Join Michele Leggott and Catherine Field-Dodgson, authors of “Groundwork: The Art and Writing of Emily Cumming Harris” (2025), as they explore the life and work of one of Aotearoa’s foremost botanical artists.
Come along to this talk by historian and author John E. Martin to hear more about the life and work of Isaac Featherston, also known as Petatone, and his impact on colonial Aotearoa New Zealand.
Hear from Charlotte Macdonald as she embarks on a journey of what she terms the ‘garrison world’ — soldiers, sailors, and their families stationed across the British empire in the 19th century.
The 2025 ‘Letters Out Loud’ highlighted letters from a range of fascinating people, including devoted prison reformer and writer Blanche Baughan, famous guide and academic Maggie Papakura, American writer Mary Redmer, and English dancer and actress, Diana Gould Menuhin. Three of these women were writing to a man and one to a woman. In this lunchtime talk, Professor Emerita Barbara Brookes will discuss their backgrounds and how their letters survived to be placed in the Alexander Turnbull Library.
Join Jamie Jacobs from Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga as he shares the story of Turnbull House and what’s ahead for this historic building.
Dr de Hamel, world-leading authority on mediaeval manuscripts, will talk to members of the Friends of the Turnbull in an address entitled: “The Migrant: Christopher de Hamel on how he and De Musica came to the Turnbull”. He will talk about the Boethius, De Musica, which is the only mediaeval MS bought by Alexander Turnbull himself.