The Collector: Thomas Cheeseman and the making of the Auckland by Andrew McKay and Richard Wolfe

The Collector is a rich and detailed account of Thomas Cheeseman’s life and legacy, from a curious young immigrant to one of New Zealand’s most influential botanists and museum curators. Auckland authors McKay and Wolfe describe Cheeseman’s pivotal role in shaping the development and identity of Auckland Museum. They draw on McKay’s doctoral research on Cheeseman and Wolfe’s experience as a cultural historian, author and curator.

Born in England and emigrating to New Zealand with his family at age eight, Cheeseman’s early fascination with plants and nature led to a lifelong pursuit of knowledge. He developed strong relationships with scientists, collectors, and dealers worldwide, allowing him to share and exchange exhibits with museums and other similar institutions in Aotearoa New Zealand as well as overseas. Cheeseman’s skills and commitment were recognised when he was appointed as curator of Auckland Museum in 1874. At various times, he was also a government meteorologist, the secretary and treasurer of the Auckland Institute, a lecturer, editor and author – and a horse-riding commuter.

Despite limited formal education, Cheeseman gained respect internationally for the breadth and depth of his knowledge. He was an avid reader who carried out extensive fieldwork and kept thorough records of the specimens he found. As a young man he sold dried plants and harakeke to bring in additional income while he built up his herbarium. He corresponded with Charles Darwin and other notable experts, exchanging plant specimens in an era free from today’s biosecurity constraints.

The Collector chronicles the turbulent early years of Auckland Museum – its lack of space, frequent moves from one location to another, fluctuating staffing levels, and financial woes. Despite revenue from bequests, public donations, and government grants, the museum regularly struggled for funding.

…there was now another shortage of funds, and the only means of financing purchases and developments was by ‘sending round the hat’.

Despite these challenges, the museum grew to serve many purposes. Over time, it was also an art school, gallery, and a venue for public lectures on many different topics. It’s remarkable how much McKay and Wolfe have uncovered and documented about the museum’s evolution. Credit is also due to the former museum administrators and management who kept detailed handwritten minutes and records, some of which appear in the book.

From grave-robbing ornithologists to fake Captain Cook relics, The Collector doesn’t shy away from the more troubling aspects of Auckland Museum’s past. Cheeseman was passionate about science, yet like others of that era he prioritised acquisition over collaboration. It’s fitting that McKay and Wolfe address the ethical complexities of museum collecting practices. They critically explore how museums acquired taonga, sometimes through questionable means.

This was an era when ambitious and competitive New Zealand – and international – museum directors were hell-bent on acquiring as many taonga from Indigenous peoples as they could for their new museums.

Records show that Cheeseman worked alongside Māori when collecting some items and materials, engaged with carvers and weavers, and saw it as the museum’s duty to keep taonga Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand. However, McKay and Wolfe also observe that Cheeseman ‘ignored or overrode Māori attitudes towards death, tapu, and other sensitive elements of tikanga’ when acquiring certain taonga, and carried out only limited consultation with Māori.

There is no evidence that Cheeseman consulted iwi [on taonga Māori exhibits in the Māori Hall]. It was a collection of its time: curated and explained by the collector, with no participation by the original makers.

McKay and Wolfe acknowledge that the growth of a Māori collection when the museum was located at Princes St was due to Cheeseman’s efforts, although they note that some of his methods are now considered to be culturally and socially unacceptable. Auckland Museum is now committed to working closely with Māori and Pacific peoples to ‘determine how their cultural heritage should be preserved and also how it is interpreted and presented to the public’.

It’s interesting to learn how other museum practices also changed over time, from both a cultural as well as a practical perspective. Early exhibitions, for example, often displayed unrelated objects side-by-side, as space was at a premium. One 1885 photo in The Collector shows what McKay and Wolfe tactfully describe as ‘the dense arrangement of exhibits’. The pātaka Te Oha is surrounded by natural history display cabinets, under the watchful eyes of classical statues, and beneath what appears to be a set of mounted antlers. Cheeseman eventually adopted a ‘more selective approach’, moving away from mass displays. Museums continue to rotate and space out exhibits, recognising that too many objects can overwhelm visitors and diminish the impact of particular items.

The images are a key strength of The Collector and include archival sketches, artworks, photographs, letters, maps, book plates, and architectural drawings. Of all the depictions of Cheeseman in the book, my favourite is the striking 2007 portrait by local artist Hamish Foote. The Collector’s arresting cover image is adapted from a display of flightless ratite birds, including a moa skeleton, developed for Auckland Museum around 1913. The book also includes excerpts from Cheeseman’s acclaimed two-volume Illustrations of the New Zealand Flora, published in 1915.

A detailed bibliography includes references for books, research papers and theses, reports, newspapers, and online sources.

The Collector will interest anyone who is curious about science, history, and cultural heritage in Aotearoa New Zealand, particularly people working in the Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums (GLAM) sector, and the many people who visit Auckland Museum each year.

Reviewer: Anne Kerslake Hendricks

Massey University Press