ARCHIFACTS

o Bulletin of the Archives and Records Association of New Zealand

No. 16ns December 1980 ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ASSOCIATION OF NEW ZEALAND INC.

PATRON: Sir John Marshal 1

PRESIDENT: Robin Griffin

VICE-PRESIDENTS: Laurie Barber Michael Hoare

SECRETARY; Jane Tucker

TREASURER: Claire Dawe

EDITOR: Stuart Strachan

COUNCIL: Margaret Brown Graham Butterworth Jack Churchouse Michael Fitzgerald Michael Hitchings Meryl Lowrie Paul Nelson COUNCIL COMMITTEES: Archival Education and Training Judith Hornabrook (convenor) Business Archives Robin Griffin (convenor) Cartographic Archives Brad Patterson (convenor) Film Archives Clive Sowry (convenor) Labour Archives Richard Hill' Local Body Archives Peter Miller (convenor) Oral Archives Photographic Archives John Sullivan (convenor) Records Management Research Michael Hoare (convenor)

BRANCHES: Auckland Paul Osborne (Chairman) Canterbury Steering Committee W.J. Gardner 529-088 Otago/Southland A.M. Smith (Chairman) 739-8*4 Waikato Wei 1ington

ADDRESS: ρ·°· Box 11-553, Wellington. BULLETIN OF THE ARCHIVES AND RECORDS ASSOCIATION OF NEW ZEALAND

No. 16 η s December 1980

HOLDING FAST

During my presidency I hope to consolidate the strengths which the Association has built up during the five years of its existence

What are these strengths7

They are, in my opinion, three in number

The first, but not necessarily the most important, is that of publications Archifacts (1), our journal, was produced even before the inception of the Association By far the greatest proportion of our funds are spent on it. Archifacts has developed from quite a small collection of sheets held together by a staple to a most presentable and well-produced journal. It has gone from strength to strength and is still improving. This development is largely due to the efforts of the Editor and the Editorial Board I would like to say that Archifacts does not belong to the Editor nor to the Editorial Board, and most certainly not to Council It is your journal You decided at the Annual General Meeting to continue Archifacts in its present format and that it continue to be produced four times a year But, too many of the articles are commissioned by the Editor, all the reviews, I believe I'm right in saying, are commissioned by the Reviews Editor In other words, most of the journal is commissioned So I put it to you Is it your journal or is it the Editorial Board's7 If it is your journal let's have plenty of articles from you Send them to the Editor at Ρ 0 Box 11-553, Wellington

Seminars are another area of endeavour where the Association has been highly successful And of course this success has been due to your support for which on behalf of previous Councils I wish to thank you I hope that your heartening support of conferences and seminars will continue The success of our September conference in Auckland augurs well for the future There will be seminars in the coming year, including one on photographs and films Again, we welcome suggestions from you.

The last area of expertise is most easily described by one unfortunate word - that is, warfare We seem constantly to be getting involved in wars, yet I cannot imagine a more unwarlike Association. Perhaps the word, war, should be replaced by that of jehad or holy war because, in fact, we campaign for principles which are important to us as a group, and which we believe are in the long term interests of all New Zealanders We have recently been campaigning to have the recommendations of the Smith Report implemented, particularly those desirable for National Archives A lot of gratifying support has been received from our members in the shape of letters to Members of Parliament and to the Minister of Internal Affairs regarding National Archives future accommodation I would like to make two things clear here We are not battling for National Archives, we are striving to have the Smith Report (2) - our Report, not National Archives' or the Department of Internal Affairs' or anyone else's report - carried out so far as it relates to a public body This is an aim I believe we may be losing sight of We aim to implement our Smith Report We are not criticising National Archives I believe that National Archives is doing a very good job within the limitations exposed by the Smith Report National Archives is giving of its best, but its best cannot be first class until the recommendations of the Smith Report become reality The second point I wish to clarify here is that National Archives appears to be in the gun because it is the premier archive repository in this country. I, as an archivist in a very tiny archive establishment, look to National Archives for leadership in the archives profession And there are other archivists or manuscript curators (call them what you will), as well as a host of records officers who also look to National Archives for leadership This leadership can only emanate from an institution which is adequately housed and sufficiently staffed to carry out its tasks

The Smith Report, however, is not only about National Archives There are a large number of other recommendations most of which we intend to have implemented Even if it takes two hundred years, this Association is going to see the Smith Report's recommendations implemented

Robin Griffin President

References.

1 Archifacts Bulletin of the Archives Committee of the New Zealand Library Association No 1 (April 1974)- No 9 (October 1976)

Archifacts Bulletin of the Archives & Records Association of New Zealand No In s (February 1977) to date

2. Wilfred I Smith Archives m New Zealand- A Report. Archives and Records Association of New Zealand, Wellington 1978 and

'Perspectives on the Smith Report' being Archifacts Nos 7&8 η s (September-December 1978) A VERY SPECIAL COLLECTION

In June 1980, twelve films from the earliest years of cinema were sent to the National Film Unit by the Museum of Transport and Technology, Auckland The films had been in the Museum's possession for some time - unidentified, unable to be viewed, and unrecognised for what they are - the oldest films known to survive in this country, a very special collection

Identification - Internal Evidence

When the films arrived at the Ν F U and I was able to examine them, the age of the films became immediately obvious The perforations were of a distinctive small type which were in use only before about 1906 Each film was examined closely and note made of its content and technical characteristics The initial examination produced the following information

Film No 1-68 feet long Appears to be complete A single continuous shot of a railway track from the rear of a train travelling through a gorge A trade mark embossed on the film identifies it as having been sold by (and probably shot by) the Warwick Trading Company of London

Film No 2 - 111 feet long A single continuous shot of a group of soldiers marching through a town, which appears to be in South Africa The soldiers are dressed in British uniform Several other people also pass the camera The margins of the film (i e the area between the frame and the edges of the film) are black.

Film No 3-57 feet A single continuous shot of a horse being shod in a field An army tent and several soldiers are present in the background The margins of the film are black Film No 4-40 feet. A single continuous shot showing Thomas Edison at work in a laboratory Behind him are shelves filled with bottles of chemicals The scene is lit by sunlight, which suggests that the scene was posed in a studio, possibly Edison's "Black Maria" studio The margins of the film are black.

Film No 5-49 feet A single continuous shot of guardsmen marching behind a band The parade appears to be at St James's Palace, London The entire film is tinted red

Film No 6-46 feet A single continuous shot of a street in an unidentified town A crowd of people is milling about in the street which is free from vehicular traffic The film is tinted orange

Film No 7-70 feet Three street scenes Trafalgar Square from a moving vehicle, showing horse- drawn omnibuses and other traffic (46ft), The "Canada Arch" with the words "CANADA Britain's Granary God Save our King and Queen", traffic passing under the arch (60ft), Crowd outside palace gates (70ft) The margins of the film are black and the frame extends into the perforations

Film No 8-75 feet A single continuous shot from a moving train Windsor Castle can be seen in the distance The trademark of the Warwick Trading Company is embossed on the film

Film No 9 - 122 feet. A single continuous shot of a royal procession passing along a street in London "King Edward Opening Parliament" is scratched on the leader.

Film No. 10 - 122 feet. A single continuous shot of a number of passengers disembarking from a ship The similar dress of a number of the passengers suggests they could be members of a sports team.

Film No 11 - 32 feet A comedy scene in which a man is flirting the laundress while she is washing clothes in a tub She wipes his face with a soapy cloth and dunks his head into the tub of suds He is given a towel and dries himself The margins of the film are black.

Film No 12 - 64 feet. A comedy in one scene The master kisses the maid behind a blanket on the washing-line, but is discovered by the mistress who sets about him with her umbrella

From this examination we can deduce from the presence of the embossed trade mark that two of the films (no 1 & no 8) were sold by (and possibly produced by) the Warwick Trading Company The subject matter of film no 4 suggests that it was produced by the Edison Company

Common features can be noticed in some of the films Films 2,3 and 11 all have three characteristics, in common. These are black margins, perforations with rounded sides, common frameline position Films 4 and 7 films also have black margins, and 7 also has perforations with rounded sides But on both these films the frameline occurs in a different position, and the size of the frame Ttself differs from films 2, 3 and 11 In a paper he presented to the 1967 Congress of the International Federation of Film Archives, 'Film Identification by Examination of Film Copies', Harold Brown, Preservation Officer of the National Film Archive, London, noted that black margins were a characteristic of the films of Thomas Edison in America and Robert Paul in England One further characteristic of Paul's films is the presence at irregular intervals of blurred bands of image This was caused by slippage of the printstock against the negative during printing which was done by the continuous method A further examination of the films showed such blurring to be present in films 2, 3 and 11 but not in film 7. Note, however, that film 4 is obviously not one of Paul's films More evidence confirming some common characteristics in Paul's films may be found in The Beginnings of the Cinema m England by John Barnes (David & Charles 1976) In this book several frames of various Paul films have been reproduced In these reproductions one can see the characteristics common to films 2, 3 and

11, namely black margins, perforations with rounded sides, and common frameline position. It would be reasonable to assume,,then, that these films were produced by Robert Paul.

