The restoration of the logs which are held in special storage at the Auckland Public Library was decided upon as the first project for the new Big Omaha Maritime Historical Trust. The logs are from journeys on the brigantine “Rachel’ and the barquentine ‘Industry’. Major funding for the project came from a grant from the estate of well known family identity the late Marian Knaggs.

Sally Meiklejohn has contributed the following on why she and others consider the logs to be important –

When you consider how many logs the family would have had, would have written, with JSM and his sons, and his grandsons (my grandfather Aleck being one) all sailing at various times and on various ships and all we are left with is one log written by JSM in 1828-31 and one log written by JSM in 1856, then we realise just how much has been lost.

We are fortunate that somehow these ones survived.

These logs represent much more than just being an account of one man or one family, they now speak for all the families who made these voyages in search of a better life, so in that sense they truly belong to New Zealand and all New Zealanders and all those Scots and others who made that incredibly harsh and long voyage into the unknown!

The logs have been deposited with the Auckland Public Library, Special Collections, for their safe-keeping. Special Collections also hold Governor Grey’s Papers. They have a “state of the art” specially designed conservation storage area with temperature control and all efforts made to house precious documents safely. Proper conservation techniques are used for the housing and handling of documents.

Because of the damage to the logs over the years and the deterioration conservation work has been urgently needed but unfortunately the Auckland City Library cannot afford to conserve all the documents they have and so I suggested to the family that this should be something we should pay for it at all possible. I had always stressed in newsletters that we needed to build up funds for this work.

In 1992 the Librarian of the Auckland Institute and Museum wrote after inspecting material presented to him –
“I believe that the logbooks, journals and documents on paper to be of national significance. They chronicle many aspects of the New Zealand heritage – the seafarer, the young immigrant, the settler and the nascent businessman. They detail a vital local industry – shipbuilding – in a very full way indeed. Indeed, I have never before seen such complete records of the Big Omaha endeavour as in those journals”.

The conservation work is being undertaken by the only conservator in NZ that the library recommends and uses. He will strip down the logs, undertake repairs and conservation required to stabilise the material. Inks will be tested, all sheets will be washed and de-acidified to reduce staining, neutralise acidity, and buffer the paper.
Damage will be repaired using archival acid-free repair papers and tissues, starch paste and gelatine size.
The logs will then be re-sewn, re-bound, the original spine leather and label will be remounted.
Archival boxes will be constructed to house and protect the logs.
All original material will be used where possible and all repair materials and adhesives will be archival quality and reversible.
Each page has been digitized and a CD of the logs of the various is available at a cost of $15 each.