samoan poet Maryanne Pale of the South Auckland Poets Collective. She has her own tribute to Queen Sälote and her poetry writing thats worth sharing.

 Maryanne Pale, South Auckland Poets Collective  Link: http://maryannepale.com/2012/03/22/celebrating-world-poetry-day-in-remembrance-of-queen-salote-mafileo-pilolevu-tupou-iii/

Kie hingoa /ie ioga (fine mat) Tonga/Samoa. This kie was formerly in the possession of Queen Sälote. She gave it to the Kronfeld family in Auckland to cover the coffin of Minna Kronfeld whom she had known as a girl. It passed to Minna’s brother, Dr Moe Kronfeld, who gave it to Te Papa.

This is rare fragment of tapa commemorates the war effort of Queen Sälote and the Tongan people who raised money for the British to buy Spitfire airplanes during the Second World War (1939-1945). The aircraft depicted was the first of 3 Spitfires donated to the British war effort by the Queen and people of Tonga. A total of 15,000 pounds was raised in Tonga for this purpose, the aircraft depicted on the tapa was the result of the first payment of 5,000 pounds in April 1941.

Tonga, Royal Tour 1953 Brian Brake (photographer)

Tonga, Royal Tour (1953) Brian Brake (photographer). Queen Sälote is at the front of the vehicle.

Royal Tour , Tonga (1953) Brian Brake (photographer). Queen Sälote is on the right holding a fan.

This ngatu launima was associated with two queens. Made in 1953 to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s visit to Tonga, it was later placed under Queen Salote’s coffin when her body was flown back from New Zealand in 1965. The tapa was given to the pilot of the plane Flight Lieutenant McAllister, and he in turn presented it to the Dominion Museum (Te Papa’s predecessor) in 1968. Click on the image to see the details.

 

[i] Wood-Ellen, E. (ed). Songs and Poems of Queen Salote. Vava’u Press, Tonga (2004).

By seanjmallon | Posted in Pacific | Also tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (2)

Surviving a shipwreck – the wreck of the Dundonald

16 August 2012 – 5.55pm

In my last post I touched on the shipwreck of the Dundonald on Disappointment Island in 1907, and the rescue of its survivors by the Hinemoa when she was taking scientists to the Auckland Islands.  The Auckland Islands were on a major shipping route, but the available charts were not always accurate, and several ships were wrecked there in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.  The twelve Dundonald crew who survived spent eight months on the islands during a freezing sub-antarctic winter, eating what they could catch, and making shelter without any equipment.  

Survivors of wreck of the barque "Dundonald". From the album: [1907 Sub-Antarctic Expedition]; circa 1908; North, W. November 1907, Auckland Islands. Page, Samuel. Te Papa

Survivors of wreck of the barque “Dundonald”. From the album: 1907 Sub-Antarctic Expedition. November 1907, Auckland Islands. Attributed to Samuel Page. Te Papa

 

Smashed on the cliffs

The Dundonald was sailing from Sydney to England with a cargo of wheat when she ran aground on the 6th of March, 1907.   Some survivors gave their story to the newspapers when they finally returned to the mainland.  These extracts from Charles Eyre’s account were published in the Auckland Star on 2 December 1907.

” The weather on the night of the 6th of March was very thick and heavy … Suddenly the land was seen right ahead.  We tried to wear the ship short round, but she would not stay, and went stern first into a crevice of the cliffs.  Orders were given to clear the lifeboats, but it was found to be useless, as there was a big sea, and rocks all around us … One tremendous sea washed clean over us, and although we managed to hang on, the next one washed us all away … I caught hold of one of the shrouds and climbed up (the mast)”.

The next day Eyre found that several other men had spent the night clinging to the mast.  Eventually they struggled to shore.  “There were sixteen of us out of 28 that got ashore, which left twelve to be accounted for as drowned … we were all very much exhausted when we got ashore, being very hungry and cold … Later on we discovered there was no depot (of emergency supplies) on that island.  This was a great disappointment to  the mate … he sank rapidly and died the twelfth day after the wreck.”  The mate was an elderly man called Jabez Peters, from Glasgow.  Among those who died in the wreck were Captain Thorburn and his young son, and sailors from around the UK and Scandinavia.

