Calendar 2024

Picton Historical Society Inc.

Our annual fundraising calendar, A4, black and white, using images from our archives of people and places within the Marlborough Sounds over the past 100+ years.

One image per month.

 $20

Murder on the Maungatapu

Wayne Martin

In June 1866 five travellers were murdered on the Maungatapu Track that connects the South Island provinces of Nelson and Marlborough. These crimes and others committed by the Burgess gang were unparalleled in colonial New Zealand for their scale and cold-bloodedness.

Wayne Martin presents a tale of blood and gold, of betrayal and vengeance.

 $45

1941, A Kiwi O.E.

Opaua Publishing

Experience 14 months in the life of a young Kiwi soldier from Blenheim, as it unfolds through his letters home.

 $38

Dumont d'Urville, Explorer & Polymath

Edward Duyker

A substantial biography of explorer Jules-Sebastien-Cesar Dumont d'Urville (1790-1842). Sometimes called France's Captain Cook, d'Urville visited New Zealand three times and contributed widely to scientific, geographic and navigational knowledge in the West.

 $70

The Pressure of Sunlight Falling

Ed. Baker & Rankin

Fiona Pardington's extraordinary images of more than 50 life head casts made by phrenologist Pierre-Marie Mumoutier for Dumont D'Urville on his travels through the Pacific from 1837 to 1840. Includes images of Maori, Pacific and European casts.

 $80

Whales and Dolphins of Aotearoa New Zealand

Barbara Todd

Enter the underwater world of whales and dolphins and discover these magnificent marine mammals through extraordinary pictures, powerful storytelling and scientific research.

$45

Te Puna Waiora

Christchurch Art Gallery

The weavers of Te Kahui Whiritoi are the senior Maori weavers of Aotearoa New Zealand. Here, their works and stories reveal the complexity and beauty of raranga, placing te whare pora, the house of weaving, at the centre of Maori life.

$60

The Naturalist

Thom Conroy

A fascinating, moving novel based on the real life of Dr Ernst Dieffenbach: scientist, explorer, revolutionary and outcast.

Featuring Darwin, Charles Heaphy and Te Rauparaha, "The Naturalist" connects New Zealand's past with world history and brings alive the story of this remarkable man.

$38

A Finger in so Many Pies

Pat Akerblom

A collection of the Mills family history and much information about the life and times of Charles Houghton Mills.

 $45

Captain John William Dundas Blenkinsop

Pat Akerblom

This book offers a view of who Captain Blenkinsop was, how he fits into the story of the settlement of Blenheim and the Marlborough Plains by colonial settlers, and his life and death. Excerpts of contemporary writing of the man and his exploits are used to explain his life in New Zealand.

$28

Tramping Boots on our Doorstep

Pat Akerblom

Pat's story of the more recent history of the Akerblom family at Endeavour Inlet, and their part in the the development of the Queen Charlotte Track and accommodation for trampers.

 $30

Voices from the New Zealand Wars

Vincent O'Malley

The New Zealand Wars of the mid-nineteenth century profoundly shaped the course and direction of New Zealand's history.

This book takes us to the heart of these conflicts with a series of first-hand accounts from Maori and Pakeha who either fought in or witnessed the wars that ravaged New Zealand from 1845 to 1872.

 $50

Women Mean Business

Catherine Bishop

New Zealand's nineteenth century towns were full of entrepreneurial women. Then, as now, there were no 'typical' businesswomen. They were middle and working class; young and old; Maori and Pakeha; single, married, widowed and sometimes bigamists.

This fascinating book showcasees many individual businesswomen whose efforts, collectively, contributed to the making of urban life in New Zealand.

 $45

The Lighthouse Children's Mother

Jeanette Aplin

Sequel to The Lighthouse Keeper's Wife, has moved south from rugged Stephens Island to remote Dog Island.

 Clearance $20

The Price of Bacon

Jeanette Aplin

Jeanette Aplin and husband Pip have built a small home on the sparsely populated D'Urville Island. Most of the time on her own, she comes to form a special relationship with kunekune pigs.

Clearance $20

The Price of Vigilance

Kerry Neal & Nola Leov

An interesting book detailing the reasons for, and the building of the gun emplacements throughout the Marlborough Sounds during WWII.