The remaining films do not have any distinctive characteristics that indicate they are the product of a particular producer.

External Evidence The search now turns to the printed record Unfortunately no catalogues/ of the early film makers are known to exist in New Zealand, but some second- ary reference works are available and can be consulted for further informa- tion.

In Motion Pictures 1894-1912 compiled by Howard Lamarr Walls (U S Copyright Office 1953) we find that a film titled Mr Edison at work m his chemical Laboratory was registered for copyright at the Library of Congress on 5 June 1897 Since no other film of similar subject matter was registered by the Edison Company it can reasonably be concluded that film 4 is Mr Edisorr at Work m his Chemical Laboratory, an American film of 1897

For British films there was no system of registration to claim copy- right, so other reference works must be consulted One such work is Denis Glfford's The British Film Catalogue 1895-1970 which lists fiction films produced in Britain during that period The films are listed chronologically and serial numbered A search of the first ten years' titles reveals two films (both from 1897) similar in subject matter to films 11 and 12 These are Cupid at the washtub, produced by R W Paul. Described thus "Groom flirts with laundress who ducks him in tub of suds" The length of the film is recorded as 40 feet The Maid m the Garden, produced by G A Smith Described thus "Master kisses maid behind blanket on clothes line and is seen by wife" The length of the film is recorded as 50 feet

Film 11 can reasonably be said to be a print of Cupid at the washtub, produced by Robert Paul in 1897. Internal evidence in the film has suggested that the film was produced by Paul The similarity of story-line reinforces this.

Film 12 has obviOUS Similarities to The Maid m the Garden, but its greater length suggests a later version of the same film, probably shot when the first negative had worn out Information on the re-make is revealed in The National Film Archive Catalogue Part III, Silent Fiction Films 1895- 1930 (British Film Institute 1966), which notes that an 1898 production by G A Smith called Hanging Out the clothes is held by the Archive The synopsis given could well have been written of film 12 "A maid hanging out the clothes is kissed by her master behind a blanket, they are discovered by his wife who sets about him with her umbrella " The National Film Archive's copy is listed as being 69 feet long, 5 feet longer than film 12 Film 12 is incomplete, this is confirmed by the presence of several splices in the film. Mr Edison at Work in his Chemical Laboratory

Hanging Out the Clothes Establishing Minimum Data In identifying a film, certain minimum data must be established, namely the original title of the film the date of production the country of origin

Research so far has supplied the original title of only 3 of the 12 films For the same three films the date of production and the country of origin have also been deduced For the other films, the country of origin is suggested by the content, or by the producer of the films The title can be represented by a descriptive phrase, while the date of production can be estimated on each film from the content and type of production Dating is made easier since we have established from the distinctive per- forations that all the films were produced before about 1906

1 Railway track viewed from a tram is a film of the ' phantom-η de ' type which were made from about 1896 to about 1900. The film might there- fore be dated c 1900, since it is probably no later than this date 2 Soldiers marching through a South African town appears to have been shot for Robert Paul (as mentioned above) during the Boer War (October 1899 - May 1902) It was most likely taken in the early part of the war when any film from the war zone had appeal for audiences whether or not any "action" was shown It could therefore be assumed that the film was made c 1900 3 shoeing a horse is another Paul production The presence of soldiers appears to indicate some connection with the Armv Paul is known to have produced a series of films in 1900 called Army Life, or How soldiers are Made. It is possible that this film depicts one of the incidents of camp life included in this series 5 The short length of Parade of Guardsmen suggests that the film was made well before 1900, and may be as early as 1897-1898 6 street scene is incomplete but probably not much longer than the remaining 46 feet This, together with the lack of action within the frame, tends to suggest the film is not later than 1900 7 The presence of the Canada Arch in London street scenes suggests the film was taken in 1902 when the streets of London were decorated for the coronation of Edward VII The coronation was postponed, owing to the King's illness, and it is likely the film was taken during his illness This is further suggested by the shot of crowds waiting outside the palace gates. 8 Windsor from a moving tram is another of the 'phantom-nde' type of film and is probably from 1900 9 Kmg Edward opens Parliament. This is likely to have been shot between 1902 and 1906 Since there is only a single shot from a single, static camera position it is likely that the film was shot in the earlier years of this period, 1902-1903 10 Passengers disembarking from a ship has no characteristics that distin- guish it as the product of a particular producer The subject tends to suggest that the film is the product of a small producer with a limited market The length of the film suggests that it is later than 1900 and probably as late as 1905-1906

And so the task of identifying the films has reached a point where further information must be obtained from overseas sources In terms of its minimum data, the collection may be listed thus

1 (Railway Track Viewed From A Tram) Great Britain C 1900 2 (Soldiers Marching Through A South African Town) G Β c 1900 3. (Shoeing a Horse) G.B C 1900 4 MR EDISON AT WORK IN HIS CHEMICAL LABORATORY USA 1897 5. (Parade Of Guardsmen) G Β C 1897-1898 6 (street Scene) origin unknown c 1900 7. (London Street Scenes) G Β C 1902 8 (Windsor From A Moving Tram) G Β C.1900 9 (King Edward Opens Parliament) G Β C 1902-1903 10 (Passengers Disembarking From A Ship) origin unknown C 1905-06 11 CUPID AT THE WASHTUB G Β 1897 12 HANGING OUT THE CLOTHES G Β. 1898

Historical Note From the first screening of motion pictures in 1896 until the estab- lishment of permanent picture theatres in 1908, New Zealand audiences were entertained by the motion picture shows of itinerant showmen These show- men bought their films outright from the producers or their agents in London When these films lost popularity in the showman's territory, he would swap them with other showmen or import new titles and discard the old ones In these ways the showmen kept their programmes fresh and original ensuring that audiences would return to their shows again and again The picture shows were often combined with a programme of musical and variety entertainers The films in the collection were,quite possibly the film segment of one such variety and film show When the show stopped touring the films would have been stored away, having little commercial value following the arrival of the permanent picture theatres with their regular changes of programme As the commercial cinema developed the films lay forgotten until, many years later, they were sent to the Museum.

Clive Sowry Film Archivist National Film Unit

POSTSCRIPT

I sent a set of the frame stills along with a copy of my notes to John Barnes, Curator of the Barnes Museum of Cinematography and author of The Beginnings of Cinema m England , and Who IS an authority ΟΠ the early years of film making in Britain He was able to contribute the following information

"No 1 This I am pretty sure is one of a series of Warwick films taken during a tour of the West Country (Devon) in 1898 No 2 Probably ENTRY OF SCOTS' GUARDS INTO BL0EMF0NTEIN (120ft) 1900 R W. Paul No 3 FARRIER SHOEING HORSES IN CAMP (60ft) 1899 R W Paul Ref The Era, 9 December 1899, pp 18 and 28 No 11 CUPID AT THE WASH TUB (40ft) 1898 R W Paul Ref Paul List No 15 (August 1898) ρ 20 No.12 HANGING OUT THE CLOTHES (75ft) September 1897 G A Smith Featuring Mr & Mrs Tom Green Ref Smith's cash book Hove Echo, 27 November 1897, ρ 5 "

As well as confirming the titles on two of the films, the titles of two more are supplied and a date given for the first film

Clive Sowry 6 November 1980 *************** * THE KING AND I

THE FOWLDS PAPERS

The largest manuscript collection in the Auckland University Library is that of Sir George Fowlds (1860-1934), the Auckland mercer, Cabinet Minister in the Ward Government, and later President of Auckland University College Fowlds was a hoarder, not quite as bad as Walter Nash, but, considering that it was horse and buggy days, of the same class The nine metres in the collection make it the largest and most important set of papers of the Liberal period in New Zealand Fowlds has had his revenge on Seddon, who, at the mention of Fowlds, would lift his eyes to the ceiling and murmur 'Single Tax' But Fowlds kept his papers They have survived, and they stand alone What is there of Ballance, of Seddon, of Ward, of Massey7 Where have all their papers gone7

