The Diocese of Christchurch has kept clippings books continually since 1948. There has never been any written policy about what is “clipped” or indeed which newspapers are clipped. However the indexing work that has gone on during Level 4 and 3 of the lock-down has shown that the scissors and the clippers over the years have been remarkably consistent in their approach to the collection of items.
In the past the clippings were either pasted directly into guard books, or onto loose pages and subsequently bound. Some are almost bursting at their spines, while more recently acid free paste and acid free spiral bound volumes have been used. These later books are now indexed as the pages are filled. It is much easier to index when the events are fresh.
The newspapers clipped over the years have varied. The Press, the Star Sun and the Evening Star predominate in the 1950’s and 1960’s however local newspapers like the Akaroa Mail, and the stable that includes the Bay Harbour News and the North West News have expanded the collection base. From time to time clippings from further afield find their way into the collection box at the Anglican Centre, and New Zealand Heritage is added to the mix when an article appears that is relevant.
How has that consistency been achieved? Basically the clippers have interpreted Anglican, Church, Christian and denominational interest in its widest sense. The variety that can be found on a single page is often intriguing. Death notices can sit alongside a call for Christmas Tree donations and photographs of choir boys share the same page with an account of General Synod.
So how can these volumes be used? If you were searching for what the Press of the day said about the rebuilding of St Mark’s Church in Opawa as the Parish was recently, the clippings books provided pages of information. The Christchurch Earthquakes filled volumes.
There are still some more volumes from the past to be indexed, with even more useful information to be uncovered.
From the Star Sun 18 December 1950.
The Crowd in Cathedral Square at the Service to celebrate Canterbury’s Centennial.