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- Unfreedom forest: A history of New Zealand’s prison plantations
Unfreedom forest: A history of New Zealand’s prison plantations
Part of Friends of the Turnbull Public Programme — 2024 series
Thursday 15 February 2024, 5:30pm to 6:30pm
Free. Koha from non-members appreciated.
Author Jared Davidson opens the 2024 Friends of the Turnbull Public Programme with a talk charting the history of New Zealand’s prison plantations — exotic forests grown by prisoners. In time these forests became extremely valuable and when they were sold off in the 1990s their privatisation was dubbed ‘he sale of the century’
Join us online or in person for this event.
The felons among the firs
Significant parts of New Zealand’s exotic forests were born and raised by prisoners. Siphoned out of city jails and onto vast prison plantations, by 1921 the incarcerated had been made to plant 15,932 acres with over 40 million trees.
In this talk, author Jared Davidson will chart the history of New Zealand’s prison plantations — from Waiotapu, Whakarewarewa, Waipā and Kāingaroa in the North Island to Hanmer and Dumgree in the South. These workscapes were subjected to human and extra-human forces of resistance, be it sabotage or sudden frosts, yet paved the way for state forestry and massive environmental change. By looking at ‘the felons among the firs’, Jared’s research paints New Zealand history in a whole new light.
Can’t make it in person?
Can't make it in person? This event will also be delivered using Zoom. You do not need to install the software to attend, you can opt to run Zoom from your browser.
Register if you’d like to join this talk and we'll send you the link to use on the day.
A Friends of the Turnbull Library event
The Friends of the Turnbull Library, Ngā Hoa o te Whare Pukapuka Turnbull, offers a monthly programme of public talks that are free to all. The public programme highlights the work of researchers who draw on Turnbull material for their projects.
Friends of the Turnbull Library
About the speaker
An archivist by day and an author by night, Jared Davidson is an award-winning writer based in Lower Hutt. He is currently the Research Librarian Manuscripts at the Alexander Turnbull Library. Blood and Dirt: Prison Labour and the Making of New Zealand (BWB, 2023) is his fifth book and is long-listed for the 2024 Ockham Awards.
Check before you come
Due to COVID-19, some of our events can be cancelled or postponed at very short notice. Please check the website for updated information about individual events before you come. For more general information about National Library services and exhibitions, have a look at our COVID-19 page.
Jared Davidson. Photo by Hagen Hopkins, courtesy of Bridget Williams Books.