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Item Littledene’s Dominion : re-imagining Crawford and Gwen Somerset’s Oxford experiment : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History, Massey University, New Zealand(Massey University, 2025) Brown, Julie VoilaCrawford Somerset’s attractively written Littledene emerged from a distinct social experiment in rural community education during the interwar years. An early study of its kind in New Zealand, the location in Oxford, North Canterbury, remained undisclosed at the time, hence the pseudonym Littledene. Crawford’s overall interpretation of the Oxford community is illuminated within his intellectual network which included his wife and educational collaborator Gwendolen Alley, academic supervisor James Shelley, and research associate Clarence Beeby. Influenced by ongoing debates in education and its place in social development, the group shared similar aspirations for education reform. As teachers at Oxford School Crawford and Gwen illustrated a sense of social dislocation from urban New Zealand and its greater society. Perceiving the Oxford farming community as detached from intellectual and cultural life, they creatively experimented with new ideas in community education. The Oxford experiment included an environmental approach shaped by the respective value Crawford and Gwen placed on fostering a sense of belonging within the Canterbury landscape. As a sophisticated blueprint demonstrating their ideas for wider social change, Littledene appears as a symbolic portrayal of the Oxford community. This thesis will demonstrate how far the Somerset’s projection of Oxford was influenced by a palimpsest of ideas introduced to them via the movement of intellectuals between Europe and the Dominion during the early twentieth century. Alongside archival sources, this critique draws on autobiographical material from Victoria University and audio-visual material from Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision archive. The sources offer an understanding of the local and international forces that shaped Crawford and Gwen’s intellectual histories from childhood. Importantly, the sources provide a vista of the intellectual culture that informed the Oxford experiment as the product of a rich intellectual history within the context of interwar studies in New Zealand.Item The Albertlanders : the making and remaking of a New Zealand provincial immigration scheme : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History at Massey University, New Zealand(Massey University, 2025-09-26) Wheeler, ReadThis thesis examines immigrants who joined the Albertland Special Settlement Scheme, which was established in 1861 by the Auckland Provincial Government to bring a group of Christian non-conformists from Britain to the Kaipara. The scheme was one of several special settlements which provided the opportunity for religious or ethnic settlements to be established in New Zealand. They were an attempt by the provincial governments to boost migration to the colony and to settle outlying areas. Some of these have been previously studied, such as the Scottish settlement at Waipū and the Bohemian settlement at Pūhoi. These studies have focused on the correspondence and journals of the migrants to build a sense of these settlements and how their traditions changed or were abandoned. Other community research involved large demographic studies with observation focused on the development of the townships rather than the lives of those who stayed there. This study also focuses on the lives and experiences of the migrants, but it augments archival records with new digitally available resources, such as genealogical websites, to explore the long histories of these immigrants’ lives from their place of origin, until 1962, when descendants of the settlers assembled to celebrate a century since their arrival. The advent of the internet and the widespread digitisation of archives and secondary sources has provided unprecedented access to new primary sources and better ways of accessing and managing existing sources. This thesis draws on these new methodologies. The Albertland settlement has been assessed by general histories and dedicated works as a failure. This thesis argues while the northern Kaipara did not attract or retain the vast majority of the Albertland migrants, those who did settle were able to recreate something of the non-conformist communities they hoped for, despite the limitations of geography, poor agricultural potential and isolation. This was a major achievement. A good proportion of migrants who never even went to Albertland, or who stayed but briefly, also did well in the new colony through business ventures and community standing. The thesis explores several phases of the scheme’s history. The first stage, the making of the Albertland scheme, occurred though the joining of like-minded individuals prior to departure. In the second phase, the migrants faced the challenges of the voyage out and the dramatic difference between what was expected and the isolated, surveyed and difficult country they found on their arrival. Many chose not to go on. The hope of establishing a non conformist community, the joining together of those with different religious beliefs, was shattered by the dispersal and fracturing of the scheme into separate communities, isolated from each other. Those remaining in or shifting to Auckland often did very well. Three thousand prospective settlers registered for the Albertland scheme, just over 2,500 of these voyaged to New Zealand. The Albertlanders came from more diverse backgrounds than previously thought and yet they began forming communal bonds as soon as their voyages to New Zealand began. However, from this group only 300 journeyed to the settlement and after five years only 150 remained. This represents only five percent of the prospective settlers. Nonetheless, strong non-conformist foundations were maintained, and community feeling was strengthened, not weakened, through responses to challenges such as land speculation, crime, and