The hard core of the Fowlds Papers cover the period 1906 to 1911, when he was Minister of Education and Public Health His earlier and later life are represented in much less depth He was born in Fenwick, Ayrshire, in Scotland, in 1860, the son of one of the few remaining hand loom weavers, Matthew Fowlds, (whose loom is now in the Auckland Institute and Museum) When he was 22 he migrated to South Africa, where he set up'as a bookeeper on the diamond fields at Kimberley, and married a Fenwick girl, Mary Ann Fulton In 1885 they left South Africa to settle in Auckland, and by 1888 he had established his own business as a mercer in downtown Auckland In the nineties his affairs prospered, so he left the running of the business to his son, and stood for Parliament as a Liberal On Seddon's death Fowlds was appointed to the Ward Cabinet He remained in office until 1911 when he resigned, thereby contributing to the fall of the Ward administration He did not succeed in regaining a seat in Parliament in spite of his attempts to rally moderate Labour and 'true Liberals' in the United Labour Party

Subsequently Fowlds was active in public life in Auckland until his death in 1934 During World War I he was involved in patriotic work with the Joint Committee of the Red Cross and Order of St John, and with the Temperance movement in the campaign for Prohibition which nearly succeeded in 1919 From 1922 to 1933 Fowlds was President of Auckland University College and also played a prominent part in the founding of Massey Agricul- tural College The papers reflect the variety of interests of a very gregarious and active public man who corresponded with a wide range of people in many parts of the world His name crops up in many different connections the New Zealand Institute for the Blind, the Single Tax organisation, the Temperance movement, Rotary, the Freemasons, Town Planning, agricultural education, women's movements, the Young Maori Party, the Congregational Church, the Bible in Schools controversy, as well as a patron of many clubs and societies from brass bands to boating clubs Under the heading 'Auckland' in the index, of which more anon, there are over eighty entries

Because of the protean nature of Fowlds's interests and the size of the correspondence series, a check of the Papers is desirable for any study of the period 1890 to 1920 From them one can get an inkling of so many facets of life of the time How did the family react to the whirlwind engagement of Daisy in Dunedin, or to a young American who was travelling with the Chautauqua Association' What was the Chautauqua Association7 What was the day-to-day life of a Minister like m those days7 What things did he ask for m order to set up his ministerial office7 How were railway carriages heated then7 How did one get from Auckland to Wellington before the Main Trunk line was completed7 What did Fowlds and the 1905 Reform Party think of Seddon ('The King and Γ)7 One can learn of the joys and sorrows of early motoring when petrol came in tins in wooden cases, of life during the flu epidemic, the prices of the sideshows at the New Zealand International Exhibition at Christchurch, and other minutiae, and what did you order for a ministerial garden party, how did you train a spanking pair of carriage horses and what was the Knyvett Case all about7

The Papers are notable for their array of comic and tragic stories - one cannot but be amazed at the variety of the hard luck letters that came to the Minister's desk, and their reflection of the ebb and flow of social and economic conditions - the hard up railwayman who wanted to get married and thought the Minister would lend him the money, for the good of the country, the Mercury Bay bushmen ("I am writing this at Charlie's dictation"), who needed help to keep their hospital going during a drought when the logs were piled up in the river beds and the mill was closed, and the parent who asked for his son to be released from an institution - too late - the boy had committed suicide

His reports to friends and relatives, and his letters to his family give insights into family life Nothing is more revealing of his essential goodness than his restraint and good sense in the face of family crises His rebuke to his son is in gentle terms and he accepts the son's rebuttal in all modesty We read of social occasions as when daughter Aggie went to her first hall, of the marriages of son and daughters, and hear his complaints that ministerial life separates him from his family - Mrs Fowlds would not live in Wellington

Fowlds, an admirer of John Stuart Mill, was a believer in the equality of women He and his bride-to-be signed an Anti-nuptial Contract (surely that should be Ante7) in which the key words were 'there shall be no community of property' In public life he was well-known as being sympathetic to women's organisations, and he numbered many women amongst his correspondents, including Catherine Spence, Eveline Cunmngton, Ann Watt Whitelaw, L M Laurent,and Evelyn and Winifred Isitt

The most important part of the collection is the correspondence which, sir George Fowlds. Turnbull Library for the ministerial years, is comparatively massive and daunting. To aid access to the approximately 40,000 letters I have provided some additional finding aids as described below The outward letters are contained in 75 letter books, most of them of 250 pages, and the inward letters are of corresponding volume. When in office, Fowlds filled a letter book in about three weeks, which averages about 10 letters a working day Much of this is routine stuff about jobs, visits, travel, congratulations, commiserations and so on, but if anyone attempts the steady reading of the outward letters, which are m chronological order, the panorama of a man's life and a society opens before one. This is given continuity by his regular letters to Τ W Orr in London in which he reports on his own activities and his family, comments on politics in New Zealand and Britain, and expresses his opinions on a wide array of subjects The Orr correspondence from 1906 to 1918 performs the function of a journal, imparting some of the fascination of Boswell's Journals with the threads of various interests being moved a step forward as the pages turn. Most of the correspondence accumulated between 1906 and 1911, when Fowlds was Minister of Education and Public Health During this time he had the services of supporting staff, particularly his Private Secretary, William Crow, who had formerly been Seddon's Private Secretary In these years the professional office staff gave Fowld's private papers the coherent structure that is apparent today - inward and outward corres- pondence; information files (mainly clippings) on subjects and activities, drafts of speeches, sermons etc , and their published forms, remembrances, invitations, documents, including his seals of office, files of organisations» and photographs and other pictorial matter With the resources of the Government at his disposal Fowlds was able to have his momentos mounted in proper fashion, with the clippings and photographs housed in bound Volumes supplied to order by the Government Printer. It is therefore well-organised compared with the state of the other private collections that I have handled

The papers were given to Auckland University College in 1940 In 1962, under the direction of the then Librarian Arthur Sandal!, the Library was able to find a small fund to employ me to put the collection in order In my spare time from teaching I prepared an inventory, arranged the material in specially designed wallets and placed it in boxes The inventory was published as a Bibliographical Bulletin by the Library in 1964 In it I noted that the larger portion of the inward letters were missing In 1975 the missing letters, about three metres in all, were found in a store in the Old Arts Building I offered to Peter Durey, Arthur Sandall's successor, to incorporate this find in the collection, which I did on my retirement in 1976 The Inventory was revised and circulated with the amendments gummed in

When the index was completed I decided, since the collection was so large and intractable, to work on an index of correspondents Since this entailed reading right through the correspondence items, a task that was unlikely to be repeated, it seemed sensible to make notes of subjects covered that could be the basis for a series of calendars In the event I received a small grant from the University to prepare a calendar of papers relating to Auckland University College This was to aid Professor Keith Sinclair in his task of preparing a history of the University A grant was also made from the Sir Douglas Robb Memorial Fund (Sir Douglas was a former Chancellor) towards the preparation of calendars on Health, Education and Politics After three years the index and the calendars are now ready for publication The index includes selected subject headings, since an index of correspondents alone would have failed to reveal much important material The preparation of the index presented a number of problems stemming fromthescale of the operation compared with a book index It was not possible or desirable to index all the letters. It was therefore necessary to exclude certain categories of letters - those that were 'oncers', begging letters, requests for an interview, honorifics, and routine administrative matters, etc Secondly, the writing in some sets was almost illegible, as in the case of Matthew Fowlds, and would take too much time to decipher Thirdly, the raw material was so voluminous that the subject headings could only be samplings of the many letters that are there on any particular subject The index is therefore highly selective

Another problem was to devise a notation corresponding to the page numbers of the volumes Since the two series involved (1 'Letters Sent' and 2 'Letters Received1) have a combined alphabetical and chronological arrangement, the index notation would also have to combine the elements of name and date After much consultation and experiment a call sign system was developed, whereby the initial name in the index is the name under which the letter is filed, unless a second name is gven after the date The initial name can therefore be either that of addressee, addressor, or subject, viz

Abbott J R 1/27 1907 3 Ag (Fowlds wrote to JRA on that date) Abbott J R 2/135 1907 3 S (JRA wrote to GF on that date) Education 2/138 1907 11 D Murfitt Ρ (PM wrote to GF about education matters on that date and the letter was filed under 'Education') Cheal Ρ 2/37 1899 15 Ja Seddon R J (RJS wrote to GF about PC on that date, and the letter was filed under 'Seddon')

The call sign system is described in more detail in the Introduction to the Index.

