Tim Bayliss-Smith served on the Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) program in Honiara, Solomon Islands, 1965-1966. He worked as a teacher in the Survey Drafting School in the Lands Department of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate Government and as a librarian in the Geological Survey Department. Though based in Honiara, he travelled around Guadalcanal for work, as well as to Savo, Malaita and Bellona. Tim returned to Solomon Islands in 1971 for his PhD field research into energy use on Ontong Java atoll. He joined the Department of Geography at University of Cambridge in 1973 where he has continued his research in land management in the humid tropics, with particular focus on Melanesia. Professor Bayliss-Smith has made many subsequent visits to Solomon Islands throughout his research career.

This collection of 108 digitised 35mm colour slides are mainly from the period of his VSO placement (1965-1966) and mainly feature Honiara and surrounds. The images depict VSO housing; other VSO volunteers; trainees in the Survey Drafting School; Chinatown; Honiara market; WWII wreckage and other landmarks in and around Honiara. Activities such as sporting events, Easter procession; Queen's Birthday celebrations and gardening also feature.

This collection of 540 colour photographs was taken by John Baker in Solomon Islands in 1964 and 1965, while he was working there as a volunteer under the auspices of the British Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) organisation. He was 18 and 19 at the time and was what was known as a school leaver volunteer. There were 10-15 VSOs in the Solomons in 1964, with most working as teachers in mission boarding schools. However, John was attached mainly to two District Administrations to work on various local projects.

At the time, Solomon Islands was under colonial administration known as the British Solomon Islands Protectorate (BSIP), in which virtually all senior and technical/professional positions were still held by expatriates. Thus VSOs were working within and were very much a part of a colonial culture.

The photographs in the collection were taken with a Voigtlander Vito B camera on Kodachrome 100 colour slides. The camera was stored, including for many canoe trips, in an old Sunshine Milk tin with a bag of silica gel in the bottom. Captions for the photos were written in a foolscap notebook when the slides came back from processing. Thus the names of people and places were all recorded contemporaneously and so are likely to be accurate. These captions, written in 1964-65, sometimes have a colonial tone but have been left unchanged as they are an historical reflection of their times.

John Baker’s first work as a VSO was from August-November 1964 as a teacher at the Geological Department’s survey school in Honiara. Then he transferred to Western District headquarters in Gizo and worked during December 1964 and January 1965 as a surveyor on the Wagina Island Gilbertese resettlement scheme. In February 1965 he transferred to Eastern District headquarters in Kira Kira where he spent six weeks working on local election preparations. He then moved back to Gizo and spent April to August 1965 travelling round, organising the construction of concrete drinking water tanks in various villages in the Roviana and Wana Wana lagoons and subsequently on the island of Ranonnga.

This is a collection of 936 photographs of various places in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate (BSIP) between 1956—1974. The photographic collection by Mr James Tedder and Mrs Margaret Tedder features the family’s Island adventures and the work life of James Tedder as a colonial officer. Of the 936 images, 341 alone were taken in various places in Guadalcanal. At least 140 images were taken on Makira, 98 images on Malaita, 96 on different visits to Santa Cruz, 52 on Rennell/Bellona, 51 in the Reef Islands, 49 on Kia in Santa Ysabel, 31 on Tikopia Island, and the rest are of visits to the Duff Islands, Vanikoro, Anuta, Shortland Islands, Vella Lavella, New Georgia and Gela.

There are some important events photographed in this collection that researchers might find useful. These include the 1959 visit of HRH Prince Philip to Gracioza Bay, Ndende; the 10th anniversary of the Malaita Council at Aimela in 1963; a Moro Movement ceremony of presumably the same period; a 1962 relocation of Gilbertese to Komaliae, Shortland Islands; opening of the Tanaghai Catholic church in the 1960s and the Anglican Church in Kia,1964. It also includes images of Solomon Islands women carriers assisting the District Officer’s patrol on Guadalcanal, a rare revelation in an activity that is predominantly portrayed as men’s work. As a worthy documentation of