civil administration. Around 2,000 of the settlers remained in Auckland and influenced the development of the city and some even the colony. However, while separated from their compatriots on the Kaipara they were still referred to as the Auckland Albertlanders. Those who stayed on the Kaipara and those who remained in Auckland reunified the scheme in nostalgia, forging in memory the cohesion and stability that saw the settlers and their descendants maintain a common identity through anniversary celebrations and remembrances. Success had different meanings throughout Albertland’s history. For the founders of the scheme, success was the establishment of a large, independent, non-conformist settlement with a centralised leadership. For the original settlers, success meant remaining on the land and establishing a functional community. Those who left Albertland for elsewhere or had remained in Auckland found success meant establishing businesses and engraining themselves into the already established communities they moved to. The descendants of the Albertlanders found success in regaining a connection and reclaiming the vision of the founders, tempered through the hardship of those who settled on the land. Ignoring the extent to which the community had been dispersed across the Kaipara, and throughout the country.Item 'Te rua o te taniwha' : pākehā settlement of the Ruataniwha plains : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History at Massey University, New Zealand(Massey University, 2025) Gordon, Laurence JamesHistorians have generally characterised the Pākehā settlement of Hawke’s Bay as a socially stratified frontier where men of capital controlled both the rural and fledgling urban spaces. A space where owners of extensive pastoral runs taken up in the late 1850s and early 1860s dominated, both politically and socially. Development of rural communities and settlements has also been characterised as being male dominated, due to both the nature of the rural labour force and to the paternalistic hand of wealthy runholders. Based on a database of 769 individuals and utilising archival research, including contemporary newspapers and genealogical sources, this thesis investigates the ‘settler world’ on the Ruataniwha Plains. After the initial sale of land, Māori continued to engage with settlers and government seeking to advance the interests of hapū, fighting alongside government forces during the New Zealand Wars. Pākehā settling on the plains arrived with their own cultural and economic agenda and lived largely separate lives from their Māori neighbours. Government regionally and nationally, prioritised immigration and distributed land to cement control of the lower North Island. Farmers, labourers, businesspeople, men and women then established themselves and their families in an isolated rural environment. Initially, social supports were fragile, and some individuals fell through the cracks. In this context, families became the key social unit and are the research focus of this study. Family relationships could also be fragile. Relationship and health problems left women particularly vulnerable. Tracing the lives of women both within and outside the context of the family unit is a further focus of inquiry for this thesis. Community life on the plains was fluid, dynamic and complex. The ‘settler’ community allowed for an openness, particularly in relation to status, compared to the standard social pattern of the age, where relationships and conventions were more fixed. ‘Settler’ society was often profoundly unsettled, giving greater room for ‘ordinary’ immigrants to have an impact in community life that was larger than their status would imply. Community life was rich, varied and not always polite and comfortable. This study seeks to determine how ‘ordinary’ individuals and families found ways, within the dynamism of the local context, to build social links and develop community institutions.Item From Meteren to captivity and beyond, surrender and imprisonment of 2 New Zealand entrenching battalion during the First World War : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in History at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand. EMBARGOED until 28th March 2027(Massey University, 2025) Redpath, Andrew StuartMany Historians have written extensively about the key campaigns involving soldiers of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. Names such as Passchendaele, Gallipoli and Le Quesnoy have made an indelible importance in the mythic narrative of what is now known as the Anzac spirit. This is a term that has given rise to the notion of comradeship, bravery in the face of adversity and a never-give-in attitude. Historians, however, have largely remained silent on the 210 prisoners of war taken following the Battle of Meteren that took place during the German Spring Offensive of 1918. While Meteren may not meet the criteria of a decisive or strategically significant battle like some of the major engagements of the First World War. It represents a unique piece of New Zealand’s military history. It marked the largest single surrender of New Zealand troops during the war These men due to varying factors, were forced to surrender their position and enter the German Prisoner of War system. This thesis seeks to tell their stories, as members of 2nd New Zealand Entrenching Battalion, before, during and after captivity. It will theorise as to why they are not remembered as well as their comrades in arms.Item The Carnegie factor : American philanthropic power in New Zealand (1928-1941) : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master's in Arts in History at Massey University, Te Kunenga Ki Pūrehuroa, New Zealand. EMBARGOED until 25th February 2027(Massey University, 2025) Latham, Ian RossIn 1928, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the philanthropic institution established by the U.S. billionaire industrialist Andrew Carnegie, sent an emissary to New Zealand to explore opportunities to expand his philanthropy in education and learning. The former head of Columbia