Touchstone November 2004

"History Repeats in Sorry Tales of Lost Archives"

By Donald Cochrane (Curator of Photographs)

" Accuracy has been aimed at, but no doubt imperfectly attained….. many Church records have been lost by fire and otherwise. Greater care in their preservation is desirable.... Omissions are many.... and more so through lack of information ."

Thus reads a footnote to the History of the Presbyterian Church of Auckland written by the Rev WJ Comrie in 1939. Unfortunately, his words fell on very deaf ears and have been repeated by countless historians, genealogists, researchers and Archivists ever since.

I first became interested in our ‘lost' or ‘non-existent' Church records after becoming aware of the sheer volume of missing records, inadequate storage conditions, and the time spent searching for records which were later found to be missing. Thus I began compiling my database which may now be viewed on our web site under ‘Lost Archives'  (Link on main menu at left).

While we hold lists of extant records for some Parishes which were compiled in the 1940's, 1954, and 1980, frustratingly not all Parishes had completed the questionnaires. That the first two requests came officially from the General Treasurer apparently held little weight!

Listings of records held by ourselves including regional Archives, Museums and libraries give a fairly accurate idea of extant Parish holdings. I have read many Church histories, published articles, General Assembly reports, and followed up on any vague references to ensure that this growing database is as accurate as possible.

But why bother? As explained above, this database is very useful both for us and for researchers. I have deliberately included examples of Archives placed at risk through fire, flood, neglect, inadequate storage and ‘Act of God' even when records often escaped unharmed. We all need to be aware of the element of risk and it is through the foresight of many Parish Office Bearers – or sheer good luck – that many records have survived from many a conflagration.

Indeed, who could have foreseen ‘a fugitive rabbit' running through a bushfire and then under a Church with fire in its fur thus setting the Church on fire? Or the disgruntled ex-Minister who had been forcibly ‘loosed from his charge' then subsequently set his Church on fire? Records stored in a Bank which was later razed by fire emphasized that ‘security' should be defined in more than one way, adequate fire protection obviously being equally important!

Storage of records in unsupervised Church buildings and in manses has seen the demise by fire or loss by neglect of many records over the years. Sadly, it is often difficult to reconstruct details of missing records where no listings survive. One almost has to laugh at some of the stories I uncovered. A Minister tells the poignant story of the ‘fire raising propensities of some small boys who narrowly averted setting fire to a country Church'. As the Minister in question would have been 6 years of age at the time and the account is ‘first hand', we can safely assume that he was alluding to his own duplicity in this incident!

Precious and irreplaceable Church records have been irreparably damaged due to inadequate storage and the cumulative effects of damp, water, fading and vermin. Many Church records reveal mould spots, faded writing, tell tale tooth marks, silverfish trails, and even borer holes.

A marriage register from 1923 irreparably damaged first by fire and then from moisture and mould.

We have also been deprived of many valuable records through needless destruction by Church Officers and also by records ‘falling into' private hands. We know of supposedly ‘worthless' records destroyed by later generations, while some are frustratingly still held by private individuals due to personal sentiment, eg: ‘Their Grandfather was the Treasurer at that time'. In one case, we actually had to buy a minute book back in a public auction. It is difficult to gauge the extent of actual stolen records or artefacts although this has frequently occurred.

Occasionally it is found that Church records never actually existed. One Minister confessed that he allowed baptism records to ‘ slip into forgetfulness '; similar omissions are frequently found in early records.

Finally, we still need to keep in mind these prophetic words from the General Assembly of 1926 which, with some foresight, emphasized the risk management then placed on Church records :

“General Assembly Resolution – That all persons having materials (Manuscript, printed and relics) be invited to send them to the Church Offices….. for preservation, or to report the possession of the same and the means taken for their preservation.”

It appears obvious that many Parishes and Church Committees did not heed this advice given 78 years ago. Are we still making the same mistakes?

© PCANZ Archives 2004

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