THE WILLIAMS MUSEUM

Personal contacts with family members have produced over the past decade a fascinating and eclectic mix of items.  Photographs, descriptions and names of donors are shown in this section of the website.  We hope this section will provide greater insights into the personal lives of the early Williams family and also inspire more family members to entrust their historic items to the Museum Trust.  We are unable to accept items on loan.

 

Given the Trust’s limited resources and problems in holding and displaying items, the trustees have set an acquisitions policy of confined scope, namely:

 

• to acquire items relating directly to Henry and William Williams and their wives, Marianne and Jane, such as objects which used to belong to or were used by them.

• to consider also items that fall outside the above criteria but have a close relationship with them or are important in telling the story of their lives.

 

Items in Public and Private Collections

 

We are aware that there are some important Williams family items which would fall under the terms of our acquisition policy but the owners understandably prefer to keep them.  There are also a number of significant family items held by museums, especially in Auckland, Gisborne and Hawkes Bay. We plan to develop a section covering items in both public and private collections and are making a modest start with information we already have from some family members.   Click here for this page. So please email to us your photos and stories.