Bachelor of Arts Graduation Diploma

June 1874

Hocken MS-0543

Unpublished

This graduation diploma is a rare survivor, and a most important document for the University of Otago. The recipient was schoolteacher Alexander Watt Williamson (1849-1928). He holds the honour of being the first and only student to be awarded a degree by the University before amalgamation with the University of New Zealand in 1874. Williamson retired from Taita School in Lower Hutt in 1911. In 1948, this diploma was sent to the University where it was hung, pride of place, in the boardroom. Later, in 1959, it was transferred to the Hocken Library.