Masthead of the Christchurch Press
A partnership between the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa and the New Zealand Government Te Kāwanatanga o Aotearoa, PapersPast is New Zealand’s digitised newspaper repository, and also features magazines, books and official documentation. We are incredibly fortunate that this incredible resource is available to use for free.
It was launched in 2001 and new material is regularly added. We are particularly fortunate here in Christchurch that coverage of The Press goes up to 1995; at the moment the majority of coverage goes up to the 1940s or 50s. The platform works in collaboration with organisations around the country, such as the NZ Defence Force and Christchurch City Libraries, who hold the original materials that get digitised. As you may suspect it is an invaluable tool for researching New Zealand Aotearoa, te ao Māori and a myriad of other subjects.
I have used PapersPast – mainly newspapers – for work and my own research for a number of years. Quite regularly I disappear down a rabbit hole, discovering many fascinating stories. One of the most bizarre was a ‘grotesquely curious lawsuit’ from 1878 involving a Captain Brandon, his quack ‘theologist’ daughter ‘Mrs’ Currie (I can find a marriage notice in a newspaper but no registration to go with it) and the Venerable Archdeacon Dudley. You can read the whole story here, but essentially Mrs Currie advertised her services in a local paper thus:
Mrs Currie, theologist – The revealer of the revelations and mysteries of the Bible, will shortly again repeat the lecture on the “Birth and Death of Christ,” which explains the Holy Trinity. Mrs Currie will also explain how the knowledge was obtained, and also a speechless representation of the mystery of the “Sin of Eve.”
Evening Star, 16 March 1878
Funnily enough the archdeacon wasn’t exactly keen on this lecture and spoke out against it and discouraged young people from attending. Brandon and Currie found out about this, and as only 6 people attended when they had hoped for around 300, they took legal action against Archdeacon Dudley for lost earnings. The article about the lawsuit appeared in a number of newspapers, however I cannot find the verdict being reported on. I suspect the case would have been pretty quickly thrown out.
Poking about further into this family has revealed connections to the 1857 Indian Rebellion, bigamy in Australia, and stays in mental hospital for the father and daughter. Maybe one day I’ll write up the whole bizarre saga but I would never have stumbled on the story without PapersPast. In the past indexers did incredible work to make newspapers accessible, but the serendipity of PapersPast is a whole new level.
Peter Trolove, Christchurch Star, 14 January 1921, page 5
Indeed, I was poking about in the wonderful world of spiritualism when I came across Peter Trolove. In the first few decades of the twentieth century he was a prolific writer of letters to The Press, a devoted spiritualist, and keen golfer. When Arthur Conan Doyle visited Christchurch in the early 1920s Trolove hosted him. Sadly they didn’t played get to play golf together. He also made connections from beyond the grave, such as this Egyptian princess, which he wrote about enthusiastically to the paper.
Sir, I don’t think Tutankhamen will be worrying much about what happens to his mummy, because he seems to have been a decent sort of chap who had the welfare of his people at heart, and he is likely to have progressed very far away from this plane of existence. Very different was the case of an Egyptian princess who came to some of us some years ago. This lady, apart from killing from a few lovers, who used to gouge out slaves’ eyes. This meant centuries of arrested development passed under decidedly unpleasant conditions.
The Press, 19 February 1923, Page 7
As you can see his letters are a treasure trove of unique reactions to events of the day. His thoughts on those Anzacs who didn’t return from Gallipoli are quite singular.
Sir, – all the sentiment about the above [Gallipoli graves] puts me in mind of a story a popular doctor in a northern town used to tell about himself and an old priest. “Well, father, how are you this morning?” was the cheery medical greeting. “Ah, doctor, it is not about my vile old carcase I am thinking about this morning. It is about the welfare of your immortal soul.” Whatever will it matter to the Turks do to the Gallipoli graves? When will people realise that our bodies are merely instruments? Scientists like Oliver Lodge and Sir Clement Wragge, and many others are making very definite pronouncements as to what man is.
The Press, 19 February 1916, Page 2
Would this have been comforting to the bereaved? Certainly, Trolove’s sentiments were well intentioned. Spiritualism and the First World War is a very interesting topic, with Arthur Conan Doyle going there, as did Lord Trenchard, and the topic has also been examined by Pat Barker in several of her novels. If the physical body of the deceased was half a world away, or lost, the idea of getting in touch with something immutable must have been appealing to relatives.
These are just a couple of the rabbit holes I have disappeared down on PapersPast, and the tip of the iceberg of what you can discover. There is so much content! Any aspect of New Zealand culture – the New Zealand Listener is a must, te ao Māori – early newspapers in te reo, Pasifika, international subjects, indigenous cultures, war – there are heaps of Second World War unit magazines on there, music – such as Rip it up magazine, and so much more.
Dive in! You’ll probably find me there finding amusing international trouser stories and seeing how (relatively) low prices were in the 1980s.
Both the Brandon / Currie and Trolove stories appeared in the 2025 Christchurch City Libraries’ exhibition Eccentric Christchurch.