Find out more about emergency depots for shipwrecked sailors in the Sub-Antarctic Islands

Staying alive

“The first day after getting ashore, we subsisted on raw mollymawk. … We managed to scrape through the winter all right by living on sea hawks, mollymawks, and seals … we did not know how to kill (the seals).  At first we used to whack them with a stick, but one of the fellows happened to hit one on the nose, and it rolled over, so after that we had no difficulty in dispatching them.” 

Sea Lion on shore of Enderby Island. From the album: [1907 Sub-Antarctic Expedition]; circa 1908; North, W. November 1907, Auckland Islands. Page, Samuel. Te Papa

Sea Lion on shore of Enderby Island. From the album: 1907 Sub-Antarctic Expedition. November 1907. Attributed to Samuel Page. Te Papa

The men soon realised they would need some form of shelter to survive the snows of winter.  ” We then decided to dig holes in the ground, which we did with our hands.  Above the holes we built up sticks and put sods on top, forming huts about six feet long and four feet wide”.  One of their huts was used as a cook-house by the scientific expedition which eventually discovered and rescued the men.

Shipwrecked mariners camp, Disappointment Island. Auckland Islands seven miles distant in background. From the album: [1907 Sub-Antarctic Expedition]; circa 1908; North, W. November 1907, Auckland Islands. Page, Samuel. Te Papa

Shipwrecked mariners camp, Disappointment Island. The Auckland Islands are just visible on the horizon. From the album: 1907 Sub-Antarctic Expedition. November 1907, Auckland Islands. Attributed to Samuel Page. Te Papa

A desperate plan

“(We) knew the depot was on the other island, which was about six miles distant, but we did not know how to get across.  … In July three men built a boat of canvas and sticks. To do this we had to put pieces of our clothes and blankets and sew them together, and the task was all the harder as the ship’s sailmaker and carpenter were both drowned.”

The first boat made it to the main island, but the men couldn’t find the depot, and returned empty handed after several days of searching.  A second boat was smashed as it left shore.  “We build a third (boat) in October … we got to the large island, but as we reached the shore we struck a rock and the boat was smashed, sending us all into the water … the mishap put out a fire we had carried in the boat on a sod.  We had carried it in order to save matches, of which we had only two. These got wet, and even after drying them for three days we could not get a light.”  Without a fire, the men subsisted miserably on raw seal meat.

Frame of coracle used by shipwreck survivors to reach Relief Depot, Auckland Islands, where whaleboat was stored. From the album: [1907 Sub-Antarctic Expedition]; circa 1908; North, W. November 1907, Auckland Islands. Page, Samuel. Te Papa

Frame of coracle used by shipwreck survivors to reach Relief Depot, Auckland Islands, where whaleboat was stored. Charles Eyre is on the left, and another survivor, John Gratton, on the right of the boat. From the album: 1907 Sub-Antarctic Expedition. November 1907, Auckland Islands. Attributed to Samuel Page. Te Papa

The men walked fifteen miles across the island to locate the depot.  “There was a good boat at the depot, but no sails, so we cut up our clothes to make a sail … we had found clothes at the depot and exchanged them for what we were wearing, and we had also cut each others’ hair and beards, which over the seven months we were on the other island had grown so long that we looked like  a lot of ‘spring poets’.  As we got near our old camp our mates did not know us in our new ‘toggery’ and they thought we were sealers.”

The survivors then moved over to the main island and kept close watch for the Government steamer which called at the islands every six months. The small amount of biscuits and tinned meat they found in the depot was carefully rationed in the meantime – the butter, coffee, tea and sugar which should have been there had been stolen.

Rescue

Charles and the others were finally rescued when the Hinemoa arrived on 16 November.  Before they left the islands, they retrieved the first mate’s body from Disappointment Island and buried him at the small cemetery at Port Ross, alongside other shipwrecked mariners.  The ceremony was attended by all the survivors, the crew of the Hinemoa, and the members of the scientific expedition.

Read Eyre’s full account of the wreck

See maps and more information about shipwrecks in the Auckland Islands

By Anita Hogan | Posted in Disasters, History, Photography | Also tagged , , , , , , | Comments (1)

Islands style – Cook Islands (circa 1914)

9 August 2012 – 2.28pm

This is the fourth blog where we highlight items from the collections as part of Cook Islands language week (6-10 August 2012). I have selected a small number of portraits by George Crummer who had a photography business in Rarotonga, Cook Islands from 1890.  

Te Papa has an album and 227 (now badly deteriorated) negatives taken by George Crummer between 1896 and c.1914. They were gifted to the Museum by the National Film Unit around 1980. 

