Kenneth Cumberland papers

Geographer Kenneth Brailey Cumberland (1913-2011) was born in Bradford, Yorkshire in October 1913. Cumberland attended Grange Boys Grammar School, Bradford and then the University of Nottingham where he completed a BA in 1935, followed by a MA from the University of London in 1938. An outstanding swimmer and water polo player, Cumberland represented both Nottingham and London universities and was part of the British team which attended the 5th International University Games in Turin in 1933.

In 1936 while writing his MA thesis on hill farming in the Craven district of Yorkshire, Cumberland took up his first teaching position as an assistant lecturer at University College London. Here he met New Zealander and geographer R.O. Buchanan who encouraged Cumberland to apply for a lectureship in the new Geography Department his colleague George Jobberns had established at Canterbury University College in 1937 (Ward, 2011). Cumberland applied, was appointed to the position and arrived in New Zealand in early May 1938 (Cumberland, 2007).

During his time at Canterbury Cumberland assisted Jobberns to update and modernise the geography syllabuses at both school and university level including new teaching resources such as the Whitcombe’s Atlas of Geography for New Zealand and Australian Schools written by Cumberland and first published in 1942 (Ward, 2011). Cumberland also played a key role in the formation of the New Zealand Geographical Society in 1944 and was the editor of its journal, New Zealand Geographer, from 1945 to 1954.

In 1943 Cumberland was awarded a DSc from the University of New Zealand. His thesis The regional morphology of soil erosion in New Zealand : a geographical reconnaissance examined the interaction of human activity, geomorphology and soils in the process of erosion in New Zealand. This topic was also the focus of his first book; Soil erosion in New Zealand, published in 1944 (Ward, 2011).

Cumberland taught at the University of Canterbury until 1946 when he took up the position of Senior Lecturer of Geography at what was then Auckland University College.

When Cumberland arrived in Auckland he was the only staff member in the newly established Geography Department and was required to teach the physical basis of geography and the cultural elements as well as the practical course of mapwork.(Cumberland, 2007, p.66) The Department had few teaching resources and a lack of suitable accommodation on campus meant Cumberland had to travel by tram to a former US Army hut some 8 km away to teach. Geography, however, proved to be a popular subject and student numbers allowed Cumberland to appoint a lecturer, Ron Lister, and a junior lecturer, Jim Fox, for the 1947 academic year (Cumberland, 2007).

In 1950 Cumberland was made chair of the Department and remained the Professor of Geography at Auckland until his retirement in 1978 ((Sinclair, 1983, p. 206). During his time as professor Cumberland built a world class department with close ties to US universities and a focus on the geography of the Pacific region (Ward, 2011).

Cumberland believed that a geographer should maintain and pursue close, constant and vital relations with the community (Cumberland 1946, p.20 in Pawson, 2011, p.110). This he achieved as a member of the Auckland City Council and through his many public appearances, radio broadcasts and the documentary television series Landmarks which he wrote and presented.

Likewise Cumberland maintained more than an academic interest in land use and farming, assisting his son Garth with the management of a number of properties, breeding sheep, contributing to agricultural journals and speaking to farming groups (Pountney, 2012).

In 1973 Cumberland became the first geographer to be elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society and of New Zealand and he was Vice-President of the International Geographical Union for a term during the 1960s. In 1982 Cumberland received a CBE for services to geography and the community.

In November 1940 Cumberland married Marjorie Denham whom he had known in England and who had endured an 11-week, wartime sea journey to join him in New Zealand. The couple had three children, Garth (1942 - ), Sheevaun (1943 -2002) and Tanya (1945). Sadly Marjorie died in June 1963. Cumberland married Marie Johnson in 1979 but the couple separated in 1985. In 1991 Cumberland married a childhood friend from Yorkshire Rene Wilkinson (nee Badland). Rene died in October 2007 and Cumberland in April 2011, aged 97.

References

Cumberland, K., (2007). Kenneth B. Cumberland: a memoir. New Zealand Geographer, 63, 62-68.

Pawson, E. (2011). Creating public spaces for geography in New Zealand: towards an assessment of the contributions of Kenneth Cumberland. New Zealand Geographer, 67, 102-115.

Pountney, C. (2012). Kenneth Brailey Cumberland. Retrieved from http://www.royalsociety.org.nz/organisation/academy/fellowship/obituaries/kenneth-cumberland/

Sinclair, K. (1983). A history of the University of Auckland, 1883-1983 Auckland, NZ : Auckland University Press.

Ward, R. (2011). Obituary: Kenneth Brailey Cumberland, 1913-2011. New Zealand Geographer, 67, 222-224.