Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira houses and cares for a collection of approximately 50,000 Sparrow Industrial Pictures negatives. Donated to the Museum in 1982 by Commercial Photographers Ltd, these negatives depict images taken, predominantly in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, from 1945 to 1966.

The Royal New Zealand Fencible Corps is often viewed as a blip in the history of New Zealand. The initiative, created in response to Governor George Grey’s call for more troops, was active for about ten years, from 1847-58. In this article we learn more about the experiences of one fencible Doctor John Thomas Watson Bacot.

In the depths of the wet collection in the entomology department at Tāmaki Paenga Hira, a termite collection was recently rediscovered that had been given to the museum by John Mackgill Kelsey in March 1975. These have recently been catalogued by our IDEA project team.

“Those who are acquainted with the working of the Museum are aware that it has arrived at a stage in its history when the growth of its collections has altogether overtaken the existing accommodation ... one conclusion remains:- to erect a new Museum for Auckland, planned on such a scale, and equipped in such a manner, that it may adequately serve for the recreation, instruction and intellectual advancement of the people of Auckland.”

The palaeontology collection at Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum is home to approximately 23,000 fossil specimens from Aotearoa and abroad. This includes the bones of ancient sea monsters, ammonites the size of tractor tires, and tiny foraminifera no bigger than a grain of sand.