I was struck by the different styles of clothing and costumes people are wearing in these photographs and I share a few of them here. Yesterday, Safua highlighted some contemporary mu’umu’u, however, here we go old school, Rarotonga - Cook Islands 1914. There are some mu’umu’u in the selection, but check out the cowboy outfit and the hats…it’s Cook Islands style.

Te Ao Teariki (Chief) and his wife from Areora village on Mauke Island.

Cook Islands cowboy

By seanjmallon | Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged , , , , , , | Comments (6)

The Berry Boys – another story from the photos featuring World War 1 soldiers

18 July 2012 – 1.20pm

One of the amazing things about researching the Berry and Co portraits is that with each identification comes new insight into World War 1. The stories behind the people and their experiences make what happened during the war more real and personal. One image in particular pulled at my heart-strings this month, that of John Owen Clay and his involvement in the Battle of the Somme.

Clay, John Owen, circa 1916, Wellington. Berry & Co. Purchased 1998 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. Te Papa

Clay, John Owen, circa 1916, Wellington. Berry & Co. Purchased 1998 with New Zealand Lottery Grants Board funds. Te Papa

Sergeant John Clay had fought extensively in France where he was wounded several times. His medical records show that he received medical treatment in Alexandria and Estaples but it was the last entry on his medical record that linked the experiences of John to one of New Zealand’s most devastating battles – the Battle of The Somme, September 1916.

The Somme was New Zealand’s first major engagement on the Western Front, beginning with an advance across ‘No Man’s Land’ at 6.20am on 15 September. The NZ Division fought for 23 consecutive days in bad weather conditions and suffered heavy losses. There were 7000 casualties with 1500 men killed. John was there and was one of those injured.

His military medical report documents that on the 25 September John received a compound fracture of the skull. The record states, ‘While in a bayonet charge he was struck by a bullet, sustaining an extensive depression over posterior frontal region’. John was lucky to survive, but after a period of recovery he was discharged from service in April 1917.

Medical record for John Owen Clay. New Zealand Defence Force Personnel Records. Archives New Zealand.

Medical record for John Owen Clay. New Zealand Defence Force Personnel Records. Archives New Zealand.

It appears that John lived in the Wellington region after the war, he may have gone back to his old job working for the New Zealand Railways in Trentham. He died at the Silverstream Hospital in July 1968 aged 81 years old. His next-of-kin at the time of his death was Mrs B Clay who was possibly his wife.

John lived a long life and it would be great to know more about what happened next.  This is the next stage of the project and to help with this we now have two wonderful researchers from the Wellington branch of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists using their research skills and networks to flesh out the stories of the people we identify in these portraits. We now have about 30 soldiers as well as their family identified and are starting to build up quite a fascinating collection of stories.

If you would like to see all of the World War 1 photos by Berry & Co you can search the group on Collections Online or go to Flickr where you can leave us a message.

By lynettet | Posted in Collections Online, History, Photography, Uncategorized | Also tagged , , | Comments (0)

Fieldwork in the Subantarctic Islands, a hundred years ago

6 July 2012 – 1.45pm

I’ve been enjoying our scientist’s fieldwork posts.  We have scientist’s photographs from several historic field trips in the photography collection.  My favourites are in this photo album from the 1907 Expedition to the Subantarctic Islands.  The Expedition was initiated by the Canterbury Philosophical Institute with support from the Government, and studied plants, animals, soils and marine life on the Auckland and Campbell Island groups, as well as a few outliers.

Dr Cockayne, botanist, inspecting native florae. From the album: [1907 Sub-Antarctic Expedition]; circa 1908; North, W. November 1907, Auckland Islands. Page, Samuel. Te Papa

Dr Leonard Cockayne inspecting ‘Poa litorosa’. November 1907, Auckland Islands. Photo attributed to Samuel Page. Te Papa.

 The islands were of real interest to scientists, as they wanted to compare the distribution of species with other parts of the world.  The famous British botanist Joseph Hooker had studied plants near the coast during the 1840s, but no one had looked inland or at some of the smaller islands.  

The Expedition party was made up entirely of New Zealand scientists such as botanist Leonard Cockayne.  There was also a cook, the crew of their transport ship Hinemoa, and a small crew for a whaleboat to ferry the scientists about.   