The calendars consist of notes of the contents of selected letters. These are set out in chronological order They provide a kind of journal of Fowlds's involvement in each of the subjects selected Manuscript and archival sources are rather thin for this period so that Fowlds's ministerial papers fill a gap in the record The three that I chose to work on were first the concerns of his most important ministries, Education and Health, and Politics The latter calendar illustrates his political life under the Seddon and Ward administrations and his subsequent involvement with the United Labour Party The calendars, as with the index, are highly selective and are intended to give an indication of the content of specimen letters and to show where in the correspondence more material on the subjects is likely to be found

The strengths of the collection lie in the coverage of political and social issues of the Liberal and World War I period in New Zealand Because of his strong religious, social and political convictions, Fowlds was active in public life to promote his beliefs in Free Trade, the Single Tax and its concomitant, Rating on the Unimproved Value, the equality of women, Pro- portional Representation, Temperance, and so on In addition, Fowlds's involvement in business, government, church and other associations, is a means of providing a conspectus of contemporary life The begging letters that he received as a Minister add up to a broad social commentary We are also given an inside view of the day-to-day difficulties of the Government and the departments of state with which he was concerned For those six years of office the reader is at the minister's desk sharing his problems In addition we see him as the family man, the businessman, the leader in the Congregational Church and other fields Through his papers we gain a picture not only of his life, but of the life of his time

Rogers, Frank The Fowlds Papers, an inventory of the Sir George Fowlds Collection. Rev. ed Auckland, Auckland University Library, 1977

The Fowlds Papers, a calendar of material relating to Auckland University College, 1907-1940. Auckland, Archives Press, 1980.

The Fowlds Papers, a calendar of letters relating to Education 1899-1933. Auckland, Archives Press, 1980.

The Fowlds Papers, a calendar of letters relating to Health 1900-1933. Auckland, Archives Press, 1980

The Fowlds Papers; a calendar of letters relating to Politics 1895-1933. Auckland, Archives Press, 1980

The Fowlds Papers, Index of correspondents and subjects, 1878-1934. Auckland, Archives Press, 1980.

Frank Rogers Auckland

***************

NASH CORRESPONDENCE

T he June issue of Archifacts contained a letter by me designed to bring to public notice the condition of the Nash papers as seen by a historian seeking access Miss Hornabrook's reply was, to me, most unsatisfactory, mixed as it was with derogatory comments as to my professional abilities To focus on her explanation, however, I would appreciate comment on the following

(1) While we agree the Nash papers require the attention of a full-time professional archivist, Miss Hornabrook defends enlisting the services of a "senior, long-serving Foreign Affairs officer with a close knowledge of the area and many people covered by the papers" Hardly a basis for the "expertise" necessary for their arrangement and description

(2) The computer application talked of still requires a preliminary manual arrangement and description. Two archivists in 1975 were both qualified and willing to do this yet no move was made, not even one day a week set aside Why'

(3) Discovering the inadequacy of the bundle list as a finding aid can hardly be called progress as this was known four years ago Sir Walter's card indexes, too, bear little relation to the papers in their current state and are unlikely to be based on archival principles, which must be adhered to for a competent and professional arrangement Is this not so?

(4) Do the "other demands" of archivists really detract from attention being given to the Nash papers7 The work of appraisal shall probably continue as long as there are archives, so can hardly be advanced as an excuse for inaction in other fields The cartographic archives, which too require the attention of an expert, have to my knowledge received little treatment other than being raised off the floor Archives' new function under the Local Government Act has not, as yet, been put into operation and the needs of conservation arenotin any case fulfilled by archivists.

(5) Why, after five years of inactivity, are the Nash papers suddenly undergoing a crash three-month arrangement and description programme, carried out for the most part by junior archivists7 Such an approach smacks to a greater degree of "simplicity and unprofessional ism" than anything I previously suggested How can "a disorganised mass of 200 metres of papers in some 2000 bundles" be put in order in that time7 Are the principles laid down in Schellenberg's Modern Archives, or more appropriately in Duckett's Modern Manuscripts going to be followed7

(6) Why did not National Archives, having found a stable environment in which rust does not grow, patent their discovery7 They could have used the proceeds to employ a few more archivists

George Theobald

Mr Theobald's second letter has two criticisms of National Archives' treat- ment of the Nash papers First he accuses us of neglect.

It is plain he is not aware of what has been done and that priorities have to be set In common with many archives institutions National Archives has had to face a steadily increasing volume of work in all areas, and one result is that arrangement and description has been severely squeezed by the immediate demands of the public and government departments Nor does he seem to appreciate the disruptive effect of the move to our present premises, requiring as it did a vast input of time from all staff from 1975 until well into 1978 In these circumstances the eagerness of archivists to tackle the Nash papers had to be frustrated

The more serious accusation is that of an unprofessional spurt in activity Mr Theobald has lost sight of an important distinction opening a collection for public research is not necessarily tantamount to a final arrangement and description There are three components in the work of processing by archivists First is physical control assuming the physical integrity of the collection and providing the user with a means of precise citation Second is intellectual control, the results of which are evident to users in finding aids Third is access control, the identification of items of a sensitive nature and determining of the nature of the restriction to be imposed Where one.or two archivists are processing a small collection the three components are entwined - for example the identification of original order will be reflected in the final physical arrangement and the appearance of the collection to the user will be that evident to archivists The components may be separated and in processing a large collection, such as the Nash Papers, it is reasonable to do so

These principles were firmly in mind when considering the Public Trustee's request early this year to open the collection as soon as possible, rather than extend the period of total closure until 1990 We decided to fix the arrangement of the papers as that of the bundles made (and listed) in 1969 and as subsequently used by Professor Sinclair Physical control is being established by folio numbering with automatic numbering machines ' This allows precise reference to any item - providing users with an intelligible shorthand citation, enabling the identification of any document which needs restricted access without closing adjacent items bundled with it and per- mitting the development of more detailed series descriptions, at a later date.

The short term price for accelerated opening is in the finding aids There is of course much research and descriptive listing still to do detailed and precise series identification and analysis will proceed from this work The descriptions compiled in the original bundling process have been much enhanced during the past six months, not only by archivists, senior as well as junior, but also by the special assistant whoée long experience in Foreign Affairs provides most helpful first hand knowledge of the period. It is by no means unusual to enlist people with specialised knowledge to assist with comparable projects in New Zealand, and overseas in archives projects I have laid down criteria for restrictions and all staff making bundle assessments have been instructed to observe them In this context the availability of specialist knowledge in certain areas has been valuable

Initially researchers wishing to use that portion of the collection which is open will be assisted by an edited version of our working papers, a descriptive list - in varying detail - in bundle number order More conventional series guides will come later In addition, the relevant portions of the Nash indexes will prove helpful,-even though all the cross- references in them are as yet imperfectly understood It is an important archival principle to preserve and use such contemporary finding aids

Judith Hornabrook Chief Archivist

This correspondence is now closed Editor ««**·**·«»·**·****»»*·***«*******»*««*««*****»*****·»*·***# * * *I SMITH REPORT *I * * * SPECIAL BARGAIN —OFFE R ** * * * This very useful report on the state of New Zealand * * archives published in 1978 and written by Dr Wilfred * * I Smith, Dominion Archivist of Canada, is now offered * * for sale at a much reduced price Also offered with * * it is a copy of the published proceedings of the * * Symposium on the Smith report held at the Association's * * annual conference in Wellington in 1978 and issued as * * Archifacts 7 and 8 * * * * * * Price Smith Report and Symposium * * * * Members $1 00 * * Non-Members $1 50 * * * * Smith Report only # * Members $0 50 * * Non-Members $1 00 * * * * Orders should be sent to the Secretary, ARANZ, * * Ρ 0 Box 11^553, Wellington * * * *«****«*»************«»«**************«****#*«***»***«»**** ·* A Ν A L Ε C Τ A

FIRST OF NASH PAPERS AVAILABLE

By arrangement with the Public Trustee a major portion of the private and political papers of Sir Walter Nash, Minister of Finance in the first Labour Government, 1935 to 1949, and Prime Minister of the second from 1957 to 1960, will be open to public inspection at National Archives from Monday, 1 December Of the approximately 1850 bundles of paper occupying about 250 linear metres of shelf space, some 900 bundles relating to the period until 1949, when the first Labour government fell, will be available They include personal papers, documents relating to the rise of the New Zealand Labour Party prior to 1935, political papers concerning the first Labour government and its programme of economic and social reform, and documents concerning the conduct of New Zealand's war effort and post-war recovery until 1949 The papers will be readily available, except those which contain confidential information on living persons, "shared" documents with other governments, and government papers which have a restrictive classification. In some of these cases access may be approved after application to the Chief Archivist.

