Diamond Jack

John (Jack) Thomas Diamond MBE 1912 - 2001

Jack Diamond at the site of a kauri dam. Photo B Hayward

New Zealand archaeology had a pioneer in Jack. His work on the west Auckland timber and clay industries was a ground breaking research in local industrial archaeology. West Auckland was the focus of almost all his work, appearing first in his much reprinted local history then increasingly in archaeological format. His knowledge of the area was based on intensive ground survey and records made in interviews of elderly residents. He was an enthusiatic photographer. His photographic record alone of the vegetation and land utilisation of the Waitakere Ranges from the 1930s onwards will be a vital historical record in future.

At the time of his retirement Jack met young geologist Bruce Hayward, both with a love of the Waitakeres. They had two busy years (1975, 1977) of joint field work mapping and researching the prehistoric archaeology and kauri timber milling history that resulted in a number of publications – see bibliography.

The retail carpet trade was his career.

Jack’s family donated his photographs, papers and oral history recordings to the Waitakere City Libraries (Now Auckland Council Libraries). A special catalogue of the material is held at the library:

'JTD Collection : John (Jack) Thomas Diamond : collection of historical books, pamphlets, notes and writings, photographs and negatives of the Maori, timber industry, brick making industry in the Waitakere Ranges and West Auckland District : catalogue / compiled by John Royce Diamond.'

There is a reading room named in his honour at the Henderson branch library.

Obituary 2001 Archaeology in New Zealand 44(1):7-13.

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Bibliography

- n.d. Report on the buildings and places of historic or community significance, architectural merit or landmark Value in the county of Rodney. Unpublished report.

- n.d. Report on the places and buildings of national or local historical or architectural merit, landmark value or community significance in the county of Franklin. Unpublished report.

- n.d. The Diamond method of identifying and classifying bricks and pottery manufactured in New Zealand before 1930, part one. Unpublished report.

- 1953, 1966. Once the Wilderness. 2 editions. V.H. Wilkinson.

- 1955. The Maori in the Waitakere Ranges Journal of the Polynesian Society 64(3): 304-314.

- 1961. Fortified and settlement sites in the Waitakere West Coast area. New Zealand Archaeological Association Newsletter 4(2): 54-55.

- 1962. Field survey of the western side of Coromandel Peninsula, near Port Jackson. New Zealand Archaeological l Association Newsletter 5(1): 38-41.

- 1963. Maori pa without visible earthwork defences. New Zealand Archaeological Association Newsletter 6(1): 16-17.

- 1966 Practical uses of ditch-and-bank fences in the Auckland district. New Zealand Archaeological Association Newsletter 9: 166–167.

- 1968. The physical analysis of refuse in NZ archaeological sites. New Zealand Archaeological Association Newsletter 11(4): 172-174.

- 1970. The association of karaka and pre-European sites in the Waitakere Ranges, Auckland. New Zealand Archaeological Association Newsletter 13(3): 143-146.

- 1978 The Waitakere ballads of John T. Diamond. Lodestar Press.

- 1977. Once the Wilderness. 3rd edition. Lodestar Press.

- 1979. The Hon. William Swanson MLC. Historical Journal, Auckland-Waikato 35: 25-27.

- 1982. Taro. New Zealand Archaeological Association Newsletter 25(3): 195-198.

- 1983. Making bricks in early Auckland. Journal of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust,No.3.

- 1985. Machines in brickmaking. Journal of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust No.8.

- 1990. Petroglyph moulds. New Zealand Archaeological Association Newsletter 32(2): 104-106.

- 1992. The brick and pottery industry in the Western Districts. In Northcote Bade, J. (Ed.) West Auckland Remembers, Vol.2, West Auckland Historical Society: 45-54.

- and Lowe, D. 1985. Kauri. Lodestar Press.

- and Hayward B.W. 1975. Kauri Timber Dams. Lodestar Press, Auckland.

- and Hayward B.W. 1979. The Maori History and Legends of the Waitakere Ranges. Lodestar Press, Auckland.

- and Bruce W. Hayward 1980a Waitakere kauri : a pictorial history of the kauri timber industry in the Waitakere Ranges, west Auckland Lodestar Press.

- and Hayward B.W. 1980b. Early earth driving dams in New Zealand. The Records of the New Zealand Historic Places Trust No 3: 8-17.

- and Hayward B.W. 1989. The kauri driving dams. In Trotter, M. and McCulloch, B. Unearthing New Zealand. Government Printing Office, Wellington: 124-125.

- and Hayward B.W. 1990. Prehistoric sites in West Auckland. In Northcote Bade, J. (Ed.) West Auckland Remembers. Vol. I. West Auckland Historical Society: 33-41.

- and Hayward B.W. 1991. Kauri Timber Days. A pictorial account of the kauri timber industry in New Zealand. Bush Press.

- and Hayward, B.W. 2006. The Vanished forests. How did it happen ?, in Harvey, B., and Harvey, T., eds., Waitakere Ranges. Ranges of Inspiration. Nature, History, Culture.: Auckland, Waitakere ranges Protection Society, p. 74-76.

Hayward B.W. and Diamond J.T. 1975. Kauri dam sites in the Waitakere Ranges. Tane 2: 105-120.

Hayward B.W. and Diamond J.T. 1977. Archaeological sites of the Te Henga district, Waitakere Ranges, West Auckland. Tane 23: 89-118. Diamond, J.T. 1978. The Waitakere Ballads of John T. Diamond. Lodestar Press.

Hayward B.W. and Diamond J.T. 1978a. Prehistoric archaeological sites of the Waitakere Ranges and West Auckland, New Zealand. Auckland Regional Authority Parks Department.

Hayward B.W. and Diamond J.T. 1978b. Historic archaeological sites of the Waitakere Ranges, West Auckland, New Zealand Auckland Regional Authority Parks Department.

Hayward B.W. and Diamond J.T. 1979. Archaeological evidence for the design of kauri driving dams in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Archaeology 1: 153-169.

Hayward B.W. and Diamond J.T. 1980. Radiocarbon dates from the Waitakere Ranges, west Auckland. New Zealand Archaeological Association Newsletter 23(4): 226-231.

Hayward B.W. and Diamond J.T. 1982. Excavation of a nineteenth century kauri bushmen's hut site, Waitakere Ranges, west Auckland. New Zealand Archaeological Association Newsletter 25(3): 171 -179.

Hayward, B.W. and Diamond J.T. 1984. Archaeology of the kauri timber and kauri gum industries. New Zealand's Industrial Past, Historic Places Trust Publication No 20: 16-19.