The Rev. Joseph Johnston (1814-1892) left England for Tahiti as a missionary of the London Missionary Society in the ship 'Camden' in April 1838. He reached Tahiti in the following March, and served there until late 1849. In Tahiti he married Miss Harriet Platt, daughter of the Rev. George Platt. After his return to England in May 1850, he went to Fremantle, Western Australia, as a Congregational minister. He died there in 1892.

The microfilm contains the following documents:

• Diary kept in the Camden en route to Tahiti, 26 April-28 October 1838.
• A history and impression of Tahiti, with a narrative of the voyage in the Camden, 1838.
• Diaries kept in Tahiti, 8 November -14 December 1838; 28 May-6 November 1839; and 6 January-30 December 1840.
• Diary kept in the Camden during a tour of LMS mission stations in the Pacific, 16 March-19 July 1842.
• Diaries kept in Tahiti 2 March-26 March and 11 April-26 May 1839.
• Diaries kept in Tahiti, on return voyage to England, on voyage to Western Australia, and in Western Australia, July 1844-August 1852.
• Diaries kept in England, on voyage to Western Australia and in Fremantle, 1852-55, 1864-68, 1869-71.
• Letter from Johnston to Mr Gallop, dated Fremantle, 25 December 1884.
• Reminiscences of Mrs S.F. Moore (nee Eliza Mary Johnston), Johnston's daughter.