Whanganui Regional Museum talk uncovers history of Mr Bell’s plough

"Mr Bell’s swing plough" on display at Whanganui Regional Museum. Photo / Karen Hughes

The history of a tool said to have ploughed the first furrow in Whanganui will be unearthed in the Whanganui Regional Museum’s Object of the Month talk series.

Kaihāpai taonga general curator Dr Sue Garside will take attendees on a deep dive into the history of “Mr Bell’s Plough” – a swing plough with symbolic links to the region’s early agricultural past.

“What interests me about the plough is the meaning behind it,” Garside said.

Dr Sue Garside, kaihāpai taonga/general curator at Whanganui Regional Museum. Photo / Karen Hughes

“This particular plough, the swing plough, was smaller and lighter than a traditional plough, so one man could use it.

“You needed to have quite a bit of money to have a team of horses or oxen to pull a traditional plough.“

Pou kōrero communications co-ordinator Karen Hughes said the talk gave people a chance to consider the complex, changing stories carried by everyday tools.

“The plough was made in England before 1841 and used in Aotearoa by the Nixon and Bell families.”

It revealed the layered history of early settlement and shifting perspectives, Hughes said.

“Its journey into the museum’s collection has remained something of a mystery – one that has only recently begun to be better understood,” she said.

Taonga o te Marama/Object of the Month is held on the third Friday of each month.

Launched in February, the series spotlights taonga and objects from the museum’s collections.

Garside said the talks had been popular.

“We’ve each picked an object that we feel really interested in and feel like there’s some hidden histories behind it.”

“We seem to be getting some new people coming to the museum, which is what we’d really like.”

The 15-minute talks allow people to attend during their lunch breaks.

Visitors gather in the museum atrium to hear the featured object’s story before viewing it in the gallery.

Garside’s talk is at 12.15pm on Friday, May 15.

Attendance is free and no booking is required.

Noam Mānuka Lazarus (Ngāti Whātua o Kaipara) is a multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle.