Haast, Franz Julius von (Julius) (1822 - 1887)

Summary

Julius von Haast was a German geologist who travelled to New Zealand in 1858 to report on the suitability of New Zealand for German migration for a British shipping company. He made the acquaintance of fellow geologist Ferdinand von Hochstetter and together they made extensive exploratory journeys in both the North and South Islands. After Hochstetter's departure from New Zealand, Haast continued his geological exploration in the South Island often at the request of local authorities. He gained an international reputation for his research on New Zealand's extinct bird, the Moa. In 1868 he was appointed Director of the Canterbury Museum, and in 1876 Professor of Geology at the Canterbury College University. Haast was a regular correspondent with Ferdinand von Mueller, Victoria's Government Botanist. A number of geographical features in New Zealand were named after Haast.

Details

Chronology

December 1858

Life event - Arrived in New Zealand

1862

Career event - Founding Member, Philosophical Institute of Canterbury

1867 - 1887

Award - Fellow, The Royal Society, London (FRS)

1868 - 1887

Career position - Director, Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand

1873 - 1876

Career position - Lecturer in Geology, Canterbury College University, Christchurch, New Zealand

1876 - 1887

Career position - Professor of Geology, Canterbury College University, Christchurch, New Zealand

1884

Award - Patron's Gold Medal, Royal Geographical Society, London

1886

Award - Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCGM)

1886

Career position - New Zealand Commissioner to the Colonial and Indian Exhibition, London

Published resources

Books

• Burns, Rowan and Nathan, Simon, My Dear Dr Haast: Transcriptions of Selected Letters from Robert Langley Holmes to Julius Haast Between 1864-65 and 1868-70 (Lower Hutt, N.Z.: Geoscience Society of New Zealand, 2012), 53 pp. Details
• Burrows, Colin J., Julius Haast in the Southern Alps (Christchurch: Canterbury University Press, 2005), 215 pp. Details
• Darragh, Thomas A.; and Pullin, Ruth, Lieber Freund! Letters from Eugen von Guerard to Julius von Haast (Ballarat: Art Gallery of Ballarat, 2018), 81 pp. Details
• Haast, H. F. von., The life and times of Sir Julius von Haast: explorer, geologist, museum builder. (Wellington, N.Z.: the author, 1948), 1142 pp. Details
• Johnston, Mike and Nolden, Sascha, Travels of Hochstetter and Haast in New Zealand, 1858-60 (Nelson, NZ: Nikau Press, 2011), 336 pp. Details
• Mildenhall, E.; Burns, Rowan; and Nathan, Simon, Transcriptions of Selected Letters From Frederick Wollaston Hutton to James Hector and Julius Haast (Lower Hutt (N.Z): Geoscience Society of New Zealand, 2012), 141 pp. Details
• Nolden, Sascha, Burns, Rowan and Nathan, Simon, The Correspondence of Julius Haast and James Hector, 1862-1887 (Lower Hutt (N.Z.): Geoscience Society of New Zealand, 2012), 315 pp. Details
• Nolden, Sascha, Nathan, Simon and Mildenhall, Esme, The Correspondence of Julius Haast and Joseph Dalton Hooker, 1861-1886 ([Wellington]: Geoscience Society of New Zealand, 2013), 219 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Langer, Wolfhart, 'Sir John Francis Julius von Haast, 1822-1887' in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004). Details

Edited Books

• Howes, Hilary; Jones, Tristen; and Spriggs, Matthew eds, Uncovering Pacific pasts: histories of archaeology in Oceania (Canberra: ANU Press, 2022), 577 pp. http://doi.org/10.22459/UPP.2021. Details

Journal Articles

• Barton, Ruth, 'Haast and the moa: reversing the tyranny of distance', Pacific Science, 54 (3) (2000), 251-63. Details
• Crane, Rosi, 'Rivalry and cooperation: Julius von Haast's influence on the Otago Museum', Canterbury Museum bulletin, 11 (2023), 47-60. https://cms.canterburymuseum.com/assets/Bulletin-Crane.pdf?v=1678934066. Details
• Galloway, D. J., 'Julius von Haast's botanical explorations', New Zealand Alpine Journal, 29 (1976), 88-108. Details
• Galloway, David, 'Julius Haast's letters concerning the drowning of Dr Andrew Sinclair (1796-1861) while crossing the Rangitata River, 26 March 1861', New Zealand Botanical Society Newsletter, 108 (2012), 9-13. Details
• Grapes, Rodney, 'Correspondence between Julius Haast and Sir Charles Lyell, 1861 - 1869: earthquakes, anthropology, geology, botany, meterorology', Journal of historical studies, Geoscience Society of New Zealand, 75 (2023), 1-45. Details
• Klemun, Marianne, 'Julius Haast, Ferdinand von Hochstetter, New Zealand and the 1873 World Exhibition in Vienna: mobilising nature by knowledge, objects, labels and inscriptions', Canterbury Museum bulletin, 11 (2023), 97-115. https://cms.canterburymuseum.com/assets/Bulletin-Klemun.pdf?v=1678934451. Details
• Mattes, Johannes, 'Working from overseas: the New Zealand naturalist and collector Julius von Haast and European scientific societies on the other side of the globe', Canterbury Museum bulletin, 11 (2023), 137-53. https://cms.canterburymuseum.com/assets/Bulletin-Mattes.pdf?v=1678934590. Details
• Nathan, Simon, 'Julius von Haast and the naming of topographic features', Journal of historical studies, Geoscience Society of New Zealand, 75 (2023), 71-8. Details
• Nolden, Sascha, 'The life and legacy of Sir Julius von Haast: exploring archival documentary heritage collections', Records of the Canterbury Museum, 30 (2016), 65-80. Details
• Nolden, Sascha, 'Sir Julius von Haast: exploring an archival documentary heritage collection in the Alexander Turnbull Library', Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Special issue (2016), 1-6, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03036758.2016.1208254. Details
• Nolden, Sascha, 'The correspondence of Julius von Haast', Canterbury Museum bulletin, 11 (2023), 165-85. https://cms.canterburymuseum.com/assets/Bulletin-Nolden.pdf?v=1678934912. Details
• Nolden, Sascha and Hook, George, 'Julius Haast's first scientific paper: the long-lost Royal Society of Victoria manuscript of 1861 rediscovered', Journal of historical studies, Geoscience Society of New Zealand, 74 (2023), 1-50. Details
• Schlott, Christine, 'On moa hunters and their tools: museum exchange and correspondence of Adolf Bernhard Meyer (Dresden) and Julius von Haast (Christchurch)', Journal of the Historical Studies Group, Geoscience Society of New Zealand, 71 (2022), 34-54. Details

See also

• Nolden, Sascha and Manton, Karen, 'The letters of Mary von Haast to her family', Journal of historical studies, Geoscience Society of New Zealand, 80 (2024), 1-149. Details