An overview of the archived papers of T.F. Cheeseman, Auckland Museum’s curator from 1874 to 1923

Abstract

The botanist Thomas Frederick Cheeseman F.L.S., F.Z.S., F.N.Z.I. (1845–1923) ran Auckland Museum for 49 years and presided over its development from an amateurish small-town museum to a professional organisation appropriate to a growing city. He was a careful and meticulous administrator who kept a detailed record of his activities by saving incoming letters and making contact copies of his outgoing letters. In this report we summarise the extent and organisation of the Cheeseman papers held at Auckland Museum. There are at least 3500 pages of outgoing correspondence, addressed to around 800 different people and organisations, and we provide a preliminary alphabetical index to these correspondents. The Cheeseman papers form a rich and useful legacy for an understanding of museology and the history of science—and social history in general—both for Auckland and for New Zealand. We hope that this background document will assist further research on T.F. Cheeseman and the history of Auckland Museum.