The Badsey connection

From Tauranga City Library’s archives
A monthly blog about interesting items in our collection

It all started with a box of uncatalogued photographic material: gelatin prints, glass plates, lantern slides, and negatives. The box was labelled “Bernard Sladden”. A name the library’s Heritage and Research Team know well. When Sladden’s books were placed under the care of the Tauranga Public Library, shortly after his death in 1961, it was the beginning of our heritage and research collections. 

Tauranga City Libraries Image 00-177: Bernard Sladden (left) on board his launch "Severn". c. 1940

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While we knew the provenance of the items, the content was more of a mystery. Fortunately for us, it was a one that was easy to solve through describing and digitising the images. In doing so, we quickly discovered Sladden was keen on photographing coastal scenes. This makes sense given he was appointed honorary ranger for Motuotau Island in 1928, and was gazetted inspector, with responsibility for all the offshore islands in the Bay of Plenty, in 1932. Hiding among the many gulls and islets, was a set of images taken in Europe. We do not think these were taken by Sladden, but were possibly collected out of interest. This makes sense because Sladden served with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force between 1916 and 1918. It was this collection of images that acted as a springboard to discovering the Badsey connection. 

Tauranga City Libraries Image bs-540: Group of soldiers and motor vehicle in square in front of large buildings. Noted with file: B.57 Y.M.C.A. Party at the Louvre, Paris. 1917. Photographer unknown. 

Being contemporary researchers, our first instinct was to Google “Bernard Sladden AND WW1” (apologies to all the other wonderful library-resources at our fingertips!). The search directed us to the Badsey Society’s website, where we were amazed to find a collection of letters from Bernard Sladden to his uncle, Julius Sladden, written during the First World War. A quick browse through the website informed us there were two branches of the Sladden family: one in the UK and another in New Zealand. 

With Sladden being such a significant part of our collections, we decided to reach out to the Badsey Society to find out more. Maureen Spinks, the chairman, replied with helpful historical information, as well as details of a rather special performance:

You might be amused to know that Bernard featured in a performance we put in 2017 when extracts from the Sladden letters were read.  The part of Bernard was played by his great-great-nephew, Jonathan Miller. No problems guessing which one he is in these photos! Jonathan’s mother, Patsy (nee Sladden), managed to borrow a “wide-awake” hat from someone at the New Zealand High Commission.

Patsy and Anthony Miller with their son, Jonathan Miller, playing the part of his great-great-uncle, Private Bernard Sladden of New Zealand. Patsy was able to borrow a New Zealand “wide-awake” hat for the occasion. Bernard was one of the 11 children of Dilnot Sladden (elder brother of Julius Sladden) who emigrated to New Zealand in the 1860s. 

The fact Bernard Sladden’s descendants continue to remember and celebrate his life demonstrates what a remarkable person he was. 

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This archival item has been digitised and is available to view on Pae Korokī. For more information about this and other items in our collection, visit Pae Korokī or email the Heritage & Research Team: Research@tauranga.govt.nz

Written by Abigail Wharne, Heritage Specialist at Tauranga City Libraries.