Clendon’s second wife Jane Takotowi Cochrane – the daughter of Irish settler Dennis Brown Cochrane and his wife Taokotowi Te Whata, a woman of considerable influence and mana – is a significant presence in the papers, some of which provide evidence of her determination to clear the near-impossible debt left by Clendon following his death. 

The fact that the collection exists at all is largely due to the care with which generations of Clendon descendants have ensured that items have been kept and documented. Today, the collection is held jointly by Auckland Libraries Ngā Pātaka Kōrero o Tāmaki Makaurau and Clendon House in Rawene, a historic property and Tohu Whenua cared for by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga. 

“The Clendon Papers are closely linked to Clendon House with a good proportion of the collection still based there,” says Mr Coleman. “Not only has the Clendon family ensured that this valuable collection of papers and other items remains is available to us today, they also had a strong kaitiaki role with the house itself. The Clendon whānau have made an extraordinary contribution to the preservation of important aspects of New Zealand history and we as a country owe them a tremendous debt of thanks.”

Following Clendon’s death in 1872, the papers go on to reflect the family’s life in the developing bi-lingual, bi-racial society of the Hokianga, extending to 1972 when Clendon House in Rawene was purchased by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust, the predecessor of Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga.  The bulk of the papers cover from the 1840s to the 1940s with the collection totaling some 3000 items over the two locations. The papers include personal, business, and official correspondence and papers, letter books, registers, journals, memoir, ephemera, photographs and inscribed books.