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To celebrate International Archives Day, we asked a representative from each of our 4 regional offices to explain their role & select their favourite record. You can see the selections on our Flickr account and check our Twitter account for further International Archives Day celebrations.

My name is Katherine Doig, and for the past five years I have been an Archivist at Archives New Zealand’s Christchurch Regional Office. Archivists have a fantastic job - we research, write about, care for, and provide access to a wealth of documentary material, helping all sorts of people to connect with their stories - and indulging our passion for historical research on the side!

I am constantly blown away by the treasures that we unearth here from week to week, so choosing one ‘favourite’ archive from our collection is nigh-on impossible. With that in mind, I’ve chosen two, which nicely illustrate just how diverse and compelling the voices and stories within an archive can be.

The first of these is a simple but deeply poignant letter from Joseph Lack to the Waimate County Council in 1879 seeking assistance for his beleaguered family; a single page, but one which speaks volumes about the hardships faced by colonial settlers in New Zealand, and their attitudes towards work and charity.

It reads: ‘It is with great regret that I find myself compelled to ask for assistance from the charitable aid funds, but that I have good and sufficient cause for so doing the following facts will show. I was one of those unfortunate persons who were burnt out in the late bush fire, but having a few pounds laid by I did not receive any aid from the Relief Fund. This misfortune threw me back greatly, and in the endeavour to obtain a fresh shelter for my family I expended my savings and incurred a large debt besides. The latter I could have cleared off in time had not a new and even greater mishap befallen me. One after another of the members of my family sickened with fever until now there are no less than four of them laid up with this terrible disease. So far I have been spared myself, but having no one to nurse the invalids I am compelled to remain at home and thus prevented from going forth to earn food for my family. Under these distressing circumstances I venture to ask the Committee to aid me in obtaining assistance in nursing the members of my household in order that I may be enabled to earn money to maintain them. I am, gentlemen, your humble servant, Joseph Lack.’

The second is one of a rather salacious (at least for its time!) series of postcards which were produced as evidence in a Supreme Court case against a woman charged with theft from the person and keeping a bawdy house in Timaru in 1912. A picture speaks a thousand words! As you can see, you never know quite what you’ll find when you open a box here!

Archives New Zealand’s Christchurch Regional Office holds a wealth of historical material relating to the Canterbury and Westland areas. The archives photographed here can be viewed in person at our Christchurch Reading Room, they are:

Application to Waimate County Council for Charitable Aid – Joseph Lack and Family – 10 May 1879 Archives New Zealand/Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga Christchurch Regional Office [Archives Reference: CH1046/1, fi].

Timaru Supreme Court Trial - 1912 Archives New Zealand/Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga Christchurch Regional Office [Archives Reference: CH24/212, 30/1912]