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The latest exhibition at the Albertland Heritage Museum in Wellsford takes a closer look at one of the region’s pioneering families through family letters, photographs and memorabilia.
A Mission on the Kaipara – William and Marianne Gittos officially opened on February 11.
A large part of the exhibition is from a collection donated by Gittos descendant Margaret Buchanan, which has never been on public display before.
It was curated by Rose Reid and Jenny Driskel, led by museum vice-chair Clare Joensen, who has a special connection with the Gittos family.
She and her family have lived in the Gittos Memorial Church in Wharehine, built by Albertlanders in 1918, for the past 25 years. She is also friends with Margaret, but did not know of her connection to the church until after it was bought.
“The museum is very grateful to Margaret for this contribution,” Joensen says.
The exhibition also includes clothes, scarfs, and bags from the Gittos family hand delivered to the museum by another descendant, Nolene Fairchild.
“It all makes for a very rich and varied display,” she says.
Joensen says the Gittos’ story is an entry point to much of the history of the area around the 1860s, a time of considerable change.
Gittos was a key figure, alongside local chiefs, in facilitating the arrival of the Albertlanders. This included being involved in the sale of the 30,000 acre Oruawharo block, the eventual site for the Albertland settlement.
Primarily, Gittos was a minister for the Methodist Māori Mission, a programme of work which he undertook throughout the Kaipara.
His wife Marianne also spent most of her life living among Māori communities. She was the daughter of the Rev John Hobbs and Jane Hobbs and grew up at the Māngungu Mission station in Horeke, in the Hokianga, the site of the third and largest signing of te Tiriti o Waitangi. Fluent in te reo Māori, she was respected for her intelligence and kindness towards the people in her community including providing medical care.
“Together, the Reverend and Marianne were present and part of some of the most pivotal events in the region’s history,” Joensen says.
“This exhibit moves across their lifetimes and opens up conversations about some of these events. The hope is that this will help to develop local understanding about the complexities of encounters within the context of 1860s Aotearoa New Zealand.”
The museum hopes the exhibition will encourage other Gittos family members to come forward, as well as people interested in a history of the Kaipara and the Methodist community.
The museum is open Wednesday to Saturday, from 11am to 3pm, and on Sunday from 1pm to 3pm.
