Archaeological Infrastructure of Wai-te-mata (Auckland) 1820-1850

Article published by the RNZIH 2007 Vol 10

I graduated in 1973 with MA Honours in History from the University of Auckland, and with the Diploma of the New Zealand Library School in 1974. I still work as a librarian, unlike most of my class, who quite quickly moved on to other occupations. Penny Griffiths, Kevin Jones, Hilary Stace (two fellow speakers) and Ross Somerville were fellow students. Others who stayed in libraries now include City Librarians and one Head University Librarian. I have worked specifically with New Zealand material at Auckland City Libraries since 1989.

Boyle Crescent is a tiny 20-metre dog’s leg of road, just across from the Auckland Domain. It cuts through a dull corner of the hospital precinct, home to a couple of functional buildings.

Some 30 years ago this was a neighbourhood rich in social, political and cultural meanings. Today I plan to poke around the ashes of the vanished community that once stood here. Urban landscapes - and the memories associated with them - are increasingly being seen as rich resources for public history and public culture.

This project is intended as a pilot study for a larger investigation of the ways in which local histories are made, collected, presented and received in regional history museums in New Zealand.[1] Concerned with the way that understandings of the ‘past’ are both made and circulated through regional history museums, and with the types of historical narratives that are constructed in this process, the project also reflects its wider context: a growing interest in the study of the presence and meanings of the ‘past’ in New Zealand and elsewhere.

Yesterday I was participating in some personal history. My old school, Onslow College, had an afternoon tea for former staff. I was amazed that my old French, Latin, English, Science and music teachers were there. (Although not the history teacher who first introduced me to New Zealand history – he is too busy helping Helen Clark run the country).