It is intended that the papers up to the start of the second Labour govern- ment in 1957 will be opened by October of next year, and that by October of the following year the whole collection, including papers relating to the second Labour government, subject to necessary continuing restrictions, will be open

NEW ZEALANDERS AT INTERNATIONAL ARCHIVES CONGRESS An unprecedented number of New Zealanders attended the IXth International Congress on Archives organised by the UNESCO affiliated International Council on Archives at London in September They were Judith Hornabrook, Chief Archivist, National Archives, Rosemary Collier, formerly Senior Archivist, National Archives, Peter Miller, Archivist, Hocken Library, and Frank Rogers, archives enthusiast from Auckland

At the Congress Miss Hornabrook was elected to the 14 member Executive Committee of I C A for the years 1984 to 1986, and afterwards she attended a senior archives management course at Easthampstead organised by the British Council

Immediately after the Congress Rosemary Collier, Frank Rogers, and also Jeavons Baillie, Conservation Officer, National Library of New Zealand, attended the international conference on the conservation of library and archive materials and the graphic arts sponsored by the Society of Archivists and the Institute of Paper Conservation at Cambridge University.

INTERNATIONAL RECORDS MANAGEMENT FEDERATION

ARANZ is a member of the IRMF as a result of which we receive ARMA Records Management Quarterly. Copies of these from January 1980 and of Information s Records Management from November 1979 - a monthly publication - are avail- able for perusal at BNZ Archives in Wellington It may be possible to arrange a mailing list but please do not all rush at once Address for correspondence is BNZ Archives, Ρ 0 Box 2392, Wellington Street address for visitors is Second Floor, BNZ Building, 100 Courtenay Place, Wellington Entry through the Bank during banking hours

INTERNATIONAL RECORDS RETENTION SURVEY REPORT The IRMF has announced the issue of the above Report on international records retention practices It is based on responses to a questionnaire sent to 18 organizations in 13 countries (including New Zealand) and seven law firms in seven countries It will be issued free to all IRMF members (including the President of ARANZ) but can otherwise be purchased for $US25 from IRMF, Ρ 0 Box 1932, Racine WI 53401, USA NEW MARLBOROUGH ARCHIVES ASSOCIATION A seven-strong steering committee was formed at a public meeting in Blenheim on 29 September to promote the building of a new archives-museum premises for Marlborough. At the meeting which was attended by about 60 people it was stated that $20,000 which could be used for the purpose was held in various accounts and 2 hectares of land was available at Brayshaw Park The chair- man of the Marlborough United Council,Mr Tom Bryant, said his council could give assistance if its four constituent members - Picton and Blenheim Borough and Kaikoura and Marlborough Counties - could be convinced that an archives building would be a worthwhile regional project He said that by law such united council support had to be unanimous. The meeting, which had been convened by Mr Neville Matthews, President of the Marlborough Historical Society, decided that the steering committee should report back next year when a Marlborough Archives and Museum Association will be formally set up

WELLINGTON CULTURAL CONSERVATORS Wellington Cultural Conservators is the name of a group of people who have met monthly for over a year to discuss the conservation of cultural and historical material Not surprisingly, the majority of members are pro- fessionally involved in conservation In the group we have a Document Restorer, a Map Mounter, a Curator of Prints and several assorted Conserva- tion Officers and Assistants, Librarians and Archivists

Essentially, our aim is to provide a forum in which people, interested in the conservation of items held in archives, art galleries and museums, can discuss their work, their problems and generally any ideas of interest

The format of each meeting varies We have conducted experiments in workshop sessions on such topics as the effects of acidity, humidity and ultraviolet light Dr Nathan Stolow has addressed the group on his work in micro environments And several people from firms which supply conser- vation material have spoken On a number of occasions we have watched a film on some aspect of our work One practical exercise that the group took part in, involved a simulated fire fighting situation, in which we had to stem the flow of water down a stair well to protect an imaginary collection of valuable cultural material on the floor below The group is now considering a plan to use universally recognised symbols to facilitate the rescue of material of great cultural value in the event of a disaster

We will gladly receive any enquiries from anyone interested in our activities Write to Kevin Bourke, Archivist, ANZ Banking Group (New Zealand) Ltd , Ρ 0 Box 1492, Wellington

BNZ ARCHIVES CONSERVATION APPOINTMENT The BNZ Archives, which was established in 1973, appointed a Conservator on 18 August last A conservation laboratory has been set up with basic equipment comprising a light-table, fume cabinet and various miscellaneous items such as a "Magilamp", tacking iron, siphon, washing trays, steam iron, letterpress, etc The full-time conservator, Marjorie Park, has had five years experience at National Archives where she assisted with the establish- ment of their conservation laboratory The staff at BNZ Archives now number four two full-time and two part-time

TURNBULL APPOINTMENTS David Retter, formerly archivist at National Archives, was appointed First Assistant in the Manuscripts Section of the Alexander Turnbull Library from August He has an MA degree from the University of Canterbury and was at National Archives from 1978-80, where his mam experience was in the Reference Department. His appointment is a new one involving forward plann- ing, supervision of work, staff training, as well as arrangement and descrip- tion, and reference work.

Kevin Stewart has been appointed Manuscripts Assistant from August 1980 after five months as a TEP worker in the Manuscripts Section An MA graduate from Massey University, he taught English and History from 1972-79 in Wanganui and Hamilton He is currently co-authoring a history of Wanganui County for the County Council

NATIONAL ARCHIVES APPOINTMENTS Margaret Retter, who was previously with National Archives from 1978-79, rejoined the staff in October after one year's leave of absence

Mark Stevens and Wayne Nelson joined National Archives in August and September respectively Mark graduated M A. in History from Victoria University in 1976 with a thesis on New Zealand defence forces and defence administration 1870-1900, and afterwards taught history at Mana College His main interest is military history Wayne is also a history graduate from Victoria University For his M A thesis he wrote an intellectual biography of Frank Lloyd Wright He is a keen drawer and very interested in the history of photography

Robert Kerr-Hislop was apponnted in September Science Technician (Conservation) in place of Mrs Marjorie Park who left in August to establish a conservation unit in the Bank of New Zealand Archives

NATIONAL ARCHIVES CHANGE OF ADDRESS Please note that National Archives new postal address is Ρ 0 Box 6148, Te Aro, Wellington.

************* a a»»»»»*»***»**»**»****»»****»»*» » m it it » it μ κ kh » it « » it κ mi î* î* *Ζ . . for people interested in local history . . *t

* THE AUCKLAND - WAIKATO HISTORICAL JOURNAL $ ! * Î is published twice yearly, in April and September The journal * has 40 pages, well-printed and illustrated, and it aims to $ * preserve authentic material dealing with the everyday life of the $ * people of this region during the 19th and early 20th centuries * * Most of the essays and photographs are contributed by members $ * of the various historical societies in the district and embody $ * biographies and stories not published elsewhere f * The Journal is reasonably priced at $3 per year (posted) $ * Subscriptions may be sent to Mrs M R Brown, $ t 157 Landscape Road, g t Mt Eden, f t Auckland 4 |

BOOK REVIEWS

National Register of Archives and Manuscripts m New Zealand Wellington, National Library of New Zealand, 1979- Binder $3 Volume I part 1 $4, part 2 $7 50, plus packing and„postage

Volume I Part I highly recommended. A bedside book The very thing to dip into, to browse through before drowsiness gives way to startled awakening as the 1 5kg crashes to the floor Your knowledge of details, at times bizarre, of New Zealand biography and institutions (if you can recall it next morning) will positively amaze your fellow archivists and record keepers Ernest Hinds (person) died three months after Harold Logan (Horse) Effie Hinds moreover was married twice (A79). The Canterbury Club is less socially exclusive than the Christchurch Club (A55) That's interesting These days the former sounds more exclusive, but not so apparently 124 years ago when the latter was founded The Waitotara Lime Company factory was located alongside the Waitotara Railway Station and at one stage it was run "as if" it were a cooperative (A3) Now what does that mean9 Don't linger Lose no sleep over it. Now here's a strange thing A48, Boxing records of New Zealand How do Dramatis theatre (or should it be Theatre7) records come to be mixed upwittithem7 Wrestling and theatre are quite understandable It is well known wrestlers must have above average acting ability, particularly the facility of conveying emotions of rage, pain and abject defeat by mere facial expression. But boxing is an altogether more serious business Allister Bristow was Wellington City Archivist 1950 - 1974 (A139) Does that City have the distinction of being the first to appoint an archivist7 And so the turning of the pages goes

