Smith, William Walter
Production date
1874-1938
1870-1879
1880-1889
1890-1899
1900-1909
1910-1919
1920-1929
1930-1939
Description
William Walter Smith, horticulturist and amateur naturalist, was born in Scotland in 1852 and came to New Zealand in the 1880s. He was a gardener at Mount Peel in Canterbury for five years and subsequently at Ashburton Domain, Palmerston North, and Pukekura Park, New Plymouth, 1906-1918.
Smith was a member of the Scenery Preservation Commission and served as secretary to the Polynesian Society from 1911 to 1922. He was made a life member of the New Zealand Native Bird Protection Society in 1931.
The collection comprises inwards letters, 1874-1938; diaries, 1925-1929, 1930-1931 and 1934-1936; a scrapbook of newspaper clippings with interleaved manuscript reports of visits to scenic reserves.
Object detail
1870-1879
1880-1889
1890-1899
1900-1909
1910-1919
1920-1929
1930-1939
Box 1
Scrapbook. Appears to have been originally used to report on visits to scenic reserves for the Scenic Preservation Commission 1904-1906 and later as a scrapbook for newspaper cuttings.
Envelope. Miscellaneous notes, receipts, envelopes.
Cloth notice. New Zealand Native Bird Protection Society. (9 items)
1. Diary. 1908.
2. Diary. 1925-1929.
3. Diary. 1930-1931.
4. Diary. 1934-1936.
5. Notebook. 1937-1941.
Transcript and photocopy of diaries. 1923-1926.
Box 2
Correspondence folders.
A. Undated letters and manuscripts: Moa bones and Maori ovens. Recent extinction of the Moa. Migration of eels. Notes on Reserves visited. Ants inhabiting Mount Egmont. Native birds in Taranaki. Ants, aphis and thrips. Naturalization of plants and animals. Domestic fowl and weka hybrids.
B. Letters 1870-Dec. 1920. Includes testimonials written for William Smith.
C. Letters 1921-1922. Includes last will and testament of Mary Smith, Masterton.
D. Letters 1923-1924.
E. Letters 1925-1927.
Box 3
Correspondence folders.
F. Letters 1929- May 1931.
G. Letters June 1931-June 1933.
H. Letters July 1933-July 1934.
I. Letters August 1934-Dec.1943. Includes certificate for Silver Jubilee Medal awarded to W. W. Smith. 6 May 1935.
Box 4
Scientific reprints and annual reports.(47 items)
Folder. Newspaper clippings.
Envelope. Miscellaneous postcards and Christmas cards.
Photographs. (12 items)
9 cloth posters. 'New Zealanders protect your native birds'.
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