Cambridge History Talk Series in partnership with U3A
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Cambridge Museum and Historical Society partners with U3A to provide three lectures a year focussing on the history of Cambridge and the Waikato region.
Meetings are free for Friends of the Museum and are held at the Te Awa Lifecare Woolshed, 1866 Cambridge Road, Cambridge, from 10am for 10.30 until 12.00 noon on the fourth Friday of each month.
Upcoming events
- Friday, 23 May 2025 – Matthew Gainsford, RedOx Cultural Heritage Services – title coming soon!
- Friday, 22 August 2025 – Craig Hoyle, Excommunicated: Two centuries of complicated family history
- Friday, 24 October 2025 – Josh Hansen, Consultant
- Tuesday, 25 August 2026 – James Goodrich, Odontology and a Marine: The Battle of Tarawa
FURTHER DETAILS:
Friday 23 May, 2025
Matthew Gainsford – HMS Buffalo Reinterpretation Project
Matthew is a maritime archaeologist specialising in Underwater/Maritime Archaeology, although in New Zealand, he works mostly in the land based arena.
Matthew’s research spans multiple areas within archaeology including: fishing structures, HMS Buffalo, seafaring and trade, ports, navigation structures, shoe based industry, early NZ Mission Stations, Māori horticulture and occupation, historic occupation and land use. Within the discipline some of his major interests are public outreach, 3D scanning, GIS mapping, remote sensing and documentation, site formation processes and in-situ preservation of archaeological sites.
HMS Buffalo Reinterpretation Project
In July 1840, whilst carrying a load of Kauri for ships spars, the British naval ship HMS Buffalo took shelter in Mercury Bay, Whitianga to weather out an incoming storm. When the storm hit, it was described as ‘hurricane strength’. Unfortunately, HMS was wrecked on Buffalo Beach, Whitianga, where it is still visible today. It rests, completely submerged, in around 3 metres of water and about 50 metres offshore at low tide. It is in an area where tides and prevailing easterly swells constantly expose and re-bury its hull remains. Since it was wrecked pre-1900 it is classed as an archaeological site under the HNZPT 2014 and has recently been nominated for the New Zealand Heritage list .
In 2020 a project was established to better research and understand the site and to disseminate as much information about it as possible. Working with the Mercury Bay Museum the project has undertaken research, an archaeological survey and sampling of the site; often using volunteer help from the community. The project also had a major goal, to increase awareness of maritime archaeology both locally and nationally through engagement with the Mercury Bay Museum, schools, and local and national agencies. The results from the project have provided a better understanding of the vessel and site whilst also providing new interpretation and learning experiences to the wider community.
In 2020, the Project was awarded the Australasian Institute for Maritime Archaeology Scholarship. The success of the Project and its achievements have been recognised with the 2022 New Zealand Archaeological Association Public Archaeology Award and the International Australasian Society for Historical Archaeology Martin Davies 2023 Award for best public archaeology initiative.
Friday August 22nd, 2025
Craig Hoyle – Excommunicated: Two centuries of complicated family history
Craig Hoyle was born in Kirikiriroa Hamilton into the Exclusive Brethren, an isolationist sect that shuns social contact with the outside world. After facing interrogations and conversion therapy for his sexuality, Craig was excommunicated from the Brethren and lost his family in 2009.
Today he is chief news director for the Sunday Star-Times. His book, Excommunicated, is a multigenerational memoir tracing 200 years of his family’s history, using letters, records and interviews to explore how his forebears became associated with the Brethren movement, and the subsequent impact over seven generations. Craig lives in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.
Friday 24 Oct, 2025
Josh Hansen, Consultant and former Director of the New Zealand Liberation Museum Te Arawhata in Le Quesnoy, France
Title to talk to be confirmed.
Tuesday 25 August, 2026
Dr James Goodrich, Odontology and a Marine: The Battle of Tarawa
Dr James (Jimbo) Goodrich is an active forensic odontologist in Cambridge, with more than 25 years experience in the field. He attended the Christchurch Earthquake, Mosque Shootings, and Whakaari White Island Volcano disaster victim identification efforts, as well as more routine individual identification work for the police. He has presented internationally on his work with Drs Corinne D’Anjou and David Senn with identification of marines from the Battle of Tarawa in 1941, among other things. Jim is a Fellow of several organisations, including the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, and is a past president of the New Zealand Society of Forensic Odontology. Jim is one of the few members of the New Zealand Society of Forensic Odontology to have been fully credentialed in Bitemarks, and his current interests are in the field of the ethical considerations around using dental age estimation to threshold adulthood.
To book your place:
These events are free to Friends of Cambridge Museum. Book your place by contacting the Museum.