Scientific members & assistants of the Expedition. From the album: [1907 Sub-Antarctic Expedition]; circa 1908; North, W. November 1907, Auckland Islands. Page, Samuel. Te Papa

Scientists and assistants of the Auckland Island party of the Expedition. November 1907. Front row: E R Waite, Doctors Cockayne, Benham and Farr. Middle row: G V Hudson, Captain Dorrien-Smith, H D Cook, B C Aston, J S Tennant, R Speight. Back row: S Page, A M Finlayson, G S Collyns, H B North. Photo attributed to Samuel Page. Te Papa

 

Whaleboat, used by Expedition, and crew in Carnley Harbour. From the album: [1907 Sub-Antarctic Expedition]; circa 1908; North, W. November 1907, Auckland Islands. Page, Samuel. Te Papa

Whaleboat and crew in Carnley Harbour. November 1907. The head of the crew was Whaitiri, from Ruapuke Island. Photo attributed to Samuel Page. Te Papa

The Hinemoa left Bluff on 14 November 1907, and returned at the end of the month.  The scientists made the most of their time on the islands by splitting between the Auckland Islands and Campbell Island.  This photo album was put together by the cook to the Auckland Islands group, Mr W B North, and donated to Te Papa by North’s son years later. 

Magnetic survey tent, Auckland Islands. From the album: [1907 Sub-Antarctic Expedition]; circa 1908; North, W. November 1907, Auckland Islands. Page, Samuel. Te Papa

Magnetic survey tent, Auckland Islands. November 1907. Photo attributed to Samuel Page. Te Papa

The expedition members were astounded to find a group of shipwrecked sailors on Auckland Island.  These men had survived the wreck of the barque Dundonald eight months before, and ate birds, seals and roots until they managed to reach the cache of emergency stores left by the Government.  Their story is an epic tale, so I’ll cover it in my next post.

Survivors of wreck of the barque "Dundonald". From the album: [1907 Sub-Antarctic Expedition]; circa 1908; North, W. November 1907, Auckland Islands. Page, Samuel. Te Papa

Survivors of wreck of the barque “Dundonald”. November 1907, Auckland Islands. Photo attributed to Samuel Page. Te Papa

The Expedition was a great success.   The scientists described a huge range of flora and fauna, and found a number of new species.  Some of the specimens they collected are now in Te Papa’s collection.  A detailed report was published in 1909 and was well received in the scientific world.  The trip was also covered by several newspapers – the Otago Witness did a two-page spread of photographs on Christmas Day, which includes some of the photos in this album.

Snares Island. From the album: [1907 Sub-Antarctic Expedition]; circa 1908; North, W. November 1907, Snares Islands. Page, Samuel. Te Papa

Penguin rookery, Snares Islands. November 1907. Attributed to Samuel Page. Te Papa

Graphania erebia (Hudson, 1909); holotype; holotype of Melanchra erebia Hudson, 1909, collected 29 Nov 1907, Erebus Cove, Port Ross. Auckland Islands. New Zealand. Te Papa

One of the specimens collected during the Expedition. Graphania erebia (Hudson, 1909); holotype; holotype of Melanchra erebia Hudson, 1909, collected 29 Nov 1907, Erebus Cove, Port Ross. Te Papa

Sea Lion on shore of Enderby Island. From the album: [1907 Sub-Antarctic Expedition]; circa 1908; North, W. November 1907, Auckland Islands. Page, Samuel. Te Papa

Sea Lion on shore of Enderby Island. November 1907. Attributed to Samuel Page. Te Papa

Views in Carnley Harbour. From the album: [1907 Sub-Antarctic Expedition]; circa 1908; North, W. November 1907, Auckland Islands. Page, Samuel. Te Papa

Views in Carnley Harbour. November 1907, Auckland Islands. Attributed to Samuel Page. Te Papa

Auckland Islands crab. From the album: [1907 Sub-Antarctic Expedition]; circa 1908; North, W. November 1907, Auckland Islands. Page, Samuel. Te Papa

Auckland Islands crab, November 1907. Attributed to Samuel Page. Te Papa

 

By Anita Hogan | Posted in Art, Biodiversity, Collections Online, Field trips, History, Photography | Also tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)

Caring for our photographic negatives

18 June 2012 – 10.04am

We have an enormous collection of photographic negatives and transparencies on glass and film, going back to the 1870s. They include all sorts of images from studio portraits to holiday snaps, landscapes, photographs of sports teams, and artists’ negatives and transparencies.  

