Kuru was a rapidly progressive and fatal neurological disease which was found to occur with high frequency among the Fore people in the Eastern Highlands of New Guinea. Their tribal area, of several hundred square miles, is in a remote and rugged part of the Highlands which only became accessible to Europeans in the early 1950s. Between 20,000 and 30,000 people lived in the area affected and, of these, about one per cent were afflicted with the disease at any one time. The earliest reference to kuru is in an article by Berndt (1954) who made an anthropological expedition to the area at about the time that it was opened in 1952. The first detailed study was made by V. Zigas, the Administration Medical Officer at Kainantu, and in this work he was later joined by D.C. Gajdusek who, with S. Baruch, was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for their discoveries in 1976.

Kuru file Nos. 1-37, including Dr Gunther’s official correspondence file on kuru, census returns from South Fore, development and research files on the Okapa area; Professor Nelson’s research files, including correspondence and notes on talks with John Gunther, Shirley Lindenbaum, Jeffries, Margaret Saville, Michael Alpers, T. Aitchison, and others; some unpublished papers and press cuttings. Professor Nelson also collected a large body of published scientific reports on kuru which have been listed, but not microfilmed due to copyright regulations. See Finding aids for details.

Rev. Arthur A. Bensley (1884-1974) was born in Christchurch, New Zealand. He was the first New Zealand Methodist Minister appointed to the Solomon Islands, taking over Bilua Station, at Vella Lavella, Bougainville, from Rev. Reginald Nicholson in 1921 and remaining at the station till 1934. He met and married Sister Constance Olds there. He mastered the Bilua language and did a great deal of translation work. For six years, he edited the NZ Methodist Mission's children's paper, Lotu. Following his retirement from the Methodist Mission in the Solomon Islands he held ministries in Morrinsville, Greymouth and Tauranga in New Zealand. He was supernumerary from 1950.

Diary (original Ms.,.)<BR> 17 May 1926-27 Jul 1931(2 vols.)<BR> 1 May-15 Dec 1934 (Pt. 1 vol.)<BR>10 Sep-27 Dec ? (loose pages)<BR>Transcript of diary and index, 17 Aug 1926-27 Jul 1931, 1 May-15 Dec 1934<P><b>See reel list for further details</b>

Rev. Ian Fardon (1925-1991) was born and raised in the Atherton Tablelands, far North Queensland. He trained as a pilot during World War II and attended Sydney University after the War with a view to going into the Methodist Ministry. At Sydney University he became active in the Student Christian Movement. After graduating he undertook theological training at Leigh Methodist Theological College, Sydney. Rev. Fardon was appointed probationary minister at Wagga, NSW, 1952-53, and helped organise the Student Christian Movement in Australia, 1954-55. He was appointed Minister of the Rabaul Memorial Church TPNG in 1956 and was posted as Circuit Minister at Gaulim, New Britain, from 1966 till 1968. In 1969 Rev. Fardon was appointed Minister at the Ela-Boroko United Church in Port Moresby. In 1974 Rev. Fardon returned to Australia and settled in Armidale where he retired in 1984.

The Fardon Papers consist of: correspondence, 1960-1976, including commentary on the death of Jack Emmanuel; talks, articles and notes on PNG theology, mission history and current events, 1963-72; sermon notes, 1966-72; Methodist Overseas Mission, New Guinea District and Rabaul Church papers, 1902-1973; articles, notes and original documents on the history of New Britain and New Ireland, 1884-1973, including a dossier on the Matuangan Association; unpublished articles and notes on education, history and politics in PNG, 1957-1972; and sundry press cuttings on PNG missions and politics, 1930-73. The papers cover diverse topics such as local government, anthropology, colonial policies, the World Bank, self-government, archaeology, alcohol, industrial relations, oceanic voyaging and mission economic interests. See Finding aids for details.

John Kolia was born in Sydney in 1931 as John Alexander Collier. He attended Sydney Grammar School and completed his secondary education in England in 1951. Having enrolled in a medical course at the University of London, he returned to Australia and commenced work in PNG as a medical assistant for the Australasian Petroleum Company which was involved in oil exploration in the Gulf and Western Districts of Papua. After visiting London again in 1958, Kolia returned to Sydney where he completed teacher training. He took up a teaching position in New Britain in mid 1960, and in 1964 joined the Catholic Mission at Vanimo as a teacher. In 1966 he returned to Port Moresby. While teaching at Bavaroko, Kolia enrolled in the University of PNG, completing his BA (Hons) in 1971. He was awarded a PhD in 1975 for his research among the Balawaia people in the Rigo sub-district where he had been living in Tauruba village since 1972. At that time he changed his name from Collier to the phonetic form, Kolia. From 1971 Kolia had been employed at the UPNG as a research assistant, but by 1973 he was mostly occupied in editing the journal Oral History. When the Institute of PNG Studies was established in 1974, it took over production of Oral History and Kolia joined its staff. Kolia became a naturalised citizen of newly independent PNG in 1976. His History of the Balawaia was published in 1977, followed by a formidable body of literary work: eight novels, several short stories, plays and long poems, and press articles on anthropological topics. He was also an editor of the IPNGS journal, Bikmaus, and edited a collection of poems, Melanesian Thoughts and Words. He worked as a Project and publications officer at the PNG Institute of Technology from 1989 until 1992.
(Mainly from Lyn Baer, In Between: Cultural Ambivalence in the Novels of John Kolia, 1982.)