Teachers College in New York, Dean James E. Russell, reported to Frederick Paul Keppel, the Carnegie president, that New Zealand’s university colleges were under developed, under-supported, and struggled to provide positive learning environments for undergraduate students. Following these discoveries, Carnegie invested almost $5 50,000 (approximately $1 8.3 million in New Zealand dollars today) in educational research, library development, and travel to the United States for promising New Zealand professionals and academics. But the grants were not scholarships or endowments. With insights provided by trusted advisors, Keppel developed his initiatives entirely in New York. To implement them in New Zealand, he worked with university leaders, administrators, librarians, government officials, and other contacts. If New Zealanders agreed to the conditions and mandates that Carnegie imposed, funding likely would be provided. This expression of philanthropic power, carefully controlled by Carnegie, was welcomed in New Zealand: philanthropy of this kind – and on this scale – had not been experienced before, and it arrived unexpectedly at a difficult time in New Zealand’s history, made worse by the Depression. But while officials welcomed Carnegie’s interventions and much-needed funds, they did not do so unconditionally, pointedly resisting conditions they could not accept, or meet. Nonetheless, Carnegie created change that persists in New Zealand today. This study of that history was developed through primary source, archival records in New York and New Zealand, which documented the relationships that Keppel and his colleagues established with New Zealand’s educational, library, and governmental leaders.Item Forgotten aviators : the journey, experiences and contributions of Māori airmen to 75 (NZ) Squadron during the Second World War : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (History), College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Massey University. EMBARGOED until 11th July 2026(Massey University, 2025) Harvey, TaineThis thesis examines the journeys, experiences and contributions of a group of 29 Māori airmen who flew in various capacities with 75 (NZ) Squadron. It first explores Māori enlistment in the military prior to the Second World War. It looks at the early Māori pioneers in aviation and how they paved the way for Māori airmen joining at the beginning of the Second World War. It argues that the Māori War Effort Organisation played a critical role in Māori recruitment at the dawn of the Second World War, but much of the focus lay in recruiting men into the 28th (Māori) Battalion. While the ranks of the battalion began to fill, a small group of Māori men chose to begin the long journey towards joining the Royal New Zealand Air Force. This thesis follows their experiences at various training schools in Canada and New Zealand, where they became skilled in their respective trades. After training, the airmen moved to the United Kingdom to begin preparations for joining an operational squadron. These men would join 75 (NZ) Squadron at various times throughout the Second World War. This thesis details their operational sorties with the squadron and their experiences while on base. It explores the broader picture of the European theatre. It will also examine their post-war lives and reintegration into civilian life and argues that policies concerning returned servicemen were applied unevenly and did not honour the contributions of these Māori airmen.Item A history of the development of table tennis (ping pong) in New Zealand c. 1890 – 1939 : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History, Massey University, New Zealand. EMBARGOED until 12th February 2027.(Massey University, 2024) Ngo, Song Ze (Amos)This thesis is a study of the history of table tennis (ping pong) in New Zealand from c. 1890 to 1939. Table tennis has a long history in New Zealand and was one of many sports that thrived and established an enduring foothold in the country’s sporting world during the interwar period. Its history, however, has not been extensively recorded. Moreover, scholarly literature on the history of table tennis remains scarce. The period between c. 1890 and 1939 saw table tennis become a popular sport at both recreational and competitive level. This thesis investigates what factors helped and what factors hindered the development of table tennis in New Zealand. In doing so, it also provides insights into the place of so-called “minor sports” in New Zealand’s sporting history. Through a detailed examination of local newspapers and periodicals, this thesis examines the different perceptions of table tennis within society. Beyond its characterisation as a sport, this research explores other interpretations and expressions of table tennis, particularly its uptake as a social and recreational activity within New Zealand society. Through investigating recreational forms of participation and engagement with table tennis, this thesis identifies constituencies sometimes overlooked in the current historiography of sport in New Zealand. In doing so, it provides a more complete picture of New Zealanders’ relationship with sport and sporting activities.Item Coal miners and farmers : a social history of the Te Akatea rural farming settlement and its ‘Scots’ mining village of Glen Massey, 1900-1945 : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in History, Massey University, Manawatu, New Zealand(Massey University, 2024) Stone, DouglasThis thesis examines the early 20th century development of Glen Massey within the late 19th century settlement of Te Akatea The more financially secure settlers in the isolated and topologically challenging settlement of Te Akatea, west of Ngāruawāhia were farmer entrepreneurs who viewed themselves as a leading ‘class’ by virtue of their imperial military service and the amount of land they had accrued and cleared. They not only sought to exploit the coal resources on their land, but were significant movers in the creation of commercial entities and infrastructure to do so. These