The engagement of Mr Joseph Boyce Johnston, solicitor, to Miss Pauline Constance Doxey was announced in The NZ Observer's 'Social Sphere by Myra' column published 8 March 1913. Note the incorrect spelling of the bridegroom's surname in the newspaper clipping.

Mr and Mrs J B Johnston Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 31-WP314

The record for this image includes a detailed description of  the couple's wedding attire . . . . 'Mr Johnston wearing a dark coloured jacket and waistcoat, striped trousers, a white shirt with a stand-up collar and tie, flowers in the buttonhole, gloves and holding a hat; Mrs Johnston wearing a light coloured wedding gown with a train on the skirt, a long veil with flowers in her hair, holding a large bouquet.'

New Zealand Herald, 13 June 1913.

Although the entry for this wedding portrait does not refer to Mrs Robertson as the former Miss Doxey, there is no doubt of her identity  -- as there is another lovely image of her in the Schmidt collection from the same year that does provide us with her name.

Miss Doxey, 1913. Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 31-74619

Perhaps this photo was taken to mark the occasion of their engagement?

Auckland city will be abuzz with excitement this weekend, February 15th and 16th as Eden Park plays host to 16 teams of athletic young men in the inaugural NRL Nines rugby league tournament . Eden Park is a sellout and no doubt for leaguies who can’t make the live event, it will be a case of getting in the beer and the pizza, and settling in for a weekend in front of the telly.

While rugby union is the number one game downunder,  League in fact has quite a heritage in Auckland and was given plenty of attention back in the day.  Flicking through our heritage database, the game was well covered in publications like the Auckland Weekly News, and a large part of that is due to what is affectionately called the “spiritual home of rugby league,” Carlaw Park.  Named for James Carlaw, the head of Auckland Rugby League, the land alongside the Domain was leased by the Auckland Rugby league from the hospital board until it was bought by the ARL in 1974.  It is currently a car park and all that remains for leaguies are the memories.

Judging from the photographs in our collection, it’s easy to see why Carlaw Park is held in such affection with events such as the 1929 test between the Kiwis and Great Britain where a whopping 28,000 fans turned up to watch the Kiwis win.

So if your old man was a leaguie back in the day, whether he played the game or was one of the thousands who travelled to Carlaw Park over its history, have a browse through our heritage images. Type in the keywords “rugby league” – and enjoy! In the meantime, here are some photographs of good times from Carlaw Park from our collection.

Carlaw Park, 1921. Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries

New Zealand's great football public at Carlaw Park, 1924. Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries

A brilliant exhibition of rugby league football, 1931. Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries

Watching the rugby league action at Carlaw Park, 1926. Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries

Joanne

The UK family history magazine “Your Family History” was rebranded late last year as Discovery Your History and yippee, we have a subscription to it. Whereas “Your Family History” was more dedicated to genealogy, the new publication promotes itself as “Ancestors, Heritage, Memories.” Even just flicking through a couple of issues (namely the late arriving issues of September and October) shows that there is going to be some great browsing material over the coming months.

The issues are packed with treats, such as an article on the New Zealander Archie McIndoe, who pioneered plastic surgery in World war two – the article focuses on the town of East Grimstead, West Sussex, where his patients, the ‘guinea pigs” lived. (He is held in such esteem in the town they are going to unveil a statue of him there this year.)

January 2014 issue

There’s an article on the London Underground – it turned 150 last year – and also on the subject of  travel, a lively piece on The Perils of Travel in Jane Austen’s day and how this most beloved author may have travelled –  she apparently got around England far more than most women did of the time.

Food – oh my gosh, who can possibly go past an article on food – especially an article on biscuits, with an interesting 1854 recipe for a “brown digestive” from the digestion-obsessed Victorian era. Not sure I’m game enough to try that one, even if my British ancestors may have enjoyed them.

But one of the most fascinating articles is on Port Sunlight in Merseyside, North West England  – the “industrial garden village” created by William Lever (the inventor, with his brother Darcy, of Sunlight soap). William wanted to create a beautiful village for his employees to live in, with Arts & Crafts styled houses, welfare provision, and facilities like a training college -and thus he founded the village of Port Sunlight. Last year Port Sunlight celebrated 125 years – ¾ of the properties are now privately owned, although almost all buildings are “listed” and the village is a conservation area managed by a trust set up by Unilever. Fascinating!

If you’re in the research centre, do take a look at publications like “Discover Your History” – some of these magazines are not available as borrowable copies, but they are jam packed with information about things British - and entertaining to boot.

Joanne