Book Extract: The Collector: Thomas Cheeseman and the making of the Auckland Museum, The Post, 9 November 2025
Thomas Cheeseman was the director of the Auckland War Memorial Museum, back when it was merely a “shed of curiosities”, and turned it into one of the country’s leading scientific institutions.
In this new book by cultural historians Richard Wolfe and Andrew McKay, Cheeseman’s legacy and that of the Auckland Museum is explored in vivid detail and colour. In this extract, travel back to the grand opening of the Auckland Institute and Museum on June 5, 1876.
The Collector: Thomas Cheeseman and the making of the Auckland Museum, published by Massey University Press, is out November 13. RRP: $65.