Remapping Tutira: contours in the environmental history of New Zealand

Although members of the first generation of professional geographers in New Zealand identified the ousting of the indigenous plant cover and the partial establishment of an exotic (mainly European) vegetation in its place as an essential theme in the history of that country, and Alfred Crosby made a brief case study of the islands in hisEcological Imperialism, scale problems have made it difficult to develop a microgeographical perspective on the often intricate and incremental processes of environmental transformation. To this end, this paper explores a detailed account of the natural history of a single North Island sheep station written by its owner, W. H. Guthrie Smith, in 1921. By readingTutira, an idiosyncratic but fascinating work, with a geographical eye, the local dimensions of the floral and faunal invasion of New Zealand are revealed. “A record of minute alterations noted on one patch of land” illuminates the biogeographical processes by which New Zealand was transformed and offers insight into an important distinction between ‘natural’ and ‘environmental’ history.     

James Matthews excavation A second interim report

Les fouilles de James Matthews. Second rapport prelimhaire P. BAKER AND G. HENDERSON Les auteurs décrivent dans ce rapport les méthodes utiliées et les résultats obtenus en 1975–77, sur une épave coulée par faible fond sur la côte ouest d'Australie. Ils présentent, en détail, l'utilisation d'un carroyage rigide, facilement manoeuvrable et servant en même temps de plate-forme pour une tourelle - photo pyramidale. Les avantages et les limites de la photogrammétrie, pour les relevés subaquatiques, sont aussi exposés.     

The Connolly Association,the Catholic Church,and anti-communism in Britain and Ireland during the early Cold War

ABSTRACT

During the Cold War era, the Connolly Association, an Irish republican socialist political organisation in Britain close to the Communist Party of Great Britain, was seen by British Communists as a potential means of winning recruits amongst Britain’s growing post-war Irish community. This view was shared by the Catholic Church, which, amidst the broader ideological atmosphere of the Cold War, placed an increased emphasis on anti-communism in the early post-war years. This article will discuss clerical opposition to the Connolly Association in early Cold War Britain and Ireland, drawing chiefly on diocesan archives and Catholic periodicals.