Aotearoa - New Zealand was the place in the world that Sir George Grey decided to call home. After completing diplomatic terms of office in Australia and Cape Town, South Africa, he settled in New Zealand in 1861. Later in 1880 he gifted his New Zealand Collection to establish the Auckland Public Library as a significant national heritage collection of Aotearoa - New Zealand.
Grey's interest in language and customs drove him to collect vast amounts of information which to this day remains significant in its historical and cultural value. The Grey Māori Manuscripts collection is often the first reference for scholars writing and researching Māori subjects. Grey also collected letters and early printed books in the Māori language.
Drawings, prints and paintings were another valuable source of Māori information. Recently some Māori images and drawings which had been collected by Grey into scrap books and left in South Africa were found. The drawings and paintings in these books were created between 1840 and 1860. The artists are unknown other than the name 'R Park' on one of the books. All of these images stand apart from other known images from this period in their artistry and information value.
Sir George Grey was driven by his interest in language and how it was used in the interactions between people. Wherever he lived in the world a large proportion of his time was taken up learning about and collecting material from the local people to illuminate his studies. Prior to moving to South Africa (where he gifted a large collection to the South African Public Library), Grey collected extensively, including vast amounts about Tikanga or customary practices and examples of te reo Māori or the Māori language.
His collections in each part of the world where he lived were extensive and significant. Aotearoa - New Zealand was the spot that captured his imagination and he moved back here to settle on Kawau Island in the Hauraki Gulf. In 1880 he gifted his New Zealand & Māori collection to the citizens of Auckland, as the founding collection for the Auckland Public Library. To this day the Grey New Zealand and Māori Collection remains a significant National Heritage collection, providing a window into the thinking of those times.