$45

Angelina

Gerard Hindmarsh

in 1906, at just 16 years of age, Angelina Moleta left the tiny volcanic island of Stromboli in the Aoelian islands south of Italy, to travel to an even more remote island on the other side of the world - D'Urville Island, in the Marlborough Sound.

Written by one of Angelina's grandchildren, this is a facinating history of love, triumph and perseverance in a new world.

$45

 One Hundred Havens

Helen Beaglehole

History has played out in complex ways in the bays, coves and steep rising hills of the Marlborough Sounds- Maori and Pakeha, land and sea, boom and bust, locals and tourists.

This book brings together the various strands of Sounds history in a wide-ranging, engrossing and richly illustrated account of the place and its people. 

$60

The Wairau and its Forgotten Capital

Barry Holdaway

A detail of the "capital" comprising of hotels, wool stores and wharf structures formed along the Wairau River in Marlborough, which eventually declined and is unknown of today.

 $40

As High as the Hills

Henry D. Kelly

This centennial history of Picton explores the first Maori inhabitants, the presence of Captain Cook and the early whalers. First published in 1976, this book has some gems but comes with a 14 page list of corrections compiled over the last 40+ years.

 Clearance $5

Impressions

Edited by Julie Kennedy

Anthology created by Picton Poets. From free verse to rhyming, haiku to ballad. Poems from eleven different local poets.

 Clearance $10

Katherine Mansfield in Picton

Julie Kennedy

Katherine Mansfield left New Zealand at 19 to become a writer. This book quotes extensively from Mansfield and her relatives, and traces the links she and her family had with the Sounds.

 Clearance $25

Ngakuta Bay

Tom Kennedy

The first of the set of three handbooks detailing the history of Ngakuta Bay.

 $25

Ngakuta Bay 2

Tom Kennedy

Sequel to Ngakuta Bay, with further history of the the Bay.

$30

Ngakuta Bay 3

Tom Kennedy

The last of the set of three handbooks detailing the history of Ngakuta Bay.

 $30

Moa

Quinn Berentson

An important book that richly recounts the life and death of New Zealand's feathered monster, the Moa.  

 $60

Beneath the Southern Cross

Graeme Sturgeon

A novel recounting the life of a young whaler captured by Maori in the early 1800's, the story of a man trapped between two cultures.

 $35

Splashdown

Russell Smith

One of the original seaplane pilots in the Marlborough Sounds, Russell writes stories of incredible happenings, some adventurous, many humorous, and some just plain harrowing, during the early years of Float Air in the nineteen seventies and eighties.

 $25

Cockle Cove

Lorna Manson

Lorna tells the story of Cockle Cove of the Bay of Many Coves in the Marlborough Sounds. The book details the unique setting and life of of the Manson family.

 Clearance $20

Beyond Dashwood

Rob Merrifield

A history of building and operating the Main North Line from Picton to Kaikoura.

 $18

 Diary from the Lookout

Carol Dawber and Nadine Bett

This book is the story of how former Tory Channel whalers swapped their harpoons for dart guns and cameras to identify and record whales on their migration journey, every winter from 2004 to 2015.

$50

The Sea was our Boundary

R.J. Paterson

The Titirangi/Waitui Story of the Patersons 1929-1977.

 $70

Those Shipwreck Kids

Jon Tucker

When a Tasmanian sailing family anchors near an old wrecked hulk in the Marlborough Sounds, the kids discover a strangely abandoned campsite nearby.

A thought-provoking Ransome-inspired tale with strong appeal to adventure-loving readers (9-90 years). Ficton.

$23

Mauri Ora

Peter Alsop & Te Rau Kupenga

Wisdom from the Maori World.

Illustrated throughout with wonderful photographs from and old world, this book draws on traditional wisdom to provide a recipe for personal effectiveness and leadership, and a reqarding connection of Maori knowledge to contemporary thinking about personal happiness and fulfilment.

$40

Pakeha Settlements in a Maori World

Ian Smith

Archaeologist Ian Smith takes us through a journey of discovery, using found materials to explore the history of European settlement in Aotearoa New Zealand.