Moa bone and skin, New Zealand. Burton Brothers, Maker unknown. Te Papa

Moa bone and skin, about 1880, by the Burton Brothers, New Zealand, collodion glass negative. Te Papa (C.014977)

Many negatives are chemically unstable and, if left in an uncontrolled environment, will deteriorate to the point where you can no longer ‘read’ the image they carry. 

Keeping the works cold

 A very cold environment helps to preserve them – so we keep our negatives in two walk-in cold storage vaults. One vault is kept stable at 2 degrees Celsius and 35% relative humidity. This vault is used to store negatives and transparencies on a film base. The second vault is kept at 13 degrees Celsius and 35% relative humidity, and is used to store negatives on glass plates.

Cellulose acetate film was used for negatives from the 1920s. It tends to break down to acetic acid, causing the film to shrink. This makes the binder layer form channels and spots, and the image becomes difficult to read.

Within the cool stores, the negatives are stored in lockable drawers for earthquake protection. 

 

Making more space

Steve McStay and Paul Simpson slide an empty drawer into the plan chest unit.

The existing drawers in our cool store have been filled, so we’ve begun a project to create more storage space. We’ve just finished installing the first group of new drawers, in the film vault.  

We decided to move the existing cabinets as well as add new ones. In the new layout, the drawers go up to near ceiling height, except where we need to leave space for the cooling or air filtration plant. 

The drawers are heavy as they’re made of steel and are constructed to take a lot of weight. We enlisted the help of our building-management team to get them into the store.

New drawers for slides and colour prints

One of the biggest new cabinets is an oversize drawer unit to hold mounted 35mm slides. Our next job is to transfer thousands of slides from a range of cupboards, drawers, and boxes into the new drawers. 

We also want to store our collection of older colour prints in 2-degree storage because they can fade at room temperature. We’ve included a big set of plan drawers for those.  

The new slide drawers, with one of the many boxes of slides waiting to be transferred to their new home.

Next steps

Our next step is to install new drawers and cupboards in the 13-degree vault, where we store glass negatives.

Along the way, we’ll do some small but important projects, like making special card folders (called sink mats) for glass plates that came to us broken. We’ll also be photographing over 1,500 glass plate negatives made by Berry & Co, a Wellington photography studio that operated in the 1910s and 1920s, and adding the images to Collections Online.  See more about Berry & Co WWI soldiers in our collection.

By Anita Hogan | Posted in Art, Conservation, Museums, Photography | Also tagged , , , , | Comments (8)

The Berry Boys – Photos featuring New Zealand World War One Soldiers

31 May 2012 – 3.24pm

Te Papa has a wonderful collection of 172 portraits on glass plate negatives featuring World War One soldiers. These images were taken at the Berry & Co. photography studio in Wellington between about 1914 and 1919.

The men in these images were about to enter into a life-changing event. Some would survive, a large number would be injured and many would die. The photos, given to family, friends and loved ones as a memento, are now a poignant reminder of the soldier’s youthful vitality, as yet unharmed by the horrors of war.

B.044366; Black and white glass negative, Baigent; 1914 -1920; Berry & Co; Wellington

B.044366; Black and white glass negative, Baigent;
1914 -1920; Berry & Co; Wellington

It has become my responsibility as curator history at Te Papa to research, name and document the soldiers in these images. It is going to be a long and challenging task but one that I am compelled to do and I now feel a huge responsibility to find out who each person is, discover what happened to them during the war and if they survived how their lives panned out. It is equally challenging because I am a novice to this history and all the intricate details associated with military history.

My first clue is a surname written on the negative. The uniforms and badges help to link a name to a rank or unit and then a record on the Auckland War Memorial Museum’s online database Cenotaph and an Archive record. But it is not always clear. Sometimes the names and military regalia don’t match up, or there may be multiple possibilities. And sometimes the negative is not clear enough for me to identify uniform badges.

One mystery I have been working on this week has been an image of a soldier in a World War One military uniform with a bandolier over his left shoulder and riding spurs. His regimental badges indicate that he was in the 25th Reinforcements, New Zealand Field Artillery. Cenotaph has several records for ‘Baigent’ listed, one possibility being Thomas Eustace Baigent who was in the Mounted Rifles Brigade – he would have worn riding spurs – but Thomas was in the 41st Reinforcements. Another was Lawrence Charles Baigent who was in the 25th Reinforcements Medical Corps but he seems unlikely because there are no medical core related badges on the soldier in these photos.

