Requested information about historical records enquiry – Mackenzie County Council 1894–96, and 1915 (contractor W. Clausen, Coal Creek) (Our ref. 110).
Request:
I am researching William (Villiam) Nicolai Clausen (1869–1939), a Danish-born labourer and contractor who married in Timaru in 1893.
In November 1895 he was sued in the Timaru Magistrate's Court by Annie Richmond (the horse was John Richmond's, of Silverstream, near Burkes Pass). The case was over a horse lent to him in May 1895 that died in his care. The Timaru Herald (14 Nov 1895) describes him as "a contractor living at Coal Creek", working from a camp that he shifted at the end of August 1895. D. and J. McKay of Coal Creek and Frank Smith of Moanavale gave evidence for him.
I have read the newspaper reports of the Mackenzie County Council's meetings for 1895–96 but cannot find his name, so his work may not have been county work. I would be grateful if you could tell me:
- Whether the old Mackenzie County Council's records for 1894–96 still survive (minute books, contract or tender registers, wages or pay books, correspondence), and where they are held now: with the Council in Fairlie, or deposited with a museum or archive.
- If they are held by the Council, whether a search could be made, or whether I could arrange for someone to view them, for any mention of W. Clausen (also spelt Claussen or Clauson) in 1894–96, and later in 1915, when a W. Clausen took a county contract for a bridge over the Opawa River.
I live in New Zealand and would be happy to pay any search or copying charges.
Response:
1. The Mackenzie County Council’s minute books for the period 1864-1915 are held in an off-site storage archive facility in Christchurch.
The minute books for this period are in storage together as 1864-1915 and therefore we cannot ascertain prior to retrieval if relevant information to your request is held with them or if the minute books for the exact time frame being requested are held. These records are archived in permanent storage which is both humidity and temperature controlled to protect them due to their significance, age and fragility.
It is possible to have these records retrieved from archival storage and to be viewed on site at the Christchurch facility in a records viewing room with the MDC records adviser however there would be some costs incurred as outlined below.
There would be no charge for one hour of MDC staff time on site, however after one hour there would be a staff time cost of $76 per hour.
As there are retrieval and viewing fees from the archive facility Council would need to pass on these costs.
- Retrieval and refiling $261.73 excl GST
- Viewing room $50 per hour, excl GST