This
year, I've been writing monthly columns about The Treasury for the
Grahamstown Gazette. Here's my piece for the January edition.
From The Treasury
The Christmas period is often a great time for
swapping family stories. Sitting around the table for Christmas lunch or trading
tales around a barbeque, it’s surprising how often, as you catch up with
family, you rediscover half-forgotten facts about your ancestors’ and
relatives’ lives.
If your family lived in the wider Hauraki and
Coromandel region, a trip to The Treasury might provide that elusive background
on who, when and where. We’re located in the old Carnegie Library building on Queen
St, and our fantastic collection of books, recordings and ephemera showcases
the region, from the wild days of gold fever right through to today. Between
the shelves of the Reading Room, you can find anything from high school
yearbooks and photos of old shops on Pollen Street to detailed histories and
first-hand accounts of life on ‘the Thames’ over the decades. The Reading Room
is also home to family history books, manuscripts and oral history CDs which
add an exciting new dimension to local history research.
Our dedicated team of volunteers does a brilliant job
bringing history to life. Behind the scenes, you’ll find some of them
unravelling the secrets of the region’s past for our visitors, while others are
dedicated to preserving the unique records in our new archive building. Our
Indexing Group meets weekly to catalogue the countless references to the region
and its people across our collection, creating a master index on our website.
Type in your last name and see what comes up!
Over the summer season, we’re on the look-out for your
local stories. If you have a True Tale to tell about life in Thames (or
anywhere in the Hauraki and Coromandel area) we would love to include it in the
upcoming books in our True Tales series. Check out our Facebook page for more
details.
The Treasury is open from 11am to 3pm on Mondays,
Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Researching costs $15 an hour per person for
non-members and $5 for members, while non-researching Gold Card holders can pop
in and read a book in our Reading Room for free. Be sure to check out our
website and like us on Facebook.
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