Case 18
- Presentation Inscriptions (N.Z.)
R.A. Loughnan. Royalty in New Zealand: the visit of their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York to New Zealand, 10th to 27th June, 1901: a descriptive narrative. Wellington: John MacKay, Government Printer, 1902.
This
copy of Loughnan’s Royalty in New Zealand,
an account of the New Zealand visit by the future King George V, contains the
presentation inscription of Richard John Seddon to George Beetham, inscribed at
London in July 1902.
Seddon
(1845-1906) was Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1893 to 1906. He wrote this
inscription during a three-month stay in London where he attended the
Coronation of King Edward VII. Originally scheduled for 26 June 1902, the
ceremony was postponed until 9 August, due to a serious illness suffered by
Edward.
The
recipient of Seddon’s gift was George Beetham (1840-1915), an early New Zealand
mountaineer and Wairarapa-based Member of Parliament from 1877 to 1890.
Beetham’s account of his ascent of Mount Ruapehu was published posthumously in
1926. He moved to London in 1898.
R.A. Loughnan. Royalty in New Zealand: the visit of their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York to New Zealand, 10th to 27th June, 1901: a descriptive narrative. Wellington: John MacKay, Government Printer, 1902.
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The Book of Common Prayer and administration of the Sacraments, and other rites and ceremonies of the Church. Oxford: University Press, 1852.
This
Bible and prayer book includes a signed presentation inscription by the pioneer
Otago missionary Reverend James Watkin, dated 1854.
The
Methodist clergyman James Watkin (1805-1886) arrived in 1840 at the whaling
settlement of Waikouaiti, where he established the first mission station in the
South Island. He established schools at Waikouaiti and Matanaka, and found that
existing texts in northern Maori were unintelligible to his listeners. He thus
compiled his own teaching primer in the southern dialect, the first of its kind
to be printed, in 1841.
He
departed for Wellington in 1844, before settling in New South Wales in 1855.
The Book of Common Prayer and administration of the Sacraments, and other rites and ceremonies of the Church. Oxford: University Press, 1852.
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Charles Lloyd. Principles for the conduct of life. London: Printed by J. Masters, 1848. Two volumes; Vol. 1 displayed.
This
book of prose extracts contains George Grey’s presentation inscription to the
Reverend A.G. Purchas, dated 1850.
George
Grey (1812-1898) was thirty-seven years of age and Governor of New Zealand when
he inscribed this book. Famed for his statesmanship, Grey also had very wide
reading interests and was an obsessive collector of rare books and artefacts.
The
recipient of this gift, Arthur Guyon Purchas (1821-1906), was an early New
Zealand surgeon, clergyman and musician – the complier of the New Zealand hymnal. At the time of
Governor Grey’s gift he was a clergyman at St Peter’s in Onehunga, which parish
he served from 1847 to 1875.
Charles Lloyd. Principles for the conduct of life. London: Printed by J. Masters, 1848. Two volumes; Vol. 1 displayed.
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