The present building of the Auckland War Memorial Museum was opened in 1929 and a very considerable addition was completed in 1960. The museum displays cover the general fields of zoology, botany, and ethnology, with representative collections of ceramics and period furniture. There is a large section devoted to the display of material emanating from the two world wars. Highlights are the display of Maori material, Pacific canoes, and a planetarium. There are large research collections, particularly strong sections being concerned with Maori and Pacific ethnology, mollusca, birds, moa bones, and plants. The Dominion Museum, Wellington, is housed in a large, comparatively modern building shared with the National Art Gallery. Specialist displays include Maori and Pacific ethnology, a reconstruction of a moa, fish casts, and a section devoted to relics of Captain James Cook. Of special note in the research collections are those of mollusca, insects, fishes, moa bones, whales, plants, and old firearms.

The Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, has a large addition (opened in 1959) carefully grafted on to the original building. Two major displays are unique in New Zealand. The bird hall consists of diorama studies of New Zealand birds mounted in natural surroundings, with the cases all lit internally. The historical section is built around a reconstructed early Christchurch street with fully furnished shops and a cob house. Displays of period costume and furniture provide the fullest three-dimensional representation of colonial history. A planetarium is also in operation. Research collections of special note are those of birds, including skeletons and subfossil bones, terrestrial invertebrates, and, in ethnology, the well-documented “moa hunter” material.

Otago Museum, Dunedin, has an additional number of halls finished and recently opened to the public. Displays of special note are those on Maori ethnology, especially that relating to Otago, Greek pottery and sculpture, fish skeletons, and the projected and partly completed Hall of Marine Life. Research collections are particularly rich in Maori ethnology and Otago natural history. Southland Museum, Invercargill, is in the process of reorganising its displays. The building is modern (opened in 1942) and houses collections especially pertaining to Southland. Napier Museum, combined with the art gallery, has been rebuilt and periodically enlarged since the earthquake of 1931. Successive directors have maintained a high standard in the use of modern techniques in display. The museum concentrates largely upon local history, ethnology, and natural history, one noteworthy item on display being an old Napier-Taupo passenger coach.

Taranaki Museum in New Plymouth is housed in a new building, opened in 1960. Displays concentrate upon the history of Taranaki and local Maori artefacts. The present building of the Wanganui Museum dates from 1928, although a previous building was opened in 1895. The museum has extensive collections in ethnology and natural history, although in more recent years relatively greater effort has been concentrated on the fields of local Maori and Pakeha history. Nelson has two museums, one maintained by the Nelson Institute concentrating upon the ethnology and history of Nelson, the other, supported by Cawthron Institute, being devoted largely to natural resources and agriculture in the province. Gisborne Museum is also combined with an art gallery. The newly opened Stewart Island Museum concentrates upon the natural history and human history of Stewart Island.

Numerous small museums with a historic basis have developed in New Zealand and there is every indication that the number will increase slowly but steadily. Some of these museums are associated with historic houses. Outstanding are Waitangi Treaty House, Pompallier House, and the historic private family home, The Elms, Tauranga. Others are concerned with the history of a restricted area. The largest of these is the museum of the Otago Early Settlers' Association in Dunedin, but other examples are the Lakes District Centennial Museum at Arrowtown, the West Coast Historic Museum at Hokitika, the South Canterbury Historical Society at Timaru, the Melanesian Mission Museum at Auckland, and the Pioneers' Memorial Museum at Waipu.

All the above-mentioned museums are display museums which devote a considerable part of their resources to making their material available to the public. Museums can, however, be primarily research museums with restricted public access. Such a museum is that of the New Zealand Geological Survey at Lower Hutt.

An institution which has shown interest in preserving and ultimately displaying methods of transport is the Old Time Transport Preservation League in Matakohe. It is also proposed to form a Museum of Industry and Transport in Auckland.

A survey of museum finances in 1950–51 showed that at that date no two museums in New Zealand were financed in the same way. This position has changed slightly since then, the larger museums being financed more by local body contributions based upon a fixed rate on the rateable value of properties in the local bodies concerned. The actual rate levied by local bodies where this system is in operation depends largely upon their distance from the museum concerned. Such a rating system applies at present in the cases of Canterbury and Otago. The Auckland War Memorial Museum, constituted as a combination of the Auckland Museum and the Auckland Institute, is financed very largely by fixed contributions levied from surrounding local bodies.

