New Zealand History Research Trust Fund Awards in History

About the Fund

The Fund offers financial assistance to people carrying out projects that will significantly enhance the understanding of New Zealand's past. The funding can be used for a variety of purposes: to enable historians to work full-time on a project; to pay for research and writing costs; and to pay for travel costs associated with research. The fund has $90,000–$100,000 to disburse each year.

Peter Aimer received an award from the New Zealand History Research Trust Fund when researching this history of the National Airways Corporation, published in 2000. As a result he was able to examine Wellington archival sources more thoroughly than would otherwise have been possible.

Special Conditions

Any individual or group may apply for an Award in History, but tertiary students and staff are not eligible for assistance. Applicants may reside outside New Zealand. Only works of non-fiction are eligible, and the scheme does not provide assistance for the collection or arrangement of archival material, the preparation of databases, or the publication of a work.

Applications

Applications close on 15 October each year. An online application form is available. Please read the form carefully and ensure that your application includes all the information requested. The main requirements are a discussion of the significance of the project, an indication of the stage the work has reached, a budget, brief and relevant personal information, and the names of two referees who know your work. Do not include samples of your work or referees reports.

Awards in History for 2008

Applications received:79
Awards made: 11
Amount awarded: $100,000

The successful applicants for 2008 are:

Diana Brown, A Biography of Dr Muriel Bell – $8000
Alison Clarke, Childbirth Rituals in 19th Century New Zealand – $10,000
Neil Clayton, Over the Hedge: A History of New Zealanders and their Weeds – $10,000
William Cottrell, ‘New New Zealand’: Domestic Interiors and Products 1840 to 1910 – $10,000
Joseph Romanos, Our Olympic Century: New Zealand’s First 100 Years at the Olympic Games – $25,000
Suzanne Scheele, An Economic and Social History of the New Zealand Flax Fibre Industry – $6500
Tim Shoebridge, The Good Citizen: A Life of C.E. Daniell – $4000
Lynette Shum, Representing Chinatown: Wellington’s Haining Street 1920–60 – $5000
Jude Wilson, Flight of the Kiwi: The History of the ‘OE’ – $10,000
Bernard Wood, Maori Rugby League 1908–2007 – $5500
Matthew Wright, Old South: A History of the South Island to 1890 – $6000

Previous Award in History recipients: 1990–2007

Enquiries

Before contacting us, please view the Frequently Asked Questions page

Any enquiries should be addressed to Neill Atkinson, Historian.
E-mail: historyaward@mch.govt.nz
Telephone: (04) 496 6355
Fax: (04) 499 4490

Postal Address:
History Group
Ministry for Culture and Heritage
P O Box 5364
Wellington
New Zealand