CONTENTS: Nancy Lutton’s correspondence with and about Kolia, 1979-1992;
Press cuttings, journal articles and reviews, 1978-1993;
Unpublished verse;
Theatre programmes and poster, 1981;
Photograph and other documents;
Thesis: Lyn Baer, In Between: Cultural Ambivalence in the Novels of John Kolia, 1982;
Duplicated typescripts by John Kolia, 1976-1993;
Other publications, by, edited by, or about Kolia, 1979-1981.
See Finding aids for details.

Weekly newspaper in Bislama, French and English. Published in Port Vila, Vanuatu.

Nos. 1-188, 21 May 1980-28 Jun 1984.
See Finding aids for details.

Weekly roneoed newsletter

No. 17 31 May 1933 No. 108 6 March 1935<BR>No. 21 28 June 1933 No. 110 20 March 1935(torn)<BR>No. 23 12 July 1933 No. 112 3 April 1935<BR>No. 24 19 July 1933 No. 113 10 April 1935<BR>No. 25 26 July 1933 No. 114 17 April 1935<BR>No. 26 2 August 1933 No. 115 24 April 1935<BR>No. 27 9 August 1933 No. 116 1 May 1935<BR>No. 35 4 October 1933 No. 117 8 May 1935<BR>No. 36 11 October 1933 No. 118 15 May 1935<BR>No. 37 18 October 1933 No. 120 29 May 1935<BR>No. 38 25 October 1933 No. 122 12 June 1935<BR>No. 39 1 November 1933 No. 123 19 June 1935<BR>No. 40 8 November 1933 No. 124 26 June 1935<BR>No. 51 31 January 1934 No. 125 3 July 1935<BR>No. 52 7 February 1934 No. 126 10 July 1935<BR>No. 53 14 February 1934 No. 127 17 July 1935<BR>No. 54 21 February 1934 No. 128 24 July 1935<BR>No. 55 28 February 1934 No. 129 31 July 1935<BR>No. 99 4 January 1935 No. 137 25 September 1935

Heinrich Schnee was an official of the German colonial government. He was acting governor of German New Guinea in April-July 1899 and acting governor of Western Samoa in 1902.

The descriptions used in the archives for the correspondence are as follows:<BR>Ministere Marine et Colonies - Monografia (5F 201) - Narrationes (5F 202) which include La Terre Australe de Saint-Esprit, a history of the Marist mission in the New Hebrides, published in 1912, and cuttings from Le Neo-Caledonien, 29/2/1888 relating to the New Hebrides, from Le Journal des Nouvelles-Hebrides, 26/10/1901 and La Quinzaine Coloniale, 25/5/1903; Epistolae Historia (5F 208) Mortui, listing the deaths of missionaries for 1852 and 1898-1931, with date of birth and place of death; SE 330 Relations, including an extract of Council Minutes for 5/10/1887, letters, a report by Fr Provincial on the New Hebrides mission 26/9/1913 (typescript 44pp.) and Visite aux Nouvelles-Hebrides 30 August - 4 November 1919 a report on mission stations and missionaries by J.B. Chevreuil; SE 418 Mgr Doucere, epistolae 1887-1919 (Continued on PMB 591)<BR>The correspondence is not in chronological order.

These papers comprise part of the records of the Vicariate of New Caledonia which are designated Oceania Nova Caledonia (ONC) in the Marist Archives. The ONC material fills four large filing cabinets which are listed as APM I ONC, APM II ONC, APM III ONC and AMP IV ONC. The ONC files are not as well organized as the other Pacific vicariates and they contain many unclassified and unnamed sections. Please also see PMB MS 161.

Correspondence from cabinet APM IV ONC in dossiers dated 1857-59, 1860-61, 1862-63, 1864.

These papers comprise part of the records of the Vicariate of New Caledonia which are designated Oceania Nova Caledonia (ONC) in the Marist Archives. The ONC material fills four large filing cabinets which are listed as APM I ONC, APM II ONC, APM III ONC and AMP IV ONC. The ONC files are not as well organized as the other Pacific vicariates and they contain many unclassified and unnamed sections. Please also see PMB MS 161.

Correspondence from cabinet APM IV ONC in dossiers dated 1870-71 and 1872-73.