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Who was Dr Hocken?The Hocken Collections owes its existence to the vigorous collecting and subsequent generosity of a Dunedin doctor, Thomas Morland Hocken (1836-1910). Born in Stamford, Rutland, the son of a Wesleyan minister, Hocken qualified in medicine in 1859 and worked as a ship's surgeon between England and Australia until settling in Dunedin in 1862. As a doctor, and coroner for 22 years, T.M. Hocken became one of the city's best-known figures - 'a neat, dapper little man, with a short-clipped beard and dark lively eyes. Bustling, energetic, intensely industrious, he had a winning personality and infectious enthusiasm.' Hocken applied his drive and talent to the acquisition of books, newspapers, maps, pamphlets, photographs, pictures and artifacts relating to New Zealand, the Pacific and early Australia. He shared his knowledge widely through lectures, exhibitions, his own books and writings and the important Bibliography of the Literature relating to New Zealand, published in 1909. In 1897, Dr Hocken offered his fine collection to Dunedin and the people of New Zealand. Public subscription lists opened in 1906, and a Deed of Trust was drawn up by which the Hocken Collection was housed in a special wing added to the Otago Museum, and managed by the University of Otago in trust for the nation. Too ill to attend the opening on 23 March 1910, Dr Hocken died two months later.
Last revised: 20 February, 2006
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