Notes from the manuscripts of Alexander Shepherd, Colonial Treasurer, 1841, compiled by JR, April, 1939. Lists letters and gives brief descriptions of content. Manuscript, 14 pages.

The Centennial Act of 1938 set up numerous committees to organise and publicise the celebration of New Zealand's centennial in 1940. One of these was the National Historical Committee, which was responsible for the publication of books and surveys, including the Dictionary of New Zealand biography (published 1940), the Centennial Surveys and a proposed comprehensive historical atlas of NZ, to be called the Centennial Atlas. The Government appealed to the public to make available to the Historical Research Committee old manuscripts and documents, and Rutherford was responsible for investigating a number of these collections, both in NZ and England (where he travelled in 1937-38). Research for the atlas continued for many years but publication was finally abandoned in 1952 in favour of a general atlas of New Zealand.