'Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 4-RIC327' Showing the grave and tombstone of James Joseph Conway in the Catholic section of Symonds Street Cemetery. The inscription reads: Erected by the Shipmasters of Auckland in memory of Captain James Joseph Conway, accidentally killed 18 March 1897 aged 50 (or 56). May he who rules the billows speed us on our way. Auckland Region (N.Z.)

In the Central Auckland Research Centre, we have a collection of microfilm collectively called “Miscellaneous Films”. These are a series of films covering a variety of resources and have been grouped together in the Research Centre, just for the convenience of storage.

So, what sort of material can be found amongst this collection?

There is The diary of William Bambridge containing an account of his journey from England to New Zealand in 1841 which runs to two films.

William Bambridge was a school teacher who accompanied William Charles Cotton and Bishop Selwyn to the Te Waimate Mission. They arrived at the Bay of Islands on 20 June 1842 and he remained until December 1847.

Other items include:-

• Returns of blockhouses, redoubts and stockades in the North Island, 1869
• Index of microfilm of the source material of the "Story of early Dunedin"
• Annual reports, minute books and club photographs, 1946-1972 Eastern Suburbs Rugby Football Club
• Admiral Sir Lionel Halsey : papers, 1905-1923
• The joy remains : autobiography of Sister Margaret of the Cross
• St. Joseph's Foreign Missionary Society : records 1882-1972
• Development and education in the Cook Islands : a study of community and education in an emergent Pacific Islands Territory by W.G. Coppell

 The collection includes other diaries, papers of several people, including Joseph Banks. It is definitely something for those particularly interested in the early history of New Zealand to have a look at.

No doubt there are some gold nuggets hidden amongst the material that we are unaware of and you may be just the person to find it.

Marie Hickey