Margaret Matilda White

Margaret Matilda White came to New Zealand in the 1880s to join her family when she was 18 years old. She was acquainted with the photographer Hanna, possibly working in his studio. She established her own photographic business, which was not a success, but continued to photograph on an amateur or semi-professional basis until her early death in 1910. 
     
Margaret Matilda White is best known for her photographs of the Auckland Mental Hospital, known at times as the Whau Lunatic Asylum, Oakley Mental Hospital or Carrington Mental Hospital. She photographed the buildings and the staff, making pictures of nurses and attendants with her characteristic structured group poses. 
   
The museum has a large collection of her glass plates, donated by her son Albert Sherlock Reed, in 1965.

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Group of female assistants,
Auckland Mental Hospital, 1890s

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Three nurses riding bicycles,
Auckland Private Hospital, 1890s

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Nurses sitting in Victorian sitting room,
Auckland Private Hospital, 1890s

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Woman on beach [Kohimarama], wharf behind, 1900s

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Group of female assistants,
Auckland Mental Hospital, 1890s

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Three nurses on bicycles,
Auckland Private Hospital, 1890s

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Nurses with Mr Hodson: smoking in the garden,
Auckland Private Hospital, 1890s

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Female assistant, Auckland Mental Hospital, 1890s

For further information about the Margaret Matilda White Collection contact:

Curator Gordon Maitland
Phone (09) 306 7070 ext 837
Fax (09) 379 9956
pictorial@aucklandmuseum.com

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