It was in 1954 when it all started The New Zealand Library Association Archives Committee then started to devise rules for a Union Catalogue of Manuscripts. Notifications were made to the Turnbull Library on standard library cards and the Library responded by publishing first some preliminary editions of very slight size culminating in 1968 and 1969 in the two volume interim edition. That essentially library approach appeared to languish but new vigour was injected in 1975 by Tom Wilsted then Manuscripts Librarian at Turnbull A new NZLA committee was set up under his convenorship, to become in 1976 a committee of ARANZ New and rather simpler rules were devised, the scope broadened to take in all manuscripts and archives not simply those relating to New Zealand and the Pacific, the standard catalogue card was rejected in favour of A4 pages, the need for an index was clearly recognised, an instruction manual was prepared and the project well pub- licized over the whole range of record keeping institutions

For a project so long in gestation, the results as displayed in volume I part I are mildly disappointing, apart from the admirable index compiled by Jane Tucker The Editorial Committee (two from Turnbull, one from National Archives) is of course largely in the hands of the contributing institutions Considerations other than purely archival must influence the amount of editing done, particularly the necessity of not wielding so heavy an editorial pencil as to discourage contributors Nevertheless, particularly as the Committee hopes "that this first instalment will provide the standard for all future entries" (p v), it seems to me more rigorous editing based on the relative importance of papers was required I don't want to beat Harold Logan (Horse) to death, and racing-mad though we are, a whole page devoted to these 1 vol & 5 files (A79) cannot be justified Poetry-mad we may not be, but neither can the length of the entry for Alexander McKay's poem (A178) be justified Other examples abound Too many library cataloguers of old did not see clearly that their catalogues were (or should be) simply indexes to their book collections They looked on the catalogues as being also repositories of particularly biographical information in the form of full names and dates of authors and editors, and they expended untold effort in tracking these down Similarly, in the present instance I suspect first the compilers of entries^ and more culpably the Editorial Committee have failed to appreciate the true purpose of the National Register The Preface (p in) states it to be "a service to the research community" The Introduction (p v) hopes it will be "a useful tool for researchers and others " Re- searchers don't need^the superfluity of too much of the information given under Description Who are these "others"7 Can they possibly justify the time, trouble and expense devoted to them7 I suspect not

If much of this irrelevant background information was deleted, space would be available for more tabular listing of records This would facilitate quick scanning Close packed lines of typescript require more careful and slower reading than do lists to be sure nothing is missed

The need for tighter and consistent editorial control is displayed elsewhere For example why, in A178 already referred to, use the preten- tious "Literary manuscript" when what is meant and is later referred to, is "Poem"7 Compare the directness of the next entry - "Notes on eucalypts" nof'Botamcal manuscript " A104 contains a couple of Name Entries unexplain- ed in the Description and therefore meaningless except presumably to those in the know about the Puketapu Feud How did this manage to slip through with- out a dissertation on it7

All in all there are too many words Why repeat page after page after page, The records include, The records consist of, The records comprise, The collection includes 7 Why use two conjunctions "and also" when one suffices7 Why say an Institute was "successfully" founded (A63)7 Is it a hint there were unsuccessful attempts7 If there were, is the fact relevant7 And so on These are individually trivial points indeed, but they and others add up to indicate a lack of editorial control that should not be there "Tool" the Register may be, but let it be a precision one

The index is excellent and it seems churlish to complain that in the copy in hand ρ 16 precedes ρ 15 It is particularly pleasing to have subjects gathered up under place, also places under subject Of course it is fairly gross indexing but it was designed that way to reduce the "onerous" (p.v) nature of its compilation Within the grossness there are inadequacies one may refer to For example there is no subject area New Zealand, and the awkward device of using both North Island and South Island must be used Waikouaiti County (now part of Silverpeaks County) never in all its days had anything to do with South Otago I note also that the instruction Manual's recommended time divisions by decade are supplanted in the actual index by precise dates This, and the strings of entries for example under Maoris, are early indications that this side of the Register must face change Word processors and computers will surely be brought into play

Volume I Part II. Add this to your ring binder, both indexes to the front I'd suggest for added ease of consultation and the weight, both in fact and of many of the entries takes it out of the bedside book category. Here one can detect greater editorial confidence or possibly better copy to work from But what's happened to the National Archives editorial rep7 I trust its contribution now presumably accorded too low a priority among the very many pressures on that institution, will not allow its experience as the prime archival institution in the country to be lost to the Register by default

Although not so prominent in this part as in the earlier one, similar drawbacks are evident There appears to me still too great an emphasis on biographical detail although an attempt is made in the Introduction to justify this on the ground that it "should assist with establishing the context in which the various collections were created " What is the result7 A324 is a not untypical example, two full paragraphs on the redoubtable Bickerton (which information could readily be got from Scholefield's DNZB and other "basic sources" mentioned in the Introduction) and one measly sentence about the papers which tells the reader absolutely nothing concern- ing them - "personal correspondence" about what, "literary papers" about what, and "a diary" containing what sorts of entries and when7 Come now, this purports to be a register of archives and manuscripts not a biographical dictionary But there is progress At least a couple of entries (A435, A465) refer the reader to Scholefield, although to balance these is A492 which gives neither biographical detail nor biographical reference to that prominent scientist Sir James Hector There is further lack of editorial consistency, e g A335 gives a run down on the administrative history of the Christchurch Tramway Board and some other entries do a similar job for their organisations, but A327 ignores such information relating to the Canterbury Education Board, A359 the Ministry of Civil Defence, A350 the Inland Revenue Department and so on Why7 The simple answer probably is lack of time or maybe misplaced allocation of time

A350 throws up an oversight. Every other government department save Inland Revenue is entered under NZ and so indexed, with the result this particular department may well be overlooked when the index is consulted (Perhaps a Freudian slip rather than a simple oversight ) And anyway (still with A350) what are Testamentary Registers and Native Succession Registers7 What is the "context"!that threw them up7 I don't know, and I am sure there are many sources I should consult before I should expect to have access to such things as these But in respect of most entries the Register does not appear to recognise the fact that, by and large, users of archives and manu- scripts should be informed users It itself attempts to inform them

Diligent editors, forgive my harping on your misdemeanours My complaint is not so much with you as with your masters On the evidence before me it is apparent they do not allow you the time and the resources to do the fully professional job your undoubted skills and experience fit you to do May that Situation be corrected SO that the National Register of Archives and Manuscripts becomes not simply the "useful tool" it now is, but what it ought to be, an impeccable work of scholarship that will fittingly enhance the standing of the National Library of New Zealand over whose imprint it appears

M G. Hitchings Hocken Library

Μ Ε Hoare Boys, Urchins, Men. A History of the Boys' Brigade m Australia and Papua-New Guinea 1882-1976. Sydney, Reed, 1980 287 pp $10

John Barrett Falling In. Australians and Boy Conscription' 1911-1915. Sydney, Hale and Iremonger, 1979 320 pp

Institutional histories pose vexing problems for even the most experienced writers The author is constantly aware of the expectation, of the institution commissioning him, of the need to balance detail with fair perspective, and of the critical gaze of those within the institution who sometimes appear as nightmarish spectres accusing the writer of neglecting this or that accomplishment by some chairman or secretary of yesteryear Only the brave should agree to write institutional history

Dr Michael Hoare s History of the Boys' Brigade in Australia and Papua- New Guinea will serve not only as a carefully researched and balanced analysis of that movement's impact from 1883 to 1976, but as a model for writers of institutional histories Boys, urchins and Men is a well-orgamsed history, with a most useful table of significant dates placed sensibly before the introduction, with a splendid set of appendices useful to Boys' Brigade officers interested in the origins of their companies, and with a foreword by Sir Paul Hasluck, the Governor-General of Australia

The book's greatest strength is the setting of the Australian expansion of Sir William Alexander Smith's Boys' Brigade in the social settings.of the years from 1883 The Boys' Brigade's arrival in Sydney is associated with urban poverty The author tells

In the early 1880s some philanthropic civic-minded citizens and church men in Sydney became deeply worried about the 'condition of the lads engaged in street newspaper selling' 'Ragged, shoeless, dirty, often hungry, and manifesting an ominous precocity in the adoption of the course and cunning habits which distinguished the outer fringe of society' the newspaper urchins or 'nippers' posed a problem for those concerned both with the 'moralities and decencies of life' among the young working class people of Sydney, and with the crime, potential and actual, in the streets of the city

