Bernard Sladden, 1879-1961

• Early life
• Career
• Military Service
• Interests
• Book Collection
• Archives and Photographic Collection
• Descriptions of Bernard

Early Life
Bernard Sladden was born in Oxford, North Canterbury, on 28 October 1879, the eighth child of Dilnot Sladden, and his wife, Elizabeth Letitia Coster. The eight brothers and three sisters in the family were known collectively as ‘the Oxford Eleven’.

Career
After finishing his education at Wellington College, Sladden joined the Bank of New Zealand Assets Realisation Board as a cadet in 1896. Early in his career he was placed on farms in the central North Island. He assisted with the bookkeeping for the 44,000-acre Matamata estate, where he lived and worked in the historic concrete tower building. Moving to the eastern Bay of Plenty, he earned a reputation as a first-class cattle man while managing the Waimana estate, before taking up a block of land near Taneatua shortly before 1914 in partnership with his brother Arthur.

Returning in 1918 from serving World War I, Sladden became a member of the Auckland Land Board (1920–29) administering the Returned Soldiers’ Land Settlement Scheme.

From his professional interest in agriculture Sladden developed a personal interest in botany and zoology. Appointed honorary ranger for Motuotau Island, near Mount Maunganui, in 1928, he was a gazetted inspector with responsibility for all the off-shore islands in the Bay of Plenty in 1932. He held this position for nearly 30 years. A sheltered beach on the central island of the middle chain was named Severn Cove after his launch.

Portrait of Bernard Sladden in his later years
Photo bs-799

Military Service
Sladden served with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (1916–18). Listed as a sheep-farmer on Roll No. 45, E Company, 13th Reinforcements to 1st Battalion.

Interests
Sladden's membership of a variety of organisations reflect his interests. He was a member of the Bay of Plenty Māori Research and Historical Society from 1933 until it went into recess in 1939, and a life member of both the Whakatane and District and Tauranga historical societies.

His interest in ornithology led him to join the Ornithological Society of New Zealand, the New Zealand Native Bird Protection Society, and the Australasian Ornithological Union.

As a member of the Tauranga Beautifying Society he planted native shrubs and trees on the Monmouth redoubt and at the Tauranga Mission cemetery.
A member of the New Zealand Institute, Sladden contributed articles on natural history to the New Zealand Journal of Science and Technology. He also contributed to historical society journals and gave talks on his specialist subjects.

His love of the sea led him to join the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, and he became a flag officer and life member of the Tauranga Yacht Club. By studying Cook’s journals, translating from the French Dumont d’Urville’s account of his crossing of the Bay of Plenty and sailing the waters himself to recreate the voyages in his own launch, he was able to correct errors in the location and nomenclature of islands on charts of the area. Nevertheless, he blamed himself for failing to publish more of his research.

Book Collection
His father’s personal library of early imprints on Pacific exploration and discovery formed the nucleus for Sladden’s collection of books, and he added publications to support his research.

After Sladden's death in Tauranga, his collection of books of approximately 600 volumes passed through the Trusteeship of the Tauranga Historical Society, to be gifted in 1964 to the Tauranga City Council as a 'New Zealand and Pacific Reference collection'. This gift established a 'New Zealand Room' within the Library at the Town Hall.

Tauranga City Libraries have followed conditions of the gift that appropriate books be purchased and added, with the Sladden Collection searchable online. Appointments to visit can be made by contacting the Heritage and Research Team at Tauranga Public Libraries.

Archives and Photographic Collection
Tauranga City Libraries are the home to the Papers of Bernard Sladden, (Tauranga City Libraries Ms 33), and the Bernard Sladden Photographic Collection.
The Badsey Society also hold Sladden family resources.

Descriptions of Bernard
His close friend, president of the Tauranga Historical Society L.W. Melvin, described Sladden as ‘a tall, stooped, khaki clad figure with binoculars on shoulder, and sheath knife on hip. His tuckerbag could contain everything from salt to a corkscrew’.

Lawyer and trustee of Sladden's estate, W. Gittos said he was "a wiry person, with a pleasing face, a hint of a smile at the corner of the eyes, easily approachable, willing to talk, and yet of a retiring disposition’.