Interesting History

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 572, 26 January 1929, Page 1

Interesting History

RECORD OF N.Z. COMPANY PRESERVED DAILY SNUFF ALLOWANCE An interesting statement wae made at the Science Congress this morning by Dr. Scholefield, Controller of Dominion Archives, regarding the books, and records of the New Zealand Company, which established the settlements of Wellington, New Plymouth. Nelson and Otago, in the early 'forties of last century. Dr. Scholefield stated twit when the company stopped colonisnfk in 1850, as a, prelude to its dissolution in 1858, its records were carefully sorted and eventually handed over to the Colonial Office. They included not only the minute books and account books of the company and of each of the settlements, but also the whole of tlie correspondence, including - even the original despatches sent out to each of the resident agents in New Zealand. Such details as the attendance books of the directors’ meetings, the calculations of fees due to the directors, even the spent cheques and the petty cash vouchers for the whole period of the company’s exisence were preserved and very methodically arranged. It is actually possible to trace by receipts the 2.\ d a day allowed to the office messenger in London for snuff, and each cab fare paid between Adam Street and Downing Street in the days when the company loomed large in the eye of the House of Commons. The system of keeping accounts and records was a tribute to the memory of Thomas Cudbert Harington the secretary. ARCHIVE MATERIAL The records, of the company duly found their way into the cellars of the Public Record Office in London, where Dr. Scholefield had access to them • 20 years ago for purposes of research. - Following on a report by the late - Dr. Hocken a certain quantity was pfesenetd to New Zealand and had been in the Dominion for 20 or 30 years. With the exception of some attention paid to them by the late. Dr.. Ail&n Thomson, Director of the Dominion Museum, they remained untouched. . until the appointment of an archivist two or three years ago. He naturally made it his duty to examine and organise a.t the ea.rliest possible moment tho papers which had been ■ sent to New - Zealand, and the work was now practically finished. As a result something like 150 volumes would be available' as archive material. A list that Dr. Scholefield had just received from the Public Record Office showed that they had retained more than 300 volumes in Kngland.