$60

The Ngai Tahu Deeds

Harry C. Evison

In this revised edition, Harry Evison re-examines New Zealand colonial history in the light of a number of original documents, particularly the ten Ngai Tahu deeds by which the Crown acquired Maori title to the southern half of New Zealand from 1844 to 1864.

$50

Te Motunui Epa

Rachel Buchanan

This stunning book examines how five interconnected carved panels, Te Motunui Epa, have journeyed across the world and changed practices, understanding and international law on the protection and repatriation of stolen cultural treasures.

$50

Whaling and Sealing in Southern New Zealand

Lloyd Esler

Two great industries, whaling and sealing, had a significant place in the history of Southern New Zealand.  This book draws information from many sources to tell that story, as well as touching on the conservation and biology of whales and seals, and looking at evidence for the existence of a New Zealand otter.

$30

The First Pakehas Around Wellington and Cook Strait

Rhys Richards

Before 1839, sealers, whalers and traders were around Cook Strait and Port Nicholson . Rhys Richards argues that despite being a motley lot, they should no longer be denied their rightful places as Wellington's first pioneers.

$42

Finding a way to Live

Compiled by Hoki Perano

A collection of photographs and historical information brought together by the ex-whalers of the Tory Channel Whaling Enterprise.

$70 Softback / $115 Hardback

 Marlborough Whalers at Campbell Island 1909-1916

Recollections of J. Timms; edited by N. Judd

Joe Timms was brought up at Te Awaiti whaling station in the Marlborough Sounds, starting his whaling career there, aged 15, hunting whales in open boats powered by oars.  Four years later, the Te Awaiti gang looked to extend their operations to the sub-Antarctic Campbell Island, where Joe was based from 1912 to 1916.

A fascinating and valuable historical record, based on 18 months of recorded oral history conducted in the late 1970's.

$20

 Field Guide to New Zealand's Native Trees

John Dawson & Rob Lucas

This comprehensive guide contains detailed information and images for the identification of all native trees found on the main islands of New Zealand, including Raikiura/Stewart Island and the Chathams.

A must have for the botanical and native tree lover! 

$50

 He ringatoi o nga tupuna - Isaac Coates and his Maori portraits

Hilary and John Mitchell

Isaac Coates was an Englishman living in Wellington and Nelson between 1841 and 1845.  During this time he painted watercolour portraits of 58 Maori, recording not only their images but biographical details and whakapapa.

The biographies of Isaac Coates and the Maori subjects he painted provide fascinating insights into both Maori and immigrant experiences in the Cook Strait - Nelson districts during the earliest days of colonisation.

$80

 Voices of World War II

Renee Hollis

Voices of World War II provides a snapshot of how life was lived by New Zealanders during the war.  It shows the human side of war through dozens of first-hand memories, stories and reflections on wartime in New Zealand and overseas.

Full of images, and easy and intriguing read.

$45

Driven by the Wind

Karen Stade

The Memoir of Captain Henry Rose, who went to sea at 14-years-old and rose to command some of the fastest clipper ships in the world.

 $50

Cook's Ark

Alison Sutherland

A fascinating account of the animals that sailed with Captain James Cook to the South Pacific, with particular reference to New Zealand.

 $48

Tales From Kenepuru

Helen Godsiff

Fragments of history from Kenepuru of the Marlborough Sounds.

$45

Just Ordinary Seamen

Ted Tangye

An account of wartime travel which begins with a party of twenty-four Ordinary Seamen, which eventuates to a lucky thirteen.

 $10

Passion

Marion Day

A series of photo essays drawing on the author's life at Clova Bay in the Marlborough Sounds.

Full of recipes, stories, a short local history and fabulous images, 'Passion' has been designed to dip in and out of, while relaxing with a coffee or a glass of wine.

 Clearance $30

The History of Waikawa School

Mike Taylor

A detailed description of the history of Waikawa School of the Queen Charlotte Sound.

 $40

Laughter in the Sky

K.E.Wilkey

A collection of 60 short stories written by Wilkey the Chief Flying Instructor at the Marlborough Aero Club.

$40

Whaler by Providence

Don Wilson

This book details Patrick Norton's life during the the seven-month voyage of the convict ship Providence from Cove of Cork to Sydney Harbour.

$50