Staff + Student LoginThe Ballantrae Collection
The Ballantrae Collection comprise taonga presented by Maori to Sir Bernard Fergusson, while he was New Zealand's Governor-General from 1963-1967. The Collection features mere, adzes, pounamu pendants, taiaha, waka huia, tiki and patu. A few taonga in this collection were not received from Sir Bernard Fergusson, but were gifted to the University of Waikato over the years and have since been included in this collection. On the conclusion of Sir Bernard's Governor-Generalship, he loaned the collection to this University, and returned to England.
For many years, the Collection has been stored by the University out of the public domain, however the taonga were put on permanent display in the Central Library, since Wednesday 1 July 1998. Consultation with the iwi to whom the taonga have been traced as being the makers of the taonga commenced prior to the items being put on public display and still continues as more information is received by the Library.
