Museum Video Gallery

Our video gallery of short films, documentary features, promo reels, and educational history showcasing Marlborough and local museum projects. Grab the popcorn! 🍿

Local Stories Brought to Screen

This gallery gathers short documentaries, community initiatives, and local heritage accounts created by the Marlborough Historical Society and our extended community. Many of these features were directed and produced by local documentary maker and committee member Paul Davidson, including selections created under Bytesize Productions.

Sourced from around the web, these recordings offer open access to regional perspectives, volunteer efforts, and the history behind our exhibits and collections.

Abridged Clip | The Queen in Marlborough

Brief snippet from Pictorial Parade NZ Archives video showing Royal stopover in Blenheim and Marlborough Sounds flyover.

Archives New Zealand (CC BY 3.0)

The Guard Family: NZ's Untold History of One of Its Earliest European Settlers

In this episode, Darren Guard shares the remarkable story of his ancestors, John "Jacky" Guard and Elizabeth "Betty" Guard, whose lives helped shape the early colonial history of the South Island in New Zealand.

Shared with the kind permission of Darren Guard - The Gleam Fishing Channel - YouTube

Making Marlborough - the Migration Stories

A feature documentary exploring waves of migration to Marlborough, from the first Polynesian voyagers at the Wairau Bar to European pioneers and modern multicultural communities.

Paul Davidson - Marlborough Video Vault

The MHS Story

The story of the Marlborough Historical Society from its founding in 1955, including the restoration of Cob Cottage, the creation of Beavertown, and the development of the museum and archives.

Marlborough Historical Society - Marlborough Video Vault

Crashed Plane Sighted (1948)

Archival newsreel footage documenting aerial search conditions and wreckage following the 1948 crash of a Dakota air freighter in the hills of the Marlborough Sounds.

Archives New Zealand (CC BY 3.0)

The Wairau - and its Forgotten Capital

Historian Barry Holdaway explores the Boulder Bank settlement, early wool trade, and the 1850s port village that preceded Blenheim.

Paul Davidson, Bytesize Productions - Marlborough Video Vault

Ancestral Journey

A documentary tracing the origins of Marlborough viticulture, early plantings by Scottish pioneer David Herd at Auntsfield, and his airport memorial.

Marlborough Video Vault

Once Were Whalers

Former Tory Channel whalers reunite with conservation researchers in Cook Strait, turning generations of hunting experience into whale population research and protection.

Paul Davidson, Bytesize Productions - Marlborough Video Vault

A Day at the Cob Cottage

Riverlands School students step back to 1906, experiencing schoolroom lessons, traditional games, and daily life inside the historic Riverlands Cob Cottage.

Paul Davidson - Marlborough Video Vault

Contribute Archival Footage

Do you hold historic film reels, videotapes, or regional footage of Marlborough? The museum welcomes community contributions, donations, and preservation opportunities to safeguard our local stories.

Contact Archives Support the Museum