efforts led to the opening of the Waipā mine and its private railway to Ngāruawāhia and the construction of the mining village of Glen Massey and an influx of mining immigrants, predominantly highly unionized Northern English in 1914. On the face of it, these immigrants represented a direct threat to the conservative social values that had hitherto obtained in Te Akatea, although in fact, miners shared the farmer ethos of ‘getting on’ by dint of hard work. The new village was effectively run by a loose cabal of company, union and church laymen. The coincidence of the start of the village and the outbreak of World War One induced issues around conscription and sedition which also incidentally flagged the ongoing issue of how media controlled the narrative of Glen Massey’s story at various stages. The construction of sport and leisure facilities and subsequent participation manifests both traditional mining, farming and gender cultures and some seminal indications of cultural shift. There were struggles for the provision of adequate housing, health and secondary education in the context of both a steadily declining mine output, shorter hours and lower wages towards the end of the 1920s. The Wilton Mine, which opened after the closure of the Waipā mine, did not really live up to employment and wage-paying expectations for the next decade. In the context of falling demand and reduced hours caused by the Depression, Glen Massey was torn by contending forces of the broader national agenda of the mining union agenda and local imperatives, particularly around home ownership. They finally opted for the latter, which entailed an enormous cost in terms of wider mining bonds. This had a complementary, if not causative disintegrating impact on the activity of the Church congregations, in particular the Methodist Church. Local economic hardship provided an opportunity for the farming community to reassert a degree of control after fifteen years of relative insularity through various, ostensibly unrelated events: a School Committee coup; discontinuance of the highly successful school Soccer team in favour of Rugby Union and a serious attempt to establish an adult Rugby Union team. Strategic withdrawal into an ‘invented past’ with Glen Massey being retroactively constructed as a ‘Scots Village’ was one avenue explored to counter the perceived threat to traditional social patterns. The breaking of the traditional ‘ties that bind’ also stimulated a search for alternative agents of social change within the community as a whole. However, there is evidence that for at least a significant segment of the farming community, local society continued to be constructed around a ‘class’ mindset which posited themselves at the apex and miners at the base.Item "What is it we are going to remember?”: comparing New Zealand's centennial narratives of World War One : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2024) McLean, Jessica AnneThe centenary of World War One (WWI) was a significant cultural event in New Zealand. During the period 2014-2019, a great deal of material was produced that aimed to ‘remember’ the war and the New Zealanders who were involved. The centenary of the landing at Gallipoli in April 2015 was by far the most dominant event of the period, and with it came familiar national and cultural identity narratives about the Anzac diggers and the birth of modern New Zealand. This thesis interrogates these and other narratives of the commemorations and assesses whether mythic cultural understandings of WWI were challenged by the centennial historiographies, or whether the period reinforced established beliefs about New Zealand’s war experience. Five narrative themes are investigated: the New Zealand soldier, mateship and relationships, depictions of suffering and sacrifice, the creation of personal connections, and the depictions of Māori and women. This thesis examines these themes across two bodies of material: the ‘print histories’ and the ‘non-poppy material’.Item The politics of contemporary collecting in Aotearoa New Zealand : examining shifts in museum policies and practices from the 1981 Springbok tour to COVID-19 : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Museum Studies at Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa Massey University, Te Papa-i-Oea Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2024) Claasen, April Charlotte JaneMuseums are more than repositories of material culture; they are active participants in shaping collective memory and negotiating societal norms. This thesis examines the evolving collecting practices of New Zealand museums during two pivotal national events: the 1981 Springbok Tour and the COVID-19 pandemic. Through these case studies, it explores how museums navigate power dynamics, ethical challenges, and community expectations in their curatorial decisions. Drawing on Bourdieu’s concepts of cultural capital and habitus, and Foucault’s theories of power, governmentality, and surveillance, this research interrogates the tensions between institutional authority and community engagement. The analysis traces a shift from reactive approaches during the Springbok Tour, shaped by dominant political pressures, to the proactive, community-focused collecting strategies employed during the COVID-19 pandemic. This shift highlights an ongoing negotiation between preserving institutional priorities and representing diverse societal voices. Using a mixed-methods approach—including interviews, archival research, and survey data— this thesis argues that curatorial decisions are never neutral but are shaped by institutional frameworks and the politics of memory. It advocates for reflexive and collaborative collecting practices that decentralise dominant narratives, fostering inclusivity and equity in documenting Aotearoa’s histories. Ultimately, this study situates museum collecting within the broader dynamics of power, responsibility, and ethics, offering insights into how museums can engage meaningfully with their communities while responding to the complexities of contemporary society.