B.044364; Black and white glass negative, Baigent; 1914 -1920; Berry & Co; Wellington

B.044364; Black and white glass negative, Baigent;
1914 -1920; Berry & Co; Wellington

The name Baigent on the negative may relate to the woman in the photograph but all searches have ended without conclusion.  So this week, I’m going to end my blog with a mystery and a plea for information. This project needs the help of the community. I’d love to hear from anyone that knows this man or women or can assist with identifying the men, women and children in these photos.

See all the Berry & Co soldier portraits

Read more World War One blog posts

By lynettet | Posted in History, Photography | Also tagged , | Comments (11)

Precious and rare eggs – bird photography

4 April 2012 – 4.18pm

Hollowed out and painted birds eggs were the first Easter eggs and, in Christian tradition, they symbolise new life.

Te Papa’s photography collection holds a large number of prints and negatives taken by naturalists and bird watchers with an enviable amount of enthusiasm and perseverance. These images show a variety of different eggs – and places birds choose to build their nests and lay and hatch their eggs.

In some cases the choice of spot is troubling. Can the white tern have really expected to hatch an egg in this spot? Or has the egg fallen from a nest higher up in the tree? Or perhaps it was placed there from somewhere else by the photographer?

White tern’s egg on branch, 1920s?, Kermadec Islands. Bell, Roy Sunday. Gift of Steven Corin, 2009. Te Papa

White tern’s egg on branch, 1920s?, Kermadec Islands. Roy Bell. Gift of Steven Corin, 2009. Te Papa

In fact this is actually where Roy Bell found this particular egg on Raoul Island and this is the kind of place white terns choose for their eggs. Once hatched the young cling to the tree with their claws.

Other photographs show meticulously crafted nests, full of eggs, protectively nestled in grass or ferns or under logs. Despite their careful positioning, it’s hard to not feel the vulnerability of these nests to ground based predators or a careless foot step.

Pukeko eggs, circa 1910, Hawke's Bay. Herbert Guthrie-Smith. Te Papa

Pukeko eggs, circa 1910, Hawke's Bay. Herbert Guthrie-Smith. Te Papa

Grey Duck eggs, circa 1910, Hawke's Bay. Herbert Guthrie-Smith. Te Papa

Grey Duck eggs, circa 1910, Hawke's Bay. Herbert Guthrie-Smith. Te Papa

South Island Saddleback eggs, 1911, Stewart Island. Herbert Guthrie-Smith. Te Papa

South Island Saddleback eggs, 1911, Stewart Island. Herbert Guthrie-Smith. Te Papa

All good reason to choose chocolate eggs!

By Lissa Mitchell | Posted in Birds, Collections Online, Photography | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Stories from the First World War: The Costello Family

29 September 2011 – 8.55am

During my time as intern at Te Papa, I have been working to try to discover the identities of the sitters who appear in a collection of photographic portraits held in the museum’s collection.  The portraits depict soldiers who had their photographs taken at the studio of Berry & Co. in Wellington before they embarked for service in the First World War.

Read more about the Berry & Co. collection

While it has been difficult to identify many of the soldiers, with only the photograph and a hand-written family name on the top of each negative as a starting point for research, some of my searching has proved successful.  You can read the fascinating story of Sergeant Major Vandersluys, the sad story of two brother from the Jessen family and more First World War Stories in my previous blog posts.

Black and white glass negative (Costello);1914-1920; Berry & Co; Wellington
Black and white glass negative (Costello);1914-1920; Berry & Co; Wellington

Black and white photograph, gelatin silver print, Evans Bay; unknown date; Chapman-Talyor, J. W.; 145(height) x 200 (length)

In 1898, William Costello married Phoebe Olive Wilton, the youngest of the 15 children of Elijah and Priscilla Wilton.  Relatives of the Wilton family were responsible for the donation of Wilton’s Bush to the city of Wellington. 

William and Phoebe had ten children: Irene (b. 1899), Eric Wilton (b. 1902), Lionel Lenton (b. 1903), Kenneth Wilton (b. 1904), Frederick William (b. 1906), Mildred Olive Wilton (b. 1909), Eileen Joyce (b. 1911), Nola Kathleen (b. 1913), Esma Wilton (b. 1914), and Herbert Lawrence Lenton (b. 1917).  They lived in Douro Avenue in Newtown, where William provided ‘next-of-kin’ details for his younger brothers who went to serve in The Great War.  Sadly, Irene was stillborn, Lionel died aged 1, and Esma was killed aged 23 in the Ratana rail crash in 1938.  Phoebe died in September 1940, and husband William passed away in Wanganui in 1943.  They are buried in the same (unmarked) grave in Karori Cemetery.

William’s brother Frederick Lawrence Costello was born in 1875.  However when he enlisted for the New Zealand Rifle Brigade in 1915, he used a false birth date of 23rd July 1880 to ensure he was not too old to be sent away on active service.  He had previously been living in Te Kuiti in the Waikato region, working as a tailor for a Mr. Hackett.  He embarked from Wellington in February 1916 as a Rifleman with the 4th Battalion of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade on board the Mokoia.  After training in the Suez he went to France in April 1916 where he served on the front for the entirety of the war.  At the end of the conflict he sailed from Liverpool on the Northumberland, arriving home to be officially discharged on the 28th March 1919. Frederick Costello died at Napier on the 4th May 1942.

It is Frederick’s uniform which has provided significant clues as to the identification of the subjects in the Costello photograph.  The collar and hat badges of the lion holding a pennant are consistent with the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, but the confirming item is the black triangle on the cap. Early on the New Zealand Rifle Brigade used these in various shapes but only the 4th Battalion wore a triangle with the point downwards. 

The sitter on the left of the photograph is the youngest of the brothers, Herbert Lenton Costello.  He was born in 1882, and was self-employed as a bushman before enlisting in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.  He became a Private in the Canterbury Infantry Regiment and went to train at Trentham Camp in December 1915.  He was punished in March 1916 for overstaying his leave.  However, he seems not to have learnt his lesson – after travelling to France on the SS Caledonia with the 1st Company of the 2nd Battalion, he was punished again at Rouen for overstaying leave, and later at Marseilles for being absent without leave.  Each time he was deducted eight days pay.

Herbert was wounded on the 12th October 1917 during the Battle of Passchendaele (the Third Battle of Ypres), suffering the hit of a machine-gun bullet to his left forearm.  He was invalided to the New Zealand General Hospital No. 1 for six days, and then sent to Hornchurch Hospital on the 17th October.  The Medical Board at Hornchurch decided that he would be unfit for active service for six months, and for home service for at least three months, and so he was sent home.  Sailing on the Maunganui on the 18th March 1918, he was discharged from the NZEF on the 26th July of the same year.  Herbert died inWellington in January 1950.

Read more blog entries on World War I

By Kiera Gould | Posted in Collections Online, History, Photography | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (1)

More Stories from the First World War

13 September 2011 – 5.14pm

During my internship with the Te Papa History Team, I have been working to try to identify the sitters who appear in a number of photographic portraits which are held in the museum’s collection.  Using military personnel files, databases and online resources I have tried to discover more information about the soldiers who had their photographs taken by Berry & Co. in Cuba Street, Wellington, before leaving for service in World War I. 

Read more about the Berry & Co. Collection

With only a family name handwritten on the top of each negative, this has been a challenging task, but I have had some success.  My previous blog posts have told the stories of Sergeant-Major Charles Vandersluys; the two brothers Donald and John Jessen; and the New Zealand soldiers buried at Walton-on-Thames churchyard in Surrey whose names appear on another object in the collection, a memorial banner.

I have recently been able to make some more identifications, and discover more fascinating life stories:

Private Roy Houchen

Black and white glass negative (Houchen);1914-1920; Berry & Co; Wellington

Black and white glass negative (Houchen);1914-1920; Berry & Co; Wellington

This photograph is almost certainly a portrait of Roy Houchen, a soldier with the rank of Private in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force Medical Corps. 

Former home of Roy Houchen and his mother, 94 Constable Street, as it looks today. Photo: Kiera Gould, 2011.

Former home of Roy Houchen and his mother, 94 Constable Street, as it looks today. Photo: Kiera Gould, 2011.

Houchen was born in Wellington on the 15th January 1892.  He worked as a cabinetmaker for an S. S. Williams and lived with his mother in Constable Street, Newtown.  He was also a member of the Wellington Naval Boating Society before he enlisted for war service in 1914.  As a volunteer from the early days of the conflict, he left with the Main Body of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force from Wellington in October, bound for Egypt and the Suez.

He served in Malta and at Gallipoli in 1915 but was admitted to the Fifth General Hospital at Leicester in October of that year.  When he had recovered, he served in France, but had another stay in hospital at the New Zealand General Hospital No. 2, Walton-on-Thames, in 1917.  Recovering again, he continued to serve, but became very ill in May 1918 and was again admitted to Walton-on-Thames hospital.  He was discharged as no longer fit to serve as he was unfortunately suffering from chronic diarrhoea(!!), and returned to Wellington in February 1919.

Black and white glass negative (Houchen);1914-1919; Berry & Co; Wellington

Black and white glass negative (Houchen);1914-1919; Berry & Co; Wellington

In 1921, Roy Houchen married Eileen May Lake, the daughter of Charles Jessen Lake and Jane Kirkland Lake.  The couple lived at 50 Ross Street, Kilbirnie.  In 1927 Eileen gave birth to a daughter. 

Roy Houchen was a member of the Grand United Order of Oddfellows, a global fraternal organisation which was established in New Zealand in 1843.  In England, it is claimed that the brotherhood can trace its roots back to the trade guilds of the 12th and 13th centuries, but is now based in the USA and known as the Independent Order of Oddfellows.  The organisation was historically organised by membership to a particular lodge, which also operated a fund to which members contributed, and could then me used to support brethren in their times of need, for example contributing towards the cost of funerals.  Membership became less popular throughout the 20th century as governments established public welfare systems, and there was less need for people to contribute to a central fund for times of need.  

However, up until his death Roy Houchen belonged to the Loyal William Bain Branch in Kilbirnie, and the Brethren of Tutanekai Lodge were invited in an advert placed in the Evening Post to attend his funeral.

Roy Houchen died following illness on 17th July 1934, aged 42.  He was buried on the 19th July at Karori Cemetery in Wellington.  His grave is in the public section in plot 496N.  His wife Eileen had a very sad year in 1934 as her mother passed away just four months after her husband had died.

 

Lieutenant William Gallen

This is probably a photograph of William James Gallen, the eldest son of Katie and Hugh Gallen.  He is wearing the uniform of a non-commissioned sergeant, which allows the photo to be dated between January and April 1917, when he held this rank. 

Black and white glass negative (Gallen);1917; Berry & Co; Wellington

Black and white glass negative (Gallen);1917; Berry & Co; Wellington

Before enlisting, Gallen had worked as a draughtsman for the New Zealand Government.  He had joined the Public Service at Gisborne in 1910 and during his service had taken a keen interest in military matters, particularly signalling.  After working as a draughtsman for three and a half years, he qualified for the field branch of his department.  By this time he was living and working in Nelson, where he married Wanda (Vanda) Myra Natalie Ellis, the only daughter of William Alfred Ellis and his wife Emily, on the 4th July 1917.  

William Gallen was Roman Catholic, and a loyal member of the Hiberian Catholic Benefit Society in Nelson.  He was elected to President of the society in 1916, where he also acted as a trustee.

On the eve of his departure from Nelson, an evening event was held in his honour at the Crown Lands Office where his colleagues made him the presentation of a wrist watch to wish him good luck and a safe return.

Gallen spent time training at Trentham Camp before embarking from Wellington on 16th November 1917 on the Tahiti, with the rank of Second Lieutenant, part of the 25th Specialist Company.  He returned to New Zealand following injury on the Kigoma and was discharged on the 13th August 1919.

 

 Private Eric Marchant

Black and white glass negative (Eric Marchant);1918-1919; Berry & Co; Wellington

Black and white glass negative (Eric Marchant);1918-1919; Berry & Co; Wellington

This is an image of Eric Edward Marchant who was born to parents Henry Edward Marchant and Henrietta Laura Marchant (nee Freeman), both of Wellington, on 30th January 1898.

Marchant was part of the New Zealand Garrison Artillery, a voluntary service in Wellington for 8 months before enlisting for the Expeditionary Force on 1st February 1918 at the age of 20.  Medical examination judged him to be under-size and underweight, and therefore unfit for active service.  He was 5 feet and 3 inches (1.52 meters) tall but weighed only 97 pounds (about 44 kg). He was however judged to be fit to go to Samoa, but his military file contains little information about his duties during wartime. 

His service was complete and he was discharged on the 13th March 1919.

It is likley that Eric Marchant and his parents left New Zealand after the war, as there is no registered record of their deaths occurring in the country, and I have been unable to discover any newspaper articles or advertisements which may refer to them.  If you know of any further information relating to the Marchant family, or any of the soldiers pictured, please leave a comment below.

By Kiera Gould | Posted in Collections Online, History, Photography | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (4)
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