For the general reader Dr Hoare's narrative is at its most interesting during the years of jingoism and imperialism, with some boys training for Australia's defence with Martini Henry rifles and cutlasses The Boys' Brigade readers should be pleased with the author's avoidance of the temptation to lessen his treatment of the less spectacular years of post- World War II in favour of greater concentration on the more fascinating earlier history These readers should also be provoked into useful assess- ment of the Brigade's organisation by Dr Hoare's epilogue

The selection and reproduction of photographs for any institutional history usually leads to contention It is a pity that any 'battle' over the photographs in Bogs, orchms, Men did not end in their deletion from the book, and by their replacement with a set of eye-catching cartoons The photographs included are boring, and some are of poor quality

The South African War (1899-1902) revealed serious deficiencies in military training and in physical fitness both in Australian and New Zealand recruits Soon after thewar both Dominions expanded their citizen armies with the introduction of conscription for young men and for boys In Falling in, the Melbourne historian John Barrett discussed the popular fears - some anti-Japanese - that led to the introduction of conscription, the reaction of parents, religious groups and trade unionists to the Defence Act, and the enthusiasm of some conscripts together with the avoidance of parades, drills and camps by others

Under the Australian Act from 1911 boys of from 12-14 years were required to serve in the Junior Cadets, boys 14-18 years in the Senior Cadets, while lads of 18-26 were obliged to serve in the citizen forces

Barrett quickly shows that the cadet corps was inefficient in its use of the time of permanent army staff and in its product Replies to 200 questionnaires showed that some of the conscripts enjoyed the camaraderie, liked the opportunities given to wear uniforms and fire rifles, and found that compulsory training improved their health Other now ancient conscripts had their objections summed-up by one of Barrett's respondents, "Ε V G " of West Melbourne "Some bone-headed army routine was not enjoyable, and it took a lot of our Saturday afternoons and Tuesday evenings"

As far as the cadets were concerned working class boys were disadvantaged A Melbourne Trade Hall deputation made that clear in a 1912 deputation to the Minister of Defence when they argued that "the lads of the more wealthy people are allowed to do their drill in School Time and the lads of the poorer classes had to do it in their own time" Employers often dismissed lads whose military service obligations caused them to be absent from work and for public servants there were occasional "Catch 22" situations, exemplified by the case of J W Russell of Kensington Park, who could not complete his drills because he was attending night school to prepare for a public service examination for telegraph messengers, and by failing to meet his military training obligations made himself ineligible to be a public servant

New Zealand readers will be intrigued by Dr Barrett's several cross- references to New Zealand conscription developments of the same half decade They will also be interested in the opposition to the Australian Defence Act by Harry Holland, later to be the leader of the New Zealand Parliamentary Labour Party Barrett records Holland's attacks from the publication of the pamphlet The crime of conscription in 1912, to his prevention of his son, Roy, from reporting for military service

John Bartlett's Failing in is written in a vigorous style and is well illustrated with a good balance of contemporary photographs and cartoons It deserves to be widely read, in both Australia and New Zealand

Laurie Barber University of Waikato

Henry Sewell The Journal of Henry seweii 1853-7. Edited with an intro- duction by W David Mclntyre Christchurch, Whitcoulls, 1980 2 volumes 510 pp and 371 pp $65

Unlike most of his contemporaries Henry Sewell began his journal after he came to New Zealand He arrived at Lyttleton in February 1853, as salaried legal adviser to the Canterbury Association, with the mission of winding up its affairs in New Zealand For the next four years that he was in the Colony Sewell kept a detailed journal in which he recorded his activities and impressions of peoples, places and events. Henry Sewell was no pioneer, he never attempted or had any ambition to farm land, and his engagement in New Zealand life was essentially social and political, as a participant and as an observer His relatively advanced age (he was 46 in 1853), his experience and ability as 'a man of business', and 'his willingness to accept administrative burdens other men were happy to dodge' combined to propel him into a place of leadership in colonial politics The events covered in his . journal include the beginning of provincial government in Canterbury and Wellington in 1853, his election to the first General Assembly and its proceedings in 1854, the successful, and to Sewell immensely satisfying, settlement of the Canterbury Association achieved with the Provincial Govern- ment in 1855, the gaining of responsible government, Sewell's short spell as Premier in April and May 1856, and the making of the financial compact of June 1856 in which Sewell took the major part By the time he left New Zealand for London in October 1856 to negotiate a Treasury guarantee for a ,£ 500,000 New Zealand government loan, his journal was over 900 pages long

In its manuscript form the journal has been widely used by almost two generations of thesis students at its place of deposit in the University of Canterbury Library Because of its frank comments about people, it was regarded as slightly dangerous and could only be consulted under strict conditions laid down by its owner, the Bishop of Christchurch Its publication is a useful act of démystification, and at the same time makes generally avail- able a contemporary commentary on Canterbury and New Zealand politics and society of extraordinary value. It will also make Henry Sewell a far better known and understood figure

In a substantial introduction of over 90 pages Professor Mclntyre portrays Sewell's early life and career as a solicitor in England, describes his growing involvement and work with the Canterbury Association in London, and thereafter traces his progress in New Zealand It is a most satisfying piece of work As one would expect much of the information on Sewell in England is new and most of it previously unpublished It also includes by far the most useful and complete recent account of the troubled finances of the Canterbury Association through to the final settlement The description of the course of politics in New Zealand from 1853-56, though necessarily focussed on the role of Sewell, is one of the best to have appeared and even leads to a revision of our understanding of the manner in which agreement was reached between Gore Browne and his ministers on responsibility for native affairs in August 1856. For this section more use could have been made of contem- porary manuscript sources such as the Hall papers as a gloss on Sewell's record It would also have been nice to have had something on Sewell's four months as a Government administrator and as a lawyer, and to know more of his domestic situation and financial circumstances However, Sewell the man, with his curious combination, of administrative ability, snobbishness, mdecisiveness, diligence, and courage, is strongly and compassionately drawn

The journal itself, which it must be remembered was written for his friend's in England, is extremely readable, but has to be read for its excellence and difficulties to be fully appreciated Sewell's most unbuttoned comments are reserved for individuals Of James Edward Fitzgerald he wrote, 'he is unstable as water', and of the Rev Octaviaus Mathias 'that rabid man' Robert Cuff, M H R for Akaroa, he castigated as a 'vendible commodity' However, his judgements were insecure and frequently he changed his mind When"he first met John Hall, later Sir John and Premier, in June 1853, he wrote of him as 'a good man and valuable addition to the Colony' Later they crossed swords and Sewell referred to him spitefully as a 'mere office clerk, utterly deficient, in tact, knowledge of affairs, or any remarkable ability altogether passable as a third rate man, but nothing better' Later he was to regard him as a friend, although I am not sure Hall reci- procated. Sewell had a ready opinion on most subjects from architecture, colonial domestic comfort, the relative prospects of Christchurch, Lyttelton and Kaiapoi, church property arrangements, constitutional forms, to relations with the Maori The journal will be an inexhaustible mine of information and comment, to be worked, one hopes with caution, for many years to come

The editing is exemplary, with the methods used clearly stated There are no elisions, whatsoever, and changes made by Sewell to the text are clearly shown. Almost every individual mentioned has been identified and a short biography of each given The source is supplied for almost one hundred classical quotations with translations provided, and there are plenty of cross- references The footnotes and referenes, thank God, are at the foot of the pages where they can be easily referred to There are over sixty well-chosen plates nicely captioned and seven maps specially drawn Following the journal is a concise summary of Sewell's later career for which there are fragmentary and still unpublished journals

The only untidiness is the poor description of unpublished sources in the Bibliography Except for private papers, an alphabetical listing is quite unsuitable for archives and a more structured approach could have beer adopted with advantage, so that the administrative provenance of the series used is madeclearin each case. For instance, 'Canterbury Provincial Secretary': In Letters', 'Papers Laid before the Provincial Council, Canterbury', and 'Minutes of the Executive Council of Canterbury' are all part of the Canterbury Province group of archives, and the 'Commissioner's Record Book, Pasturage Licences Outside the Canterbury Block 1853-56' is a part of the records of the Christchurch Office of Lands and Survey Department In some cases the date range is given and in others it is not, a fault which spills over into the official publications and newspaper sections. Nor are archives code references consistently supplied One yearns for the exact completeness in this respect Of A.H McLintOCk'c Crown Colony Government m New Zealand. How often are to be seen in otherwise very respectable works magnificently full and correct listingsof published sources alongside disproportionately short and muddled descriptions of the unpublished sources used It is also surprising to note the omission of Richard Greenaway's thesis on Henry Selfe Selfe from the list of those consulted

