Biography

THOMAS MORLAND HOCKEN

Burial register ID: 11681
Surname: HOCKEN
First name: THOMAS
Middle names: MORLAND
Gender: Male
Age: 74 Years
Cause of death: Accident
Burial type:
Date of death: 17-May-1910
Date of burial: 19-May-1910

Block: 118
Plot: 12
Inscription:

Sacred To The Memory Of Thomas Morland Hocken

born 14 January 1836 died 17 May 1940

“Rest remaineth, Oh how sweet

Flowery fields for tired feet

Peaceful climes for sleepless eyes

Life for Death, and songs for sighs”

Julia Anne Dakyne, wife of Dr T. M. Hocken

died 7 December 1881 aged 39 years

“Moon and Stars decorated & gone to heaven” (Greek script)

Bio contributor: Extract from text at the Hocken Library

The Hocken Library owes its existence to the vigorous collecting and subsequent generosity of a Dunedin doctor, Thomas Morland Hocken (1836-1910). Born in Lincolnshire, the son of a Wesleyan minister, Hocken qualified in medicine in 1856 and worked as a ship’s surgeon between England and Australia until settling in Dunedin in 1862.

As a doctor, and coroner for 22 years, T.M.Hocken became one of the city’s best-known figures – ‘a neat, dapper little man, with a short-clipped beard and dark lively eyes. Bustling, energetic, intensely industrious, he had a winning personality and infectious enthusiasm.’

Hocken applied his drive and talent to the acquisition of books, newspapers, maps, pamphlets, photographs, pictures and artifacts relating to New Zealand, the Pacific and early Australia. He shared his knowledge widely through lectures, exhibitions, his own books and writings and the important Bibliography of the Literature relating to New Zealand, published in 1902.

In 1897, Dr Hocken offered his fine collection to Dunedin and the people of New Zealand. Public subscription lists opened in 1906, and a Deed of Trust was drawn up by which the Hocken Collection was housed in a special wing added to the Otago Museum, and managed by the University of Otago in trust for the nation. Too ill to attend the opening on 23 March 1910, Dr Hocken died two months later. He is buried with his first wife Julia in the Northern Cemetery.
Thomas Morland Hocken
Source: Hocken Library, Uare Taoka o Hakena, University of Otago, Dunedin, E1793/3


Hocken’s house in Moray Place, Dunedin
Source: Hocken Library, Uare Taoka o Hakena, University of Otago, Dunedin, E1029/22

There are 2 Interments in this grave:

Surname First names Age Date of death Date of burial
HOCKEN JULIA ANNE 39 Years 07-Dec-1881 09-Dec-1881
HOCKEN THOMAS MORLAND 74 Years 17-May-1910 19-May-1910