Southern provinces almanac

The Almanac was published annually from 1853 to 1892. Christchurch City Libraries has a set covering the years 1863 to 1892. Originally the Almanac covered a number of provinces, but from 1865 the Almanac concentrated on Canterbury.

Christchurch City Libraries will be digitising their set [1863 to 1892] over the next few years.

For now you can access

• Southern Provinces Almanac, 1864
• Southern Provinces Almanac, 1865
• Southern Provinces Almanac, 1866
• Southern Provinces Almanac, 1868

The Almanac includes a review and commentary on the events of the preceding year. It contains listings of businesses, associations, central and provincial government officials and departments; and a trades and occupations directory. As well as Christchurch and Lyttelton other Canterbury towns are listed. Includes postal, port, customs and other regulations; army lists; details of religious bodies, charitable organisations and various societies.

 

Heritage Week Photo Competition

Christchurch City Libraries invites the people of Christchurch to enter a photo competition designed to uncover Christchurch photos of the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s.

Photos can be entered under the following themes:

• Fashion
• Transport
• Buildings and Streets
• Sport and Recreation
• Occupations
• Events
• Everyday Life

The photos will be displayed in the Central Library and on the library Flick pages. The winners of each decade and the overall winner will be announced on Tuesday 28 October after Heritage Week has finished, and presented with some great prizes.

More information at Christchurch City Libraries

 

Archives New Zealand Christchurch Gallery

The Christchurch office of Archives New Zealand was an early adopter of online exhibitions of some compelling material, of treasures from their collection around the themes of

• Hagley Park
• Past Caring
• The Fabric of Christchurch 1850 – 1880

They have recently added a new bunch of material in their Christchurch Gallery.

They describe it

has been developed to showcase a fraction of the almost 12 kilometres of records held in the Christchurch repository of Archives New Zealand. The Farrago Gallery contains a random miscellany of images and themes, from maps and plans of Godley Head Defence Area to the Surgeon’s Report from the voyage of the Lady Nugent in 1850. It will be added to regularly, so it pays to check back often.

Further galleries will be opened over the coming months, as new themes, topics and items are chosen, digitised and made available.

Currently they have

• Kā puna kōrero o Kāi Tahu
  images of selected public archives held by the Christchurch office of Archives New Zealand relating to Ngāi Tahu communities in Canterbury and Westland.

• Farrago
  This is a gallery of the weird, wonderful or generally interesting items held in the Christchurch repository Includes material relating to the Erebus disaster and inquiry

• The Early Ships
  Documents relating to the early Canterbury Association voyages to Canterbury, New Zealand. 1850-51
  This gallery will eventually contain the extant Canterbury Association papers relating to the first four emigrant ship voyages to the Canterbury Settlement in 1850 – 1851.

Oh and there is a Dunedin office gallery as well, which has a fantastic collection of posters from Railway stations.

My favourite piece of digital work that Archives New Zealand has digitised is the War Art collection – and its not just because you can tag entries but there is something very strong and evocotive about this imagery.