Otago Settlers Museum

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Otago Settlers Museum, built in 1908 as Early Settler's Hall

The Otago Settlers Museum , originally called the Otago Early Settlers' Museum , is a regional museum for settlement history and transportation in Dunedin , Otago on the South Island of New Zealand . The museum was renamed Toitū Otago Settlers Museum after its renovation and reopening in November 2012 .

Name meaning

Toitū can be translated in different ways: preserved forever, untouched, kept pure , or ' toi ' for striving, pursuing and ' tū ' held forever . The name was proposed by the panel of experts of the locally based Māori tribe of the Ngāi Tahu and decided by the Dunedin City Council in June 2012.

history

The foundation for the museum was laid with the formation of the Otago Early Settlers' Association in 1898. The museum itself opened on March 23, 1908 and today covers the regional history of the ancient province of Otago, starting with the mapping of the coast by the captain and navigator James Cook in the spring of 1770, through the first European settlement and exploration of Otago between 1810 and 1850 and beyond the gold rush in Otago in 1861, when the city of Dunedin began to flourish, through to the difficulties and challenges of the region in the 20th century.

The history of the museum goes back to the year 1873. Already in March of this year there were first considerations to form an Early Settlers' Association for the 25th anniversary of the founding of the province . This did not happen until April 1898 with the establishment of the Otago Early Settlers' Association , shortly after the 50th anniversary celebration for the founding of the city of Dunedin, which had taken place in March. The aim of this association was to collect all available data about the history of the early settlement of Otago and to save and process it for later remembrance events of the settlers. The association's first president was EB Cargill , son of Captain William Cargill , co-founder of Dunedin. Lachlan Langlands , became the first secretary of the association a year later and through his commitment saved it from collapse.

Otago Settlers Museum, built in 1939 as the NZ Railway Road Services (bus station)

In 1904 a plot of land was purchased for 1,425 New Zealand pounds on Moray Place in Dunedin for the construction of a Settlers' Hall . On March 23, 1908, on the 60th anniversary of the city's founding, the Otago Early Settlers' Hall was officially opened after a six-month construction period. The building, which held various rooms for the Otago Early Settlers' Association , had a museum room, which was opened to the public for the first time on that day. The room, now known as the Smith Gallery , was a memory space of the former first Scottish settlers and was filled with pictures of them.

In 1991 the Otago Early Settlers' Association bought the nearby building of the NZ Railway Road Services (old bus station), which was built in 1939 in the Art Deco style, and from then on used it for the exhibits on the transport sector. In 1994 all buildings including museum pieces and archive data were donated to Dunedin City Council .

The museum today

Today the museum has an exhibition area of ​​around 1670 m 2 and is structured as follows:

  • Across the Ocean Waves - Permanent exhibition that vividly depicts and documents the living situation of the settlers on a sailing ship during the several months' crossing.
  • Kai Tahu - permanent exhibition showing 150 years of European settlement from the Māori perspective and experience.
  • Windows on a Chinese Past - Permanent exhibition depicting the hardship and suffering of the Chinese immigrants and workers in the Otagos gold mines since their first arrival in Dunedin in 1865.
  • Hall of History - Permanent exhibition depicting the life of European settlers in Dunedin and the Otago Province.
  • Smith Gallery - Picture gallery of the "first hour" settlers.
  • Cooke Howlison Gallery - Permanent exhibition that documents Otago's transportation system in the past few days.
  • Josephine - Exhibition of New Zealand's oldest surviving locomotive. Josephine was designed by Robert Fairlie and built in the Vulcan Foundry in Lancashire in 1871/72. She reached Port Chalmers in parts in August 1872 , was assembled there, made her maiden voyage in October 1872 and did her service until 1916.

In September 2008 the museum started a four-stage renovation project (I - new 3,000 m 2 storage area, II - renovation of the building of the old bus station and the archive, III / IV - air-conditioned photo archive, new workplaces for employees and a self-service research area). Following an investment of NZ $ 38.5 million, the museum reopened in November 2012.

Photo gallery

  • Otago Diamond Jubilee Medal dated March 23, 1908. Obverse. After the opening of the Early Settlers Hall at 11.30 a.m., this medal was distributed to the children participating in the anniversary celebration in the afternoon.

  • Otago Diamond Jubilee Medal dated March 23, 1908. Reverse.

literature

  • Gavin McLean: Dunedin . University of Otago Press, Dunedin 2003, ISBN 1-877276-61-8 (English).
  • Otago and Southland Provincial District . In: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand . Volume IV . Cyclopedia Company Ltd , Christchurch 1905 (English).

Web links

Commons : Toitū Otago Settlers Museum  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Debbie Porteous: Otago Settlers Museum to have 'Toitu' tag. Otago Daily Times, June 12, 2012, accessed January 26, 2016 .
  2. ^ Early Settlers' Meeting . In: Otago Witness . Otago Witness, Dunedin March 1, 1873, p.  5 (English).
  3. ^ Otago Early Settlers' Association . In: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand . 1905, p.  372 ( online [accessed February 4, 2011]).
  4. ^ Dunedin - Otago Early Settlers' Association . In: The Cyclopedia of New Zealand . 1905, p.  1104 ( online [accessed February 4, 2011]).
  5. ^ Otago Early Settlers' Association. In: Otago Daily Times, No. 14223, Dunedin May 26, 1908, p. 3. Retrieved March 5, 2015 .
  6. ↑ General View of the Otago Early Settlers' Hall . In: Otago Witness . Issue 2820. Otago Witness, Dunedin April 1, 1908, pp.  46 (English, online [accessed February 4, 2011]).
  7. ↑ General View of the Otago Early Settlers' Hall . In: Otago Witness . Issue 2820. Otago Witness, Dunedin April 1, 1908, pp.  47 (English, online [accessed February 4, 2011]).
  8. ^ John Gibb: Josephine star of redeveloped museum's foyer. Otago Daily Times, November 30, 2012, accessed January 26, 2016 .
  9. ^ Otago Diamond Jubilee Celebration. Sixtieth Anniversary of Otago. In: "Otago Witness" newspaper, No. 2818, March 18, 1908, p. 42. National Library of New Zealand, accessed March 6, 2015 (English).

Coordinates: 45 ° 52 ′ 37.1 ″  S , 170 ° 30 ′ 21 ″  O