Series 4 - Drafts and fragments of letters written by Donald McLean
This series comprises folders of drafts and fragments of letters written by McLean, spanning most of his career. They complement the letterbooks in series 3.
The letters mainly relate to his official work but also include letters relating to business matters. Many of the letters are incomplete and others are of uncertain date, but as a whole there is much here that provides rich detail about his activities and attitudes.
In addition to these letters and the letterbooks in series 3 other drafts of McLean's letters can be found scattered through some of the diaries and notebooks in series 5.
There are 889 items in this series, of which 60 have been transcribed.
Some of McLean's correspondence concerns his business interests in Hawke's Bay. In 1851 on one of his first visits to Hawke's Bay to buy Māori land for the Government, he commented in his diary "How happy I would feel were I possessed of flocks and herds, and the means of settling on 10,000 acres of these plains". By the late 1850s he had achieved his wish, and by the end of his life his Maraekakaho station had helped make him a very wealthy man.
Maraekakaho station, ca 1865. PA1-q-193-038b-2
Photographic Archive
Alexander Turnbull Library
- Introduction
- Donald McLean, 1820-1877
- Timeline
- Scope and Contents
- Arrangement and Custodial History
- Series 1 - Letters written to Donald McLean (in English)
- Series 2 - Letters written to Donald McLean (in Māori)
- Series 3 - Donald McLean's Letter Books
- Series 4 - Drafts and fragments of letters written by Donald McLean
- Series 5 - Donald McLean's diaries and notebooks
- Series 6 - Telegrams to and from Donald McLean
- Series 7 - Donald McLean's official papers
- Series 8 - Maps
- Series 9 - Letters written to Donald McLean by family members
- Series 13 - Other papers
- Transcriptions and Translations