Alexander Horsburgh Turnbull

Alexander Horsburgh Turnbull

Alexander Horsburgh Turnbull (born September 14, 1868 in Wellington , New Zealand , † June 28, 1918 in Wellington ) was a New Zealand merchant, book lover and with over 55,000 copies owner of the largest private library in New Zealand of his time.

Two years after his death, his library became the basis for the Alexander Turnbull Library Collection , which was continuously supplemented and expanded in the following years. The collection resided in Turnbull House on Bowen Street , across from the House of Parliament until 1973 , when it became part of the National Library of New Zealand .

Early years

Alexander Horsburgh Turnbull was born on September 14, 1868 as the sixth child and youngest son of the married couple Alexandrina Horsburgh and her husband Walter Turnbull , a Scottish merchant in Wellington . Turnbull's parents came to New Zealand in 1857. His father opened the company W. & G. Turnbull and Company with a partner , but went back to England with his family in February 1875 and settled in London . After two years of schooling in Wellington and his Primary School time in London, Alexander Turnbull attended Dulwich College from 1881 to 1884 . He began collecting coins at the age of eight, a passion that he would later extend to books.

Time in london

After college , Turnbull worked from 1884 to 1888 in the London office of the family firm Turnbull, Smith & Company , a textile trading company, interrupted by two trips to New Zealand in 1885 and 1886. Shortly before his second trip, Turnbull bought the book " He King Country, or, Explorations in New Zealand: A Narrative of 600 Miles of Travel through Maoriland by James Henry Kerry-Nicholl "(London, 1884). It was to be the first book in his collection.

In May 1888 Turnbull, Smith & Company was sold. Turnbull enjoyed the freedom to travel, participated extensively in London's social life, developed his interest in books and knowledge of literature. His interest in New Zealand and exploring the South Pacific region was great. But Scottish history and English literature also attracted his attention. Most of the topics in his book collection had already been determined in 1891. The London bookseller Bernard Quaritch then estimated the value of his collection at around £ 1,500 .

Time in New Zealand

In 1892 Turnbull went back to New Zealand with his parents and worked in his father's company in Wellington . After the death of his father in 1897, he took over responsibility for the company and entered into a partnership with the Scottish businessman Nicholas Reid . The commercial success allowed him to continue the collection he had begun in London and to expand it considerably.

Turnbull admired the English poet and thinker John Milton , of whom he owned the complete literature and writings. He did not join the colonial society in New Zealand or the nationalism of the 1890s, nevertheless he collected all writings, books and documents relating to New Zealand and thus created the first comprehensive library of the young colony. Above all, he supported the first generation of local scholars, such as Robert McNab , Stephenson Percy Smith , John Macmillan Brown , William Downie Stewart and Herbert W. Williams .

In 1916 he had a specially furnished house built for his collection on Bowen Street in Wellington . The collection remained there after his death until 1973. Due to his poor health, Turnbull sold his company to Wright Stephenson & Co. in 1917 and determined that his collection should go to the New Zealand Crown after his death. He died a year later on June 28, 1918 in Wellington and was buried in Bolton Street Memorial Park in Wellington .

Memberships

Turnbull was elected member of the Linnean Society of London in 1891 , was a member of the Royal Geographical Society , a member of the New Zealand Institute and in 1893 a member of the Polynesian Society . He was also affiliated to the Lyric Club in London, the Wellington Club and the Wellington Chamber of Commerce . From 1899 to 1913 he took on the position of Deputy Honorary Consul for Spain in Wellington .

plant

Turnbull was a passionate sailor for many years. His only literary work is the description of a boat trip through Queen Charlotte Sound on the yacht Iorangi in 1902.

• Account of a cruise in the yacht "Iorangi" to Queen Charlotte Sound, New Zealand . Wellington 1902 (English).

literature

• Alexander Horsburgh Turnbull, 1868-1918, the founder of a great library . In: Railways Department - New Zealand Government (Ed.): The New Zealand Railways Magazine . Volume 12, Issue 11 . Wellington February 1, 1938 (English).
• Guy Hardy Scholefield : Turnbull, Alexander Horsburgh . In: A Dictionary of New Zealand Biography . Volume II . Wellington 1940, p. 96-101 (English).
• Michael Garnstone Hitchings : Turnbull, Alexander Horsburgh . In: Alexander Hare McLintock (Ed.): An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand . Wellington 1966 ( online [accessed December 15, 2015]).

Web links

• JE Traue : Turnbull, Alexander Horsburgh . In: Dictionary of New Zealand Biography . Ministry for Culture & Heritage , accessed July 26, 2012 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Alexander Turnbull Library . National Library of New Zealand , accessed July 26, 2012 .  
2. ↑ Turnbull Housey . Department of Conservation , accessed July 26, 2012 .  
3. ↑ Alexander Horsburgh Turnbull . In: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand . Wellington Provincial District - Volume I . Cyclopedia Company Ltd , Wellington 1897, p.  279 (English).
4. ↑ Turnbull, Alexander Horsburgh . Friends of Bolton Street Memorial Park , archived from the original on February 9, 2013 ; accessed on July 26, 2012 (English). 
5. ↑ ^{a b} J. E. Trust : Turnbull, Alexander Horsburgh . In: Dictionary of New Zealand Biography . Ministry for Culture & Heritage , accessed July 26, 2012 .