Currently there is world-wide interest in the song “Soon May The Wellerman Come”. Social media is simply heaving with shanty mania. There is of course a Dunedin connection and a recent article in the Otago Daily Times explains the history of the Weller Brothers shore whaling station at Ōtākou and a little bit of background […]

Post researched and written by Jennie Henderson, Hocken Collections Assistant. Many of us may be feeling a bit hermit-like during New Zealand’s Covid-19 lockdown, but we are not Dunedin’s first hermits!  100 years ago, Dunedin resident Ben Rudd earned the nickname ‘The Hermit of Flagstaff’ with his reclusive habits. Benjamin Rudd (1854-1930) was born in […]

Post researched and written by intern William Sharp You wouldn’t believe what missionaries got up to. From chasing wild bulls in the bush to drinking on a convict ship, their interesting antics lead to many a pious and passive-aggressive argument between them. Soon, you will be able to update yourself on all of the latest […]

Post researched and written by Emma Scott, Collections Assistant – Publications Are you a machine knitter, cat fancier, Ruritanian folk dancer, Chrysler restorer, lace maker, ship wreck welfare specialist or antique bottle collector? If so, then you will be interested in some of the  approximately 3145 club and society periodicals located in the Hocken Journals […]

Post prepared by Kari Wilson-Allan, Hocken Collections Assistant, Researcher Services Today being International Women’s Day, it seems fitting to delve into the history of some Dunedin women – our own real housewives. Established in late 1930, in the midst of the Great Depression, the Dunedin Housewives’ Union, headed up by the dynamo Mrs Alice Herbert, […]

Post by Kari Wilson-Allan, Library Assistant – Reference Papers Past is undoubtedly a valuable and convenient resource for historical research.  It is easy, however, in using it, to overlook other avenues of journalistic endeavour. While working on a response to a recent reference enquiry, I came across a reel of microfilm in the stack containing […]

Post by Dr Ali Clarke, Library Assistant – Reference We’re always pleased to see images from our collections featuring on the cover of new books! Each year we put together a list of published items – from books to theses, blogs to journals, television series to exhibitions – which have made use of Hocken resources. […]

Post researched and written by Megan Vaughan, Library Assistant – Publications   Addressed to the householder these booklets were distributed to subscribers in the 1930s and 1940s. The content ranges from household cleaning tips to reading tea leaves. Hocken holds 12 Dunedin editions from the 30s and 40s, as well as a 1935 Auckland edition and a […]

Blog post by Debbie Gale, Arrangement and Description Archivist I have recently returned to work from a year’s parental leave and while I am very pleased to be back, my mind is still often occupied by all things ‘baby’. During one of my more recent 4am night feeds, I thought now would be the perfect […]

Through the generosity of Sir Tipene O’Regan, the Ngai Tahu Maori Trust Board and the Crown Law Office the Hocken Collections holds copies of the Wai 27 claim papers that are available for researchers to use. The picture doesn’t really do the papers justice, there are a total of 82 boxes of papers rich with […]