These things apart Professor Mclntyre is to be congratulated on an almost perfect piece of work, as are Whitcoulls for having the good taste and courage to publish the journal in such handsome form, even at the brutal price of $65

Stuart Strachan National Archives

CORRECTION

A misprint occurred in Ian McGibbon's review of The Rise and Fall of the Singapore Base in the September issue of Archifacts. The final sentence should have read 'These nit picks should not, however, obscure the fact that the book is a majpr contribution to the literature of both British and Australasian defence policy and of inter-Imperial relations between the wars '

Richard Hill resigned as Reviews Editor on 21 August and the Editor apologises for the proofreading and arrangement faults in the June and September issues, for which Richard Hill was not responsible

********************

ACCESSIONS

ALEXANDER TURNBULL LIBRARY, WELLINGTON

BENNETT, F 0 'The Shadow of my Neighbour An Historical Survey of Certain Aspects of Social Progress in New Zealand, 1835 - 1975 ' 1 volume BRASCH, Charles 'Indirections A Memoir, 1909 - 1947' TS 1 volume RESTRICTED

BRITTENDEN Family. Letters, 1872 - 1971, of members who served in the South African and First and Second World Wars

BROWN, Robert 'Description of the Military and Naval Expedition from Taranaki to the Warea Pah' 20 1 Photocopy

C0LENS0, William Papers, 1841 - 1854 24cm

CYCLIST'S Touring Club Minutes, 1927 - 1930 and scrapbook, 1929 - 51, of the New Zealand District Association of the Club 2 volumes

DELL, Dr R Κ Scientific papers 0 7m RESTRICTED UNTIL SORTED

GRAYLAND, E.C 'An Account of an Earthquake in the Wairarapa District of New Zealand, March 1934' 1942 1 volume

GUDOPP, A Τ Letters to Gudopp, amateur botanist, 1935 - 1958, from Η Η Allan, Ε J Godley and others 12 items HARTHAM Women's Centre, Pon rua Records, 1966 - 1978 100 f

HILL, F Ε Papers concerning Somes Island Prisoner of War camp, 1915 - 1918 2 volumes and 9 1 RESTRICTED

JOYITA Incident Papers, 1955 - 1957, compiled by Mr Norman Stace, concerning the vessel 'Joyita'.

KOOTI, Rikirangi Te Turuki Te Notebook, 1864 In Maori 1 volume

LAWLOR, Ρ A Further Papers 60cm RESTRICTED

MAURICEVILLE School Committee Minutes, 1891 - 1901 1 volume

MOUNTJOY Family Papers, 1930 - 1955, of William Joseph Mountjoy, 1884 - 1971, and William Joseph junior, 1907 - 1954 12cm

NEW ZEALAND Free Kindergarten Records 1 2m RESTRICTED

NEW ZEALAND National Party Further records, 1943 - 1972 1 2m RESTRICTED

NEW ZEALAND Society for the Protection of Home and Family Wellington Branch Further records, 1967 - 1974 2cm

POLYNESIAN Society Further records, 1891 - 1968 5 2m RESTRICTED

PORIRUA Little Theatre Society Records, 1954 - 1979 5cm

PUPONGA Coalrmners Industrial Union of Workers Records, 1904 - 1919 5cm

RUSSELL, Prof J Ε 'Notes on the New Zealand Educational System1, 1928 1 volume, 19 1 ST ANDREW'S on the Terrace. Records, 1865 - 1975 4 5m RESTRICTED

ST MARY'S Anglican Church, New Plymouth. Records, 1843 - 1964. Microfilm 6 reels. RESTRICTED

SHEPPARD, Peter 'Some Notes on Old St Paul's'. 1 volume

TATLER, George. Letters, 1854 - 1864, of a corporal with the 65th Regiment in New Zealand 52 items

THOMSON, J M Letters to Mr and Mrs E. Crozier, 1965 - 1976. 100 items RESTRICTED

UNITY Theatre. Records, 1944 - 1979 1 3m

VEITCH, H.C War letters, 1942 - 1945. 12cm WELLINGTON Harbour Board. Passenger and emigrant lists, 1925, list of emigrants per 'Joseph Fletcher', 1855, also Auckland Provincial Government correspondence re emigrants 1855 - 1859 37 items

WELLINGTON Referees Association. Records, 1899 - 1942 4 volumes

WELLINGTON Working Men's Club Records, 1877 - 1979 7 8m RESTRICTED

CONSERVATION MATERIALS

AS SOLE Ν Ζ AGENTS FOR PROCESS MATERIALS CORPORATION NEW JERSEY USA EITHER FROM STOCK OR INDENT YOUR EVERY NEED CAN BE MET MUSEUM QUALITY MOUNT BOARDS IN TEN COLOURS CONSERVATION BOARD IN THREE COLOURS SIZES UP TO 40 χ 60 2-4-6 PLY CATALOGUES AT HOCKEN AND NATIONAL LIBRARY ROBT McDOUGALL AND AUCKLAND ART GALLERIES ALSO STOCKED ARCHES-RIVES AND JAPANESE HAND MADE PAPERS ACID-FREE LINEN TAPES, NATIONAL MOUNT BOARDS MAT CUTTERS BOTH HAND AND BENCH MODELS TO 48 INCH

BOX 8745 RANSONS PHONE 797-365 AUCKLAND r 1 BankofNewZealand founded 1861 Location of archives: Items of interest: Second Floor, BNZ Building, Colonial Bank of New Zealand records, 100 Courtenay Place, Wellington. annual reports, signature books, posters, Open 10 a.m. to 1p.m.; 2 p.m. to architectural drawings, photographs, 4 p.m.: entry through Bank. display of artifacts including gold-related Phone: Wellington 843-259 or write to items, BNZ Estates Company records, the Archivist, Bank of New Zealand, Assets Realization Board records. Bank PO Box 2392, Wellington. of New Zealand banknotes (appointment required). HRHBankof New Zealand ¿¿k* Here when you need usj

MEMBERSHIP °f the Association is open to any individual or institution interested in fostering the objects of the Association. The rates of subscription are NZ $8.00 per annum for individuals and NZ $12.00 per annum for the institutions. Enquiries concerning membership should be addressed to: The Secretary, A.R.A.N.Z., P.O. Box 11-553, Wellington, N.Z.

ARCHIFACTS the official bulletin of the Archives and Records Association of New Zealand Incorporated, appears quarterly in March, June, September and December of each year. Subscriptions to the Bulletin are through membership of the Association at the rates advertised above. Copies of individual issues, however, will be available to non-members at NZ $3 per copy. All members are welcome to submit articles, short notices, letters, etc, to the Editor of ARCHIFACTS- EDITOR: Stuart Strachan, 41 Rose St, Wellington. ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Michael Hodder, P.O. Box 28-011, Wellington 5. REVIEWS EDITOR:

BUSINESS MANAGER: Michael Fitzgerald, National Museum, Buckle St, Wellington. ACCESSIONS CO-ORDINATOR ! Sharon Dell, Alexander Turnbull Library, P.O. Box 12-349, Wellington. CONTENTS

EDITORIAL: Holding Fast Robin Griffin 376

A VERY SPECIAL COLLECTION Clive Sowry 378

THE KING AND I : me Fowlds Papers Frank Rogers 386

NASH CORRESPONDENCE 391

ANALECTA First of Nash papers available; New Zealanders at International Archives Congress; International Records Management Federation; International Records Retention Report; New Marlborough Archives Association; Wellington Cultural Conservators; BNZ Archives Conservation Appointment; Turnbull Appointments; National Archives Appointments; National Archives Change of address 394

BOOK REVIEWS National Register of Archives and Manuscripts in New Zealand (Michael Hitchings) 398

M.E. Hoare. Boys, Urchins, Men. A History of the Boys' Brigade in Australia and Papua-New Guinea 1882-1976

John Barrett. Falling In. Australians and 'Boy Conscription' 1911-1915. (Laurie Barber) 401

Henry Sewell. The Journal of Henry Sewell 1853-7. Edited by W. David Mclntyre. (Stuart Strachan) 403

ACCESSIONS 405

REGISTERED AT POST OFFICE HEADQUARTERS/ WELLINGTON/ AS A MAGAZINE.