East Coast photograph collection receives national recognition

Tairāwhiti Museum curator Dudley Meadows with a plate from the William Fitzgerald Crawford photographic collection housed at the museum.

The William Fitzgerald Crawford photographic collection at Tairāwhiti Museum in Gisborne has been recognised on the national Unesco Memory of the World Register.

It is the first entry from Gisborne and the East Coast region.

The 5000 glass plate negatives provide an exceptional record of the development of early Gisborne over four decades between 1874 and 1912.

Chair of the Unesco Memory of the World Trust, Jane Wild, congratulated Tairāwhiti Museum for its nomination.

“The photographs provide a remarkable record of place, people at work and at play,” Wild said.

“Preserving this unique collection and digitising the images to share the story of Gisborne and its region is a large and vital commitment to our local and national stories.

“Over one thousand images are online already. They are rich in information and artistry. With further digitisation, more of the story of Tairāwhiti can be shared.”

Crawford recorded the development of Gisborne, urban and rural businesses, social and civic activities, portraits and Māori events.

The Memory of the World Register contains 56 inscriptions of nationally and internationally important documentary heritage collections.

These include Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the suffrage petitions, the papers of Katherine Mansfield and Sir Edmund Hillary, as well as the first book published in te reo, architectural, cultural and religious records.

There are photographic, manuscript, moving image and sound resources from institutions across New Zealand.

Tairāwhiti Museum curator, Dudley Meadows, said the collection’s inclusion in the Unesco Memory of the World Register was “a deserving accolade and recognition”.

A comprehensive survey of the collection was supplied to the Unesco Board of Trustees, alongside support essays from independent experts Peter Ireland, Karl Johnstone and Sheridan Gundry.

An official presentation from Unesco to the Tairāwhiti Museum will be made in November.