Wanganui, Taranaki, and Southland Museums are financed mainly by direct contributions from their local city councils. Napier Museum is administered by the Hawke's Bay and East Coast Art Society and is run as a combined art gallery and museum. The Nelson Institute Museum is run in conjunction with the library. Cawthron Museum is financed by the Cawthron Institute, and the other smaller museums are either run by a society or by a single local body.

In the case of the larger museums mentioned above the controlling bodies consist of boards of trustees, trust boards, or councils appointed or elected by interested local bodies, by the Government, associated scientific societies, or members of contributory societies. Where the museum concerned is financed under an Act of Parliament, as are the Auckland, Dominion, Canterbury, and Otago Museums, the composition of the governing body is also defined under the relevant Act.

In general, museums in New Zealand have developed as institutions distinct from art galleries, covering the major fields of natural history, geology, and ethnology. In most cases additional responsibilities have been accepted to one degree or another for the fine arts, history, and technology. The major museums have always maintained a threefold museum ideal of education, curation, and research, ideals which have largely shaped the development of the museum movement in New Zealand.

The four main museums in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin were established in permanent museum buildings between the years 1865 and 1877. In several cases forerunners had existed and the collections from these became incorporated in the more official museums which developed. The museum in Wellington, first named the Colonial Museum, and, later, the Dominion Museum, was established in 1865, largely as a result of representations made by James Hector, its original collections comprising, first, the small collection made by the New Zealand Society (defunct since 1861), to which was added some of the material brought together for the New Zealand Exhibition held in Dunedin in 1865 and specimens gathered during the geological survey of the Province of Wellington. The first Director was Hector, who was also in charge of the Geological Survey, the Meteorological and Astronomical Services, and the Colonial Laboratory. The first building was erected in Museum Street, where the museum remained until a new building on the present site was formally opened in 1936.

The Auckland Philosophical Society, now the Auckland Institute (a branch of the Royal Society of New Zealand), began in 1867. Two years later the Auckland Provincial Council handed over a small collection to the society. T. Kirk acted as secretary and curator until 1874, when T. F. Cheeseman was appointed curator, a post which he held until his death in 1923. A new building on the present site was opened in 1929.

The Canterbury Museum was instituted by Julius von Haast in 1861. The basic collections consisted of specimens acquired by Haast during the previous two years while he had been associated with Hochstetter's investigations in New Zealand, material collected by Haast while he was Provincial Geologist of Canterbury, and some small collections purchased by the Provincial Government. These collections were exhibited to the public in temporary quarters in 1867. A separate building was erected and opened in 1870. Haast remained as curator until his death in 1887. The original material upon which the Otago Museum was established also stemmed in part from the New Zealand Exhibition of 1865, together with specimens accumulated during the geological survey of Otago. A preliminary meeting of the museum committee was held in 1868 and the first building was opened in 1877 with F. W. Hutton as curator.

The early development of these four major museums depended very much upon the enthusiasm, knowledge, and drive of four individuals, Hector, Cheeseman, von Haast, and Hutton. Hutton has the unique distinction of being closely associated with the early development of three of these museums, at Wellington, Otago, and Canterbury, besides being an early member of the Auckland Philosophical Society. At the present time these four major museums are still in active operation in new or greatly enlarged buildings. A marked feature of the development of museums in New Zealand has been the establishment and growth of smaller museums, such as those at Gisborne, Napier, New Plymouth, Nelson, and Invercargill, in addition to many others devoted to specialist themes, usually of a historic nature.

(?–1828).

Chief of the Popoto tribe, Hokianga.

On 1 July 1819 Hokianga's first European tourists, the missionaries Kendall and King, arrived at “Moodinai's place” where they borrowed canoes for the journey down river. Later in the year Marsden, Puckey, and Kendall visited Hokianga and found Muriwai engaged in an altercation with his neighbour Matangi, whose kumara gardens had been ravaged by Muriwai's pigs. This affair settled, Muriwai conducted Marsden to Utakura, which was then his principal place of residence, and afterwards provided a canoe for the trip to the heads, he and his family accompanying the missionary sightseers.

During the absence in 1820 of the great Hokianga expedition to Cook Strait, Muriwai continued in the role of master of ceremonies to visiting Europeans. Early in March 1820 Marsden again visited Hokianga, this time with a party from HMS Dromedary. Muriwai's younger brother, Te Taonui, accompanied the visitors back to the Bay of Islands and Muriwai himself was conveniently on hand at the Hokianga Heads when the storeship's tender, Prince Regent, crossed the bar at the end of March, the first known European vessel to do so. To the relief of the schooner's crew Muriwai tapu-ed the vessel, thus ensuring that no one would go aboard without permission.

