Newspaper find sets history straight

SOLVED: A photo of a photo of the Wairarapa Star, dated July 27, 1878, putting paid to the idea the paper started in 1881.

Masterton's Les Cockeram can back a correction required to the Wairarapa Times-Age history timeline published in yesterday's edition - he's got the paper to prove it.

The newspaper listed a forerunner to the Times-Age, the Wairarapa Star, as being formed in 1881.

But Mr Cockeram has a copy of the Wairarapa Star dated July 1878.

The paper, a front page, came from the wall of his 19th-century cottage, which he discovered while undertaking renovation.

He had the fragile piece placed on a board, then had it scanned and framed as a keepsake.

The paper provides some indication of the age of his cottage, for which council records go back as far as 1884.

"When we rejibbed the rooms, this was the only piece of paper that had a date on it," he said.