A display of poppies made of flax and woven by the community for ANZAC Day 2016 in The Square, Palmerston North.  

Creator:      Steph
Place:          The Square, Palmerston North
Date:          April 22, 2016

This image is believed to have been taken by Palmerston North Engineer Edwin Daniel Berry. It depicts two people sitting at the edge of a pond.

Both are unknown but appear in other images in the collection.

Creator:      Berry Family
Date:          1910s

Booklet published by the Foxton Historical Society and made available Labour Weekend 1969 when the group celebrated a century of flaxmilling in Foxton. The booklet was written by the following contributors - I.R. Matheson, C.M. Thompson, and A.N....

Creator:      Foxton Historical Society
Place:          Foxton
Date:          1969

The Puketotara Estate was located on the western bank of the Oroua River in the vicinity of its junction with the Manawatūorou River. The Pascal brothers, Claud and John, emigrated to New Zealand from France. They were involved in the flax industr...

Creator:      Roy McLennan
Place:          Puketotara Station, Ourua, Manawatū
Date:          1886

The Pascal brothers, Claud and John, emigrated to New Zealand from France. They were involved in the flax industry c. 1890 - 1906. 'Brooklands' was the home of John Pascal, at Awahuri, Manawatu. The photo was copied from a McLennan/Pascal album. A...

Creator:      Roy McLennan
Place:          Awahuri, Manawatu
Date:          1888

The Pascal brothers, Claud and John, emigrated to New Zealand from France. They were involved in the flax industry c. 1890 - 1906. The photograph shows the families at the McLennan home at Oroua Downs, Manawatū. Photograph copied from McLennan/Pas...

Creator:      Roy McLennan
Place:          Oroua Downs
Date:          1889?

1956  Drying flax, Flax mill, Foxton

Place:          Foxton
Date:          1956

At work in the Wellington Harbour Board’s grading shed and hemp store.

Creator:      Charles E Wildbore
Place:          Wellington
Date:          circa 1910

Large double-handled hedge clippers were used to trim the ‘tails’ on the hanks, while they dried and before the hanks were processed. Darcy Knewstubb was a well known 'paddocker'.

Creator:      E A Phillips
Date:          1912

Stripped flax fibre that has been laid out to dry and bleach is now ready for the final stage of preparation – Scutching. 

As part of Local History Week, members of the public and City Library staff visited Te Awahou Nieuwe Stroom and the F...

Creator:      Adam Melville
Place:          Foxton
Date:          October 30, 2018

Harbour Board grading shed.

Creator:      Charles E Wildbore
Place:          Wellington
Date:          circa 1910

This photograph was taken from the slopes of Ferry Hill (now Seaview Gardens), at the corner of Union and Harbour Streets. Includes Leven & Co’s “Hemp Grading and Wool Stores” (large multi-gabled building in the distance) and NZ shipping Company’...

Creator:      George W Anderson
Date:          1912

The Kiwi Mill on the Manawatu River was situated at PukaPuka (Neville's Point) on the Akers Estate, up-stream from Rangitane (Opiki). Frank Smith (scutcher), is fifth from the left in the front row and Charlie Ingram is sixth from left in the fron...

Creator:      Ernest Denton
Date:          circa 1912

The photograph was probably taken in 1912, when Phillips was in the district. It shows a view of the bleaching paddocks adjacent to the Mill building and looking south, with Tararua ranges outside of the photograph on the left, the scutching sheds...

Creator:      Unknown
Date:          circa 1912

Tony Hunt gives a run-down of the history of New Zealand’s flax fibre industry. Behind him is one of the few operational flax strippers remaining in New Zealand.

As part of Local History Week, members of the public and City Library staff visited...

Creator:      Adam Melville
Place:          Foxton
Date:          October 30, 2018

The three flaxmills are 1. Foxton Mill of A King & Co in right background with white water tank. 2. Star Mill, G Coley in right centre with tall smokestack. 3. Ora Mill, H Greig in right foreground with flax stacked in yard.

Creator:      George W Anderson
Place:          Foxton, Manawatu
Date:          circa 1910

The final stage in the preparation of the flax fibre is Scutching; a process in which the dried flax fibre is polished between two wooden surfaces. 

As part of Local History Week, members of the public and City Library staff visited Te Awah...

Creator:      Adam Melville
Place:          Foxton
Date:          October 30, 2018

Barges loaded with flax on the Manawatū River near Shannon.

Creator:      Unknown
Place:          Shannon
Date:          circa 1910

Workers loading bales of flax onto a punt on the Manawatū River.

Creator:      J.A Starck
Place:          Foxton
Date:          1900s

The mill is thought to have been Miranui at Shannon, because the mill had a wooden floor on their yard. The Poplar mill in Moutoa also had a wooden yard. These bundles of flax have been trammed into the mill yard, where they were stored on end for...

Creator:      Unknown
Date:          circa 1910

This photo shows a line of horse-drawn trams loaded with flax, standing on the bank of the Manawatu River. The bundles of flax have been hauled to the riverbank from the adjacent swamp and are ready for transportation to a flax mill in Foxton.

Creator:      E A Phillips
Place:          Palmerston North
Date:          1912

Once the flax is stripped, the fibre is sticky to touch. It is washed to remove loose material and then laid out in the sun to dry and bleach.

As part of Local History Week, members of the public and City Library staff visited Te Awahou Nieuwe S...

Creator:      Adam Melville
Place:          Foxton
Date:          October 30, 2018

Anzac Day 2016 - 2000 flax poppies were woven by the community and placed around the War Memorial in The Square.

Creator:      
Place:          The Square, Palmerston North
Date:          2016

This hand-drawn map of the Makerua Swamp (now Opiki District) shows the approximate location of the flax mills that once operated on the banks of the Manawatu River.

Creator:      Ian Matheson
Place:          Opiki, Manawatu
Date:          1978

The Paiaka Mill was owned by A Seifert and Co. Ltd, located on the Manawatu River, near Foxton. The mill was constructed in 1889 by Robert Gardner and sold to A Seifert & Co in 1901. Demolition of the mill took place in 1910 and a second Paiaka Mi...

Creator:      R Wallis
Place:          Koputaroa
Date:          1901 to 1917

The Totaranui Herb Garden was opened in early 1981 to give visitors an idea about what pioneer gardens might have looked like. This booklet includes a list of some of the native and introduced fauna found in the area that could be foraged for medi...

Creator:      Manawatu Museum
Date:          1981

This image comes from a collection of unidentified negatives taken by H M Griffiths in the early 1900s, probably 1910-1920. Many of these negatives are labelled as having been taken in Tokomaru, but many have no information with them. They were do...

Creator:      H M Griffiths
Place:          Tokomaru
Date:          1910 to 1920

This view appears to have been photographed on the same occasion and from the same view as 2011P_Fx53_004596. The three flaxmills are 1. Foxton Mill of A King & Co in right background with white water tank. 2. Star Mill, G Coley in right centre wi...

Creator:      G W Anderson
Place:          Foxton, Manawatu
Date:          circa 1910

Mr Louis Seifert was a member of the well-known flax-milling family of the Manawatu. He was associated with mills in Rangitikei and also at Rangitāne (Opiki), where he operated the two-stripper "River" mill and the one-stripper mill "Rangitāne" mi...

Creator:      Unknown
Place:          Palmerston North
Date:          circa 1907

This view is from the top of the scutching shed, looking east to the Tararua Ranges - note the soil erosion on the bare hills. The fibre is stacked on fences and on the ground. The Miranui Flax Mill was reputed to be the largest of its kind in the...

Creator:      Unknown
Place:          Shannon
Date:          circa 1907