The Providence, Captain Herd, with Kendall on board, visited Hokianga in 1822, and in August a deed was drawn up purporting to transfer 40,000 acres from Muriwai, Patuone, and Nene to Baron de Thierry for the consideration of 36 axes. When Thierry arrived in 1837 to claim his kingdom the sale was denied by Patuone and Nene and by Muriwai's widow. Only a few axes had reached them and these had been regarded as presents.

In November 1826 Muriwai was one of the sellers of the Horeke to Captains Deloitte and Stewart (after whom Stewart Island is named), who were acting for a Sydney firm. The following month he renewed his acquaintance with Herd, who arrived in the river in command of the first New Zealand Company's vessels, Rosanna and Lambton. Muriwai's mana apparently impressed Herd, whose chart of the Hokianga shows Motukaraka as “Moodewy's place” and Onoke as “Moodewy's Point”.

The establishment of the Wesleyan missionary station at Mangungu in January 1828 presented the ageing Popoto chief with a fresh diversion, and it is recorded that he “always treated the arrangements for religious services with great levity, and seemed only amused when the subjects of death and eternity were discussed”. He was unable to enjoy this new form of entertainment for long, being mortally wounded in the skirmish at Waima in March 1828 when Te Whareumu was killed. Nine hundred fighting men attended Muriwai's funeral ceremonies, at which the old chief's body was placed in a sitting position, with his weapons on one side and the body of his youngest wife, who had strangled herself, on the other.

With his death Popoto leadership passed to Te Taonui, who shared Muriwai's insouciant attitude to European religion and also his rather expansive views on how widely Popoto writ should run in the Hokianga.

by Ruth Miriam Ross, School Teacher and Authoress, North Auckland.

• Marsden's Lieutenants, Elder, J. R. (1934)
• Letters and Journals of Samuel Marsden, Elder, J. R. (1932)
• Journal of a Ten Months' Residence in New Zealand, 1820, Cruise, R. A. (1957)
• History of Methodism in New Zealand, Morley, W. (1900).

The name “Murihiku”, meaning “the tail end of the land”, was applied by the Maoris to the southern part of the South Island. In more recent times it was the name given to a large tract of native land in those parts which was purchased for the Crown on 17 August 1853 by W. B. D. Mantell.

The Murihiku Block consisted of all the territory lying to the south of Kemp's purchase and the Otago Block and was estimated to contain 6,900,000 acres. Its boundaries, as specified in the deed of sale were: From Milford Haven (now Milford Sound) or Wakatipu in Kemp's deed and Piopiotahi to the Maoris, to Kaihiku (near Waiwera); and, from there, following the boundary line of Kemp's purchase, to Tokata Point (now Nugget Point). The boundary followed the coastline from Milford Haven to Tokata and included Tauraka, Rarotoka, Motupuo, and all the off-shore islands except the Ruapuke group in Foveaux Strait. Stewart Island was not part of the block.

Mantell began his negotiations in April 1851 and, by 31 March 1852, following his investigation into all the Maori titles, had arranged to buy the entire block, with the exception of seven native reserves, for £2,000. The Government, however, neglected to send him the money necessary to conclude the transaction. The matter dragged on until 17 August 1853 when he was obliged to negotiate a new price with Taiaroa, Karitai, and the other Ngai Tahu chiefs. This was necessary because the Maoris, who had been under pressure to rent their lands to squatters in the district, had put an extra £600 on their original price. Mantell paid over the price in three instalments, the last payment being made on 25 November 1854.

It is of interest to note that in 1857, when the settlers of the region petitioned Parliament for separation from the Province of Otago, they described themselves as belonging to Murihiku, not Southland.

by Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

(Poirieria zelandica).

A handsome long-spined white shell up to 2 in. in height. It is often washed ashore on coastal beaches, but the best specimens are found only in deep water. These shells often become tangled in the nets of fishing vessels. The long graceful spines serve as a deterrent to carnivorous fishes. Spiny Murex lives on sandy to muddy bottom, off shore, in from 10 to 50 fathoms.

by Arthur William Baden Powell, Assistant Director, Auckland Institute and Museum.

(1901– ).

Journalist, diplomat, jurist.

A new biography of Munro, Leslie Knox appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Leslie Knox Munro was born in Auckland on 26 February 1901 and educated at Auckland Grammar School and Auckland University College. From 1923 to 1938 he was lecturer in constitutional law and Roman law at Auckland University, becoming dean of the faculty in 1938. He then entered a new field, that of journalism, holding the post of associate editor of the New Zealand Herald in 1941; from 1942 to 1951 he was editor. Over these years he had held office in the New Zealand National Party and its Remuera branch, and under the National Party Government he accepted in 1952 the post of New Zealand Ambassador to the United States and Permanent Representative of New Zealand to the United Nations. This office he held till 1958, during which time he was President of the Trusteeship Council of the United Nations, 1953–54, New Zealand Representative on the Security Council, 1954–55, and president of the twelfth session of the General Assembly, 1957–58. From 1958 to 1962 he was United Nations Representative on Hungarian Questions and Secretary-General of the International Commission of Jurists from 1961. He was made K.C.M.G. in 1950 and K.C.V.O. in 1957. In 1960 he published United Nations – Hope for a Divided World. Sir Leslie returned to New Zealand in 1963, and he successfully contested the Waipa seat for the National Party in the Parliamentary elections.

Yellow-eyed mullet, (Aldrichetta forsteri), or awa of the Maoris, is a smaller and more slender fish, silvery and with a bright-yellow iris of the eye. It is extremely abundant in shallow waters in harbours and represents the main catch whenever a bait net is drawn. They range from 7 to 12 in. in length and are usually erroneously referred to as herrings.

by Arthur William Baden Powell, Assistant Director, Auckland Institute and Museum.

Grey mullet, (Mugil cephalus), or kanae of the Maoris, is an excellent food fish, rich in fat and protein, and especially suitable for smoking. It grows to about 18 in. in length and is often seen in great numbers in northern harbours. A familiar sight is the gleaming flash as a mullet leaps out of the water and returns to its element with a resounding splash. These leaps are evidently for the purpose of evading predacious fishes.

by Arthur William Baden Powell, Assistant Director, Auckland Institute and Museum.

(1820–1901).

Early feminist.

A new biography of Müller, Mary Anne appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

Mary Ann Muller, née Wilson, was born in England in 1820, but little is known about her parentage, education, or early life. In 1842, in London, she married James Whitney Griffiths and about 1849, when her husband died, she decided to emigrate to New Zealand. She came out in the Pekin with her two small sons, arriving at Nelson in January 1850. She taught at Nelson for two years. On 5 December 1851, at Christ's Church, Nelson, she married Stephen Lunn Muller (1814–91), a surgeon whom she had met on the Pekin. For some years before coming to New Zealand she had been impressed by the extent of legal discrimination against women. In Nelson she became acquainted with many of the influential political men of the day and frequently discussed women's rights with them. Some of these, notably Domett, Stafford, Fox, and Saunders, were sympathetic, but others, like Monro and her husband, strongly disapproved of her ideas. Because her husband was a member of the Nelson Provincial Council and Resident Magistrate, she was unable to expound her ideas publicly; however, she found a welcome ally in Charles Elliott, editor of the Nelson Examiner, who arranged for her to publish anonymous contributions in his paper. At the same time she lobbied her political friends and in 1860 had the satisfaction of seeing some of her views incorporated in the Married Women's Property Act. In 1869 she published, under the nom de plume “Femina”, An Appeal to the Men of New Zealand. This pamphlet created considerable interest both in New Zealand and abroad and drew an encouraging letter from John Stuart Mill. About the same time she began a useful correspondence on women's rights with Clementia Taylor, the secretary of the London Emancipation Society. In New Zealand the Married Women's Property Act of 1870 gave expression to many of her ideas.

Although unable to campaign openly in the women's cause, Mary Ann Muller exerted considerable influence to create a climate of opinion favourable to women's rights and, in particular, towards the Women's Suffrage movement. In this respect she anticipated the movement's activities by at least 30 years. For many years her political activities were not widely known and it was not until December 1898, when a notice appeared in the White Ribbon, that the knowledge became public. After her second husband's death Mary Ann Muller lived at Old Amersfoort, Blenheim, where she died on 18 July 1901.

by Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington.

• Outlines of the Women's Franchise Movement in New Zealand, Smith, W. S. (1905).