Records of the Canterbury Museum Volume 39 2025 

Anne Eddy

ABSTRACT: Sir Julius von Haast (1822 – 1887) is celebrated as an explorer, geologist and museum founder. His enthusiasm for science and his commitment to Canterbury Museum are well documented; however, little is known about his life before he arrived in Aotearoa New Zealand in 1858. When conducting research in German archives for a biography of another historical figure migrating to New Zealand, I came across previously overlooked documents relating to Haast’s family affairs and business ventures in the states of the German Confederation. These newly discovered archival records shed light on the circumstances that led to Haast’s emigration and abandonment of his family in Frankfurt am Main. His first wife, Antonie Johanna Carolina née Schmitt (1825 – 1859) and their son, Mathias Robert Haast (1848 – 1895) are reintroduced into Haast’s life narrative, emerging from obscurity. While the Haast Collection held at the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington represents one of the most comprehensive records of the life and work of a nineteenth century New Zealand scientist, documents preserved in overseas archives are also crucial for an accurate portrayal of Sir Julius von Haast as a complex human being.

Julia Bradshaw

ABSTRACT: Mary, Lady von Haast (1844–1913) was the wife of Sir Julius von Haast, the founder of Canterbury Museum and Canterbury’s first Provincial Geologist. Julius was an energetic man who achieved a great deal, but we know little about his wife Mary, other than that she was married to Julius. Mary Dobson was 19 years old when she married Julius, and the couple were together for 24 years before Haast’s sudden death in 1887. Mary was only 43 years old when she became a widow and by the time of her death in 1913 had spent two thirds of her life not married to Julius von Haast.

Mary was unwell during the early years of her marriage and had at least three miscarriages. After suffering from problems with her mental health after Haast’s death, Mary left New Zealand in 1896 and never returned. In Europe Mary travelled extensively and started a new life. Mary’s eldest son, Heinrich wrote that his mother acted as a companion to a young countess in Europe to supplement her small income but according to probate documents Mary was quite wealthy. Although Mary had a good relationship with her eldest son Heinrich, she was estranged from her second son George and didn’t see two of her other children for 17 years.

George Hook, Simon Nathan and Sascha Nolden

ABSTRACT: In 1861 Julius Haast was appointed Provincial Geologist of Canterbury, requiring him to undertake a geological survey of the whole province, which then included Westland. To meet his obligations, Haast was expected to produce detailed reports and prepare a comprehensive map of Canterbury. The demands of the survey occupied him for the next 7 years, involving many challenging expeditions in the Southern Alps, as he gradually painted the province in the colours of a geological map. This article traces Haast’s progress and the history of different iterations of Haast’s geological map and sections of Canterbury, examining what they reveal about the development of his understanding of the complex geology of the province. After a more detailed consideration of his great Geological Map of the Province of Canterbury and the County of Westland, submitted in 1868 on completion of his contract, the focus shifts to his efforts to have that geological map published in New Zealand and overseas. The commentary then examines how he eventually came to publish an updated but smaller and simplified version of his great map in his magnum opus The Geology of Canterbury and Westland, published over a decade later in 1879. Finally, the historical and contemporary importance and relevance of Haast’s geological surveying and cartography are considered.

Rosanna McCully McEvedy, Anthea McCully and Gary Evans

ABSTRACT: In spring 1926, Hugh McCully identified the former Korotuaheka fishing reserve on the south bank at the Waitaki River mouth as a moa hunter site (Heritage New Zealand site 5680). For 35 years, McCully accompanied many people to the site, including members of the Evans family who shared McCully’s interest in South Canterbury’s regional history. In 1926, McCully was in pursuit of two adzes ploughed up by J B Chapman on his farm near Te Maihāroa’s 1879 settlement, and to his amazement found himself on the margins of a 150–acre moa hunter site. This article presents McCully’s eye-witness descriptions of the site as it was in 1926. The hāpua (barrier lagoon) on the Waitaki River’s north bank, the shingle bank and numerous palaeo-channels are evidence of the geomorphological processes that formed the site. A five-page extract from David Teviotdale’s 1931 diary records some views McCully discussed with Teviotdale. The authors also describe how McCully accompanied Arowhenua Māori to the site in 1936. The final objective is to present observations McCully made on the Māori stone toolkit and provide a small gallery of hitherto unpublished photographs of artefacts which McCully found at Korotuaheka. The authors, who are grandchildren of Hugh McCully and Ben Evans, have written the article to mark the centenary of McCully’s identification of the Waitaki moa hunter site in 1926 and to acknowledge the friendship between Hugh McCully and the Evans family.