8 July 2008: Historical Newspaper Gives Insight on World War One
The addition of an historical West Coast newspaper to the National Library's Papers Past website now gives researchers access to coverage of the entire First World War.
Seventy thousand pages of the Grey River Argus have been digitised, bringing the total number of newspaper pages available on Papers Past to more than 1.2 million.
The latest addition provides access to newspaper stories from a fascinating time in New Zealand's history, covering the First World War, the 1919 election, and the global influenza epidemic.
The Grey River Argus was the first newspaper published in Greymouth, appearing in November 1865. It was a rarity amongst New Zealand newspapers because it was open about its political affiliations, proudly supporting the Labour movement. For many years the legend, "New Zealand’s pioneer Labour daily" appeared on the masthead. The paper's first publisher, James Kerr, had worked on newspapers in Scotland, Melbourne and Dunedin before coming to Greymouth. He was well known on the West Coast through his involvement in local and national politics and was a close friend of Richard Seddon.
The paper played an active role in local and national politics. In 1918 it allowed the Grey Labour Representation Committee to use its columns to support Harry Holland contest the Grey seat in that year's by-election. In the lead-up to the 1919 general election – the first that allowed women to stand – future Prime Minister Peter Fraser wrote editorials for the Argus.
According to Chief Executive and National Librarian, Penny Carnaby, the timing couldn't be better. "The Grey River Argus is the first paper available on Papers Past that covers the entire First World War, offering real insight into the lives of New Zealanders through the war years. In the lead up to the 90th anniversary of the Armistice in November this year, it's wonderful to have this resource online for all New Zealanders to access.
"The Grey River Argus adds to what is already a fantastic source of information about social and political events in New Zealand from 1839 to 1920."
The digitisation project was a partnership between the National Library and Grey District Council. "I'm really pleased, that West Coasters, no matter where they live in New Zealand or the world, now have access to the papers over the internet," said Grey District Mayor Tony Kokshoorn. "It is marvellous that the papers are now preserved both physically and digitally."
Papers Past is an online resource of late 19th-century and early 20th-century New Zealand newspapers and periodicals, and is one of the National Library's most popular digital collections.
Papers Past demonstrates the National Library's commitment to the government's Digital Content Strategy, and to making New Zealand content available for all New Zealanders to access.
For more information
Sarah Wilson, National Library of New Zealand
Phone (04) 474 3000 x 8894
