The Friends of the Turnbull Library

What to do after a flood Steps you can take to dry water-damaged precious personal and collection items. Water and mould can all badly damage collection materials. While a damaged item may never look new again, it is possible to preserve what remains if you act quickly.

On this day, 10 April 1968, the Lyttelton–Wellington ferry Wahine sank at the entrance to Wellington Harbour in one of the worst storms recorded in Aotearoa. Fifty-three people ultimately lost their lives.

This photograph shows survivors brought ashore at Seatoun, wrapped in blankets as rescuers worked in brutal conditions.

The disaster reshaped maritime safety in New Zealand and remains a defining moment in Wellington’s history. 🚢

📸 Wahine disaster survivors at Seatoun, Wellington. Evening post (Newspaper. 1865-2002) :Photographic negatives and prints of the Evening Post newspaper. Ref: 35mm-01160-33-F. Alexander Turnbull Library /records/22662832

Next week 📣🤩

In this Friends of the Turnbull event, historian Charlotte Macdonald will give an extensively illustrated lecture, travelling across what she has termed the ‘garrison world’. This is the world of redcoat soldiers, their officer commanders, and the small number of women who existed in and around the regiments.

Charlotte will explore why this military world is significant beyond the history of imperial wars, and how it speaks to us in the 2020s.

📅 Thu 16 April, 5:30–7pm
📍 Taiwhanga Kauhau – Auditorium, National Library Wellington
FREE. Koha from non‑members appreciated.

Attend in person or online:
https://dia-nz.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_B6rzkNS6T5eyepVYp1K9JA

Off the record | Alexander’s artichoke days Wealth, duty, claustrophobia, and discontent.

Tomorrow! 🚨 Panel talk - Disruption, trends and transformation: Libraries and archives leading change.

Six leaders from Aotearoa, Australia, Canada, and the United States come together for a free panel discussion exploring global disruptors, creative transformation, and the sector’s future — inspired by Rūaumoko, atua of upheaval and renewal.

Facilitated by Rachel Esson, National Librarian of New Zealand, the panel features:

• Anahera Morehu — Chief Archivist, Archives New Zealand
• Leslie Weir — Librarian and Archivist of Canada
• Dr Marie-Louise Ayres — Director-General, National Library of Australia
• Simon Froude — Director-General, National Archives of Australia
• Robin L Dale — Deputy Librarian, Library of Congress (USA)

📅 Wednesday 25 March
⏰ 5:30pm–7:15pm, followed by refreshments
📍 National Library, 70 Molesworth Street, Wellington

🎥 Can’t make it in person? Watch the livestream here:
https://youtube.com/live/E97qTb-xXsg?feature=share

RSVP to [email protected] to secure your spot.
More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/1642410440107667

Former Turnbull art librarian Dame Janet Paul is being celebrated in Only Connect, a new exhibition of portraits by Janet and her daughter Joanna Margaret Paul. 🎨🖌️

On now at the New Zealand Portrait Gallery until 7 June 2026, it’s a beautiful chance to revisit her legacy in Aotearoa’s cultural life.

Next week, join us to explore the life and work of Isaac Featherston, also known as Petatone, and his lasting influence on Te Whanganui‑a‑Tara Wellington. Arriving as a ship’s surgeon in 1841 and living with tuberculosis, he became a doctor, newspaper editor, and politician — a man of many parts.

Historian and author John E. Martin will discuss Featherston’s involvement with Māori, including land sales and with kūpapa during the New Zealand Wars, revealing the struggles and conflicts of the colonial era.

📅 Tue 10 March, 5:30–7pm
📍 Taiwhanga Kauhau – Auditorium, National Library Wellington

FREE. Koha from non‑members appreciated.

Attend in person or online:
https://dia-nz.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_5PtO5NngRl2QyE4waFIhCw #/registration

On this day: 3 March 1960 🗓️
A Good Keen Man hits the shelves.

Barry Crump’s debut became a Kiwi classic, selling over a million copies and shaping the legend of the “good keen man.” The photo shows Crump at Reporoa with his dog Flynn, who also appears in the book. 🐕

📸 Author Barry Crump, while rabbitting at Reporoa. Dominion Post (Newspaper): Photographic negatives and prints of the Evening Post and Dominion newspapers. Ref: EP-NZ Obits-Cr to Cz-01. ATL. /records/23209948

Members Only Event 📣🤩

The 2025 ‘Letters Out Loud’ highlighted letters from a range of fascinating people, including devoted prison reformer and writer Blanche Baughan, famous guide and academic Maggie Papakura, American writer Mary Redmer, and English dancer and actress, Diana Gould Menuhin.

In this lunchtime talk, Professor Emerita Barbara Brookes will discuss their backgrounds and how their letters survived to be placed in the Alexander Turnbull Library.

🗓 Monday 20 April
⏰ 1:00–2:00pm NZST
📍 Te Kupenga, National Library Wellington

This session is exclusively for Friends of the Turnbull Library members.

🔗 RSVP: turnbullfriends.org.nz/event/the-people-behind-the-letters/

Not a member yet? Join us!
🔗 turnbullfriends.org.nz/about-us/join-us/

📸 Hodgkins, Frances Mary 1869-1947 :“What! A new idea sprang in one fateful moment into her brain as her glance fell on the pink cover of the ‘Bulletin’” [1893?]. Hodgkins, Frances Mary 1869-1947 :Sketchbook [1895-1899]. Ref: E-083-q-023. ATL. /records/23246059

📸 Professor Emerita Barbara Brookes

Don’t miss out! 📚

The Friends of the Turnbull Library ‘Reading all year’ 2026 calendars are now on sale — in store and online!

This month features a 1904 photograph of Major Hoani Paraone Tunuiarangi (Ngāti Kahungunu, Rangitāne) reading to his daughter, Inuwai (PAColl-7273-05).

The calendar brings together a series of remarkable images from the Turnbull Library collections — some as early as 1860 — celebrating the joy of reading across generations.

📅 Pick up your copy from Te Āmiki, our gift shop on the ground floor of the National Library, or order online:

👉 https://shop.natlib.govt.nz/