Welcome!

Welcome to Top Hat Heritage! A history, heritage, and archaeology company set up by Matt Hennessey to serve the good people of New Zealand.

History has always been something I have been super interested in. As a kid I was fascinated with Ancient Rome and Egypt, and the European Middle Ages. My go-to entertainment was history documentaries and Asterix comics. In 2004 I started an Anthropology degree at the University of Otago, focusing on archaeology, and graduated in 2007 with a First-Class Honours degree and a scholarship for further studies.

At university I was introduced full force to New Zealand history. This is something that in my younger years I thought of as boring and dull. What I would discover was a hidden wealth of fascinating stories. Be it the complex trade networks of the Māori that existed 800 years ago, the impacts of European trade, the wars, the lives of the European settlers, the Chinese gold miners, or the development the unique South Pacific culture we all enjoy today.

Following the 2011 Canterbury earthquakes I took up a role with Katharine Watson doing the emergency archaeological work in Christchurch and North Canterbury. This was a hectic time of recording earthquake damaged heritage buildings and houses during the demolitions, stand-over monitoring of sites of significance to Māori, and recording the city’s sewer system, bridges, and roads. While it was a very busy time, I leant a lot of fundamental research and archaeological skills with real world application.

In mid-2018 I retired my trowel and notebooks in favour of a government desk job at Land Information New Zealand (LINZ). LINZ was a good place, and I worked with a great bunch of people. But it just didn’t scratch my heritage itch. Something I will always be thankful to LINZ for was the education I got about the historic land recording systems used in NZ and how to interpret old survey plans.

And now I am trying to turn my passion for history, and over a decade of professional heritage experience, into my own consultancy business. My aim is to provide an affordable, high quality, service and to provide New Zealanders with access to their rich history and stories.