Ranfurly Collection

The Ranfurly Collection is drawings, photographs, diaries and reports of Lord Ranfurly, Governor of New Zealand 1897 – 1904.

About the Ranfurly Collection

The Ranfurly Collection is made up of the private papers, photographs and artworks of Lord and Lady Ranfurly, from the period when Lord Ranfurly was Governor of New Zealand. These items were added to the Alexander Turnbull Library collections from England in 1988.

The Ranfurlys travelled throughout New Zealand, recording much of what they saw and did. You can find out about New Zealand and New Zealanders at the time from the Ranfurly Collection, as well as the lives of the family and their followers. The collection also includes material relating to meetings with Māori.

The collection has three sections:

  • Paintings and drawings: two sketch books and seven watercolour paintings.
  • Papers: 2,970 pages of letters, account books, diaries and scrapbooks.
  • Photographs: four albums containing 450 photographs plus 24 separate family photographs.