Miscellaneous papers.

This collection comprises field notebooks, lecture and laboratory notes and related material dating from 1873 to 1914, the majority of which was created by Thomas while employed at Auckland University College. This collection is one of three held by Special Collections which contain the papers of Algernon Thomas; researchers should consult all three for a complete picture of his life and work. In addition there are also relevant items in the University of Auckland History Collections; MSS & Archives E-8 and 97/5.

This collection contains 16 notebooks and an exercise book containing a list of photographs. The field notebooks appear to be part of a set presented to the Geology Department in March 1938 by the Trustees of Thomas’ estate. The original donation included 20 notebooks, one exercise book with a list of photographs and one exercise book containing the results of tests upon samples of ash from the 1886 Tarawera eruption (Algernon Thomas papers: MSS & Archives A-54, folder 3). The other seven field notebooks donated in 1938 can be found in MSS & Archives 89/15: Algernon Thomas further papers.

The teaching materials in this collection are especially interesting as they provide a detailed picture of how geology was taught at Auckland University in its formative years, at the end of the 19th Century, prior to the discovery of concepts such as plate tectonics.