Curious, elaborate bottles from an Edwardian pharmacy form part of a collection which tells the story of a progressive family who, more than 100 years ago, valued education for their sons and their daughters.

Te Waka Huia o Ngā Taonga Tuku Iho/Wellington Museum was recently gifted the Castle Chemists collection by the Pharmaceutical Society of New Zealand. This is significant for Wellington. Castle Chemists is an institution in Newtown, still operating as a pharmacy more than 100 years after it was opened by John Castle in the late 1800s.

Standing at 139 Riddiford St, Newtown, Castle Chemists is an interesting building. Inside it is still laid out in much the same way as it would have been 120 years ago. It’s typical of the modest, late Victorian two-storey, wooden shops that give so much character to Newtown. The building also displays mock crenellations, teeth-like projections you see at the top of medieval castles, no doubt a play on the family name. Inside you get a real sense of an Edwardian pharmacy, full of curious, elaborate bottles with strange Latin writing across the front.

Many of these bottles, and the ones that Wellington Museum have just acquired, were collected by John Castle’s son Ronald.

The Castle family were interesting people. Five of the seven children John and Annie Castle brought into the world became pharmacists themselves. Mavis and Mona Castle were among the earliest women pharmacists in New Zealand. The family ran pharmacies all over Wellington, with their location in Newtown the oldest, and the only one still operating under their name, although now with new owners.

The family were not only successful pharmacists. John and Annie believed all their children should have a full and broad education. Indicative of his progressive mindset, John Castle was one of few New Zealand men to sign the Women’s Suffrage Petition which led to New Zealand women winning the right to vote in 1893.

John and Annie’s youngest daughter Zillah became an accomplished musician, receiving a violin scholarship to the Royal College of Music, London, in 1931. A multi-instrumentalist, she played as a soloist, with orchestras and on radio broadcasts throughout her life. She and her brother Ronald (also an accomplished musician) shared a house on Colombo St, Newtown. This was full of rare books and musical instruments from across the world. These collections are now with the Alexander Turnbull Library and Auckland Museum.

By the 1970s most of the second generation of the Castle family had retired. Ronald Castle, the youngest son, and owner of their Newtown pharmacy, acquired many of the family’s old medicine bottles and equipment, keeping them in an informal museum above the business. Ronald retired in 1981 and his collection was acquired by the Pharmaceutical Society of New Zealand. Recently, as the society was moving premises, they felt the time was right to give the collection a new long-term home.

We can’t say when the Castle Chemists collection will be on display, as good things take time. Our collections staff first need time to catalogue dozens of bottles, books and apparatus. They also need to make sure the chemicals stored in the bottles are safe in the long-term, for visitors and our other collections. Rest assured, under the care of Wellington Museum, the fascinating stories of the Castle family and these touchstones to our past will be looked after for future generations to ponder and enjoy.

We work in the past, but we’re always thinking of the future at Te Waka Huia o Ngā Taonga Tuku Iho Wellington Museum.

Behind the scenes, a lot of work goes into looking after the collections you see in our galleries. Climate control, object conservation and custom mount making for example, keep the treasures we care for in good condition for future generations.

Our people who manage the collections are kaitiaki (guardians) of treasures we hold in trust for the people of Wellington. We might work here for five, 10, or twenty years, but we know there will be other kaitiaki caring for these objects after us, and we all want to do the best we can to look after this legacy.

So we are delighted to be introducing two treasures that we are conserving and restoring for display at Wellington Museum and Nairn Street Cottage with funding support from the Lottery Grants Board.

The pou whenua from Tapu Te Ranga Marae is a taonga made under the guidance of Bruce Stewart, the visionary behind the pan-tribal Tapu Te Ranga Marae in Island Bay. Bruce cloaked the hills around Tapu Te Ranga in native trees and built the spectacular multi-storied marae buildings on his site near the Home of Compassion, providing a haven for the unemployed and destitute. This pou was carved by marae residents to help give them a sense of belonging in their community. Tragically, several years after Bruce’s passing, the main marae buildings burnt down in 2019.

Donated to Wellington Museum by Bruce’s whānau in 2022, this pou has been treated by conservation scientist Susanne Rawson to stabilise dry rot in its base. When taonga are conserved, they are not intended to look like new, but are stabilised using reversable techniques and materials, which won’t damage them in any way. We have also employed a specialist mount maker, Dennis Feaver, to make a support for the pou that ensures its safety. You can now see the pou in Wellington Museum’s Te Whanganui-a-Tara exhibition.

A 100-year-old pianola will soon be bringing the romance of jazz to Nairn St Cottage. The pianola once belonged to Blanche and Richard Monnie. The couple were prominent early 20th century Wellington businesspeople, specialising in clothing manufacture. They were also active in Wellington’s social scene of the 1920s and 1930s. Their house in Hamilton Rd, Haitaitai, included a formal parlour and a dance room. This pianola took pride of place in the dance room, playing jazz, foxtrots, waltzes and operas.

When the pianola was donated to Wellington Museum by descendants of the family it was in a very bad state, having not been played since the 1970s. Fortunately Wellington has piano and pianola restorer Stephen Powell, who has spent hundreds of hours completely rebuilding this incredibly complicated instrument. When it is finished, it will look like it did when the Monnie’s first rolled it into their dance room 100 years ago. We are planning to install the pianola in Nairn St Cottage in the next few months – stay tuned for that announcement.

You can see that a lot happens behind the scenes at Wellington Museum. We care for these precious treasures which tell the story of Pōneke, so the future generations of Wellingtonians can still view them in hundreds of years. We are actively building our collections, acquiring things with rich personal stories.

Do get in touch if you have something that can offer future generations insights into the way Wellingtonians have lived and how they live now – your descendants will thank you for it.

We are grateful to the Lotteries Environment and Heritage Committee for helping to restore this Pou – ensuring this treasure taonga and kōrero aren’t forgotten.

• Ian Wards is Wheako Pōneke Experience Wellington’s Senior Curator (Taonga).