Harry Skinner (ethnologist)

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Harry Skinner
Hocken Library
RelativesWilliam Skinner (father)
H.D. Skinner Annex of Otago Museum

Henry Devenish Skinner

ethnologist
, university lecturer, museum curator and director, and librarian.

Early life and education

The son of William Skinner and Margaret Bracken Devenish, Henry Devenish Skinner was born in New Plymouth, New Zealand, on 18 December 1886.[1][2]

Skinner enrolled in the

cadet corps at New Plymouth Central School aged 11, and did his secondary schooling at Nelson College from 1902, as a boarder.[1]

From 1906 to 1909 he studied law at

Dunedin, at least partly because he had met his future wife and her family had moved there. There he earned the Parker Memorial Prize in zoology.[1][2]

He enrolled at

Maori and in particular the Moriori culture of the Chatham Islands,[1] earning a diploma in anthropology in 1919.[2]

After returning to New Zealand, Skinner's monograph, The Morioris of Chatham Islands was accepted for the degree of B.A. (Research) at Cambridge in 1923, which challenged the traditional view that Moriori people were descended from a

Polynesian.[1]

Career

Skinner's appointments included:[2][1]

  • Acting Curator, Otago Museum (1912-13)
  • Teacher, Palmerston North Boys' High School (1914)
  • Assistant Director, Otago Museum (1919-37)
  • Lecturer in Anthropology, University of Otago (1919-54; the first such position in Australasia)
  • Director, Otago Museum (1938-52); Director Emeritus (1953)

He developed a long association with Willi Fels at the University of Otago.[2]

Other roles included being president of the

New Zealand Archaeological Association[2] in 1955.[1]

Skinner received information on Māori house types and construction methods from Mere Harper.[3]

Soldier

Skinner volunteered for military service at the end of 1914, after

Anzacs at Gallipoli in World War I, and was wounded there[4] and discharged as unfit for service in late 1915 after being evacuated to Britain and promoted to lance corporal.[1]

Skinner served as an intelligence officer with the

New Zealand Home Guard in World War II.[1]

Recognition and honours

Military

During his service with the

mention in despatches for his bravery, and on 8 October 1915 was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal.[1][2]

Academia

In 1918 Skinner was elected to the council of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland.[1]

He was awarded the

Hector Memorial Medal in 1926, and the Andree Medal in 1936.[1]

He was a Fellow of the

Royal Society of New Zealand[2] in 1927.[1]

In 1938 he was awarded a Doctor of Science by the University of New Zealand.[2][1]

In the

Otago Museum and lecturer in anthropology at the University of Otago.[6][2]

In 1962, he was awarded a

LittD by the University of Otago.[1]

The H.D. Skinner Annex of the

Otago Museum, formerly the Dunedin North Post Office, was opened in August 2013, and named in honour of Skinner.[7][8] During his time at the museum, Skinner was responsible for adding more than 65,000 objects to the humanities collections, including purchasing a piece of HMS Bounty from one of Fletcher Christian's direct descendants.[9][10]

Skinner was one of 24,000 Anzac soldiers wounded at Gallipoli. In 2015, the Otago Museum opened the exhibition "Surviving Chunuk Bair: H. D. Skinner at Gallipoli'' using objects loaned by the Skinner family, including a sewing kit, medals, letters and photographs.[4]

Personal life

Skinner married Eva Louisa Gibbs on 5 December 1915

stillborn. She died in 1963.[1]

Death and legacy

Skinner developed

Alzheimer's
, and he died on 9 February 1978 in Dunedin.

He is especially remembered for helping to reinvigorate and expand the Otago Museum; he reported in 1951 that the museum had gained over 100,000 acquisitions since 1919. His work had a big influence on the development of anthropology and ethnology in New Zealand, and his analyses of Maori material culture set the standard and methods for the following 50 years. Several generations of archaeologists, especially in southern New Zealand, were inspired by his teachings.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Anderson, Atholl. "Skinner, Henry Devenish". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  2. ^
    JSTOR 20703657
    . Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  3. doi:10.1215/00141801-1816166
    .
  4. ^ a b Gibb, John (8 August 2015). "Museum tie to war relics". Otago Daily Times Online News. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  5. ^ "The Percy Smith Medal". NZ Archaeological Association. 1978. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  6. ^ "No. 40671". The London Gazette (Supplement). 2 January 1956. p. 44.
  7. ^ Gibb, John (11 July 2013). "Museum annex set for opening". Otago Daily Times Online News. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  8. ^ Gibb, John (8 August 2013). "Museum annex praised". Otago Daily Times Online News. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  9. ^ Gibb, John (29 April 2011). "Tribute to former director". Otago Daily Times Online News. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  10. ^ "Drama on the high seas". Otago Daily Times Online News. 24 May 2014. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
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