On August 17th in 1890, Emily Harris wrote in her diary about ‘the bear’: A few months ago two Frenchmen came to Nelson with a dancing bear. A splendid animal not two years old, quite an infant its master said, although it was much taller than the man when it stood upon its hind legs. Read More…
News
A descendant of James Cobham Harris
By Michele Leggott Professor R. Middleton (University of Bristol) is a direct descendant of Edwin Harris’s older brother James Cobham Harris (1794-1876) [JCH]. Professor Middleton got in touch earlier this year to explain the connection and to forward a selection of images that depict portraits of the Harris family in his possession. We knew already Read More…
Drawing Lines: Emily’s diaries go live
By Michele Leggott Drawing Lines is the title we’ve given to our full transcription of Emily Harris’s diaries 1885-1891, to point out a connection with Writing Lines, the section devoted to Emily’s letters and diary excerpts 1860-1863. In 1860, Emily at 23 was an accomplished writer of lively prose and two fascinating poems, sole remnants Read More…
Frances Harris climbs Mount Taranaki
By Michele Leggott Frances Harris is within reach of the summit of the mountain she called Egmont, the only woman of the party still in contention for making it to the top after several hours of climbing in her short grey homespun dress, black jacket and sensible boots. Women have climbed the mountain before this Read More…
I do not like to burn: Emily Harris video goes live
Toyah Webb is our Summer Research Scholar for Summer 2020-21. Today she takes us on the journey of making ‘I do not like to burn’, a new creative project for the Emily Cumming Harris website. Making I do not like to burn was a creative, technical and – at times – physical challenge: How to Read More…
New on the website! Lighted Windows
Lighted Windows: The Death and Resurrection of Corbyn Harris We present a sequence of archival fragments surrounding the death of Hugh Corbyn Harris 28 July 1860 and some of the memorialising events that followed. Chief among these is the series of works by Corbyn’s father Edwin depicting the town of New Plymouth under siege in Read More…
2020 Highlights
By Michele Leggott A second year on the website and we’ve been able to upload two of Edwin Harris’s sketchbooks from the 1870s and 1880s while working on the big project of editing Emily’s two diaries from Puke Ariki. The diaries will be completed early in 2021 in 12 sections with full contextual notes. We’re Read More…
A Trilogy of Windmills
The Auction It starts with a buzz around an auction. A painting of a windmill has appeared at Auckland’s International Art Centre signed by Edwin Harris. Oil on canvas, Landscape with Windmill measures 16.5 x 24 cm and depicts a peaceful scene, cloudy blue sky up above, a softly looping road with a cart, sparse Read More…
Sarah Harris’s Ghostly Letters
By Michele Leggott The Turnbull Typings It is like looking at ghosts. The Alexander Turnbull Library holds typed copies of four letters written by Sarah Harris in New Plymouth to her father and sisters in England 1841 and 1843. Thanks to an accompanying note dated 1922, we know more or less how the copies came Read More…
Queen of the Butterflies
Ellen Harris surrounded by plants, flowers and butterflies. It’s one of the most striking photos in the Family Album and the most elaborate photo we have of any of the sisters. While working on the ‘Sisters at a Glance’ posts, we began to refer to it as the ‘fairy tale’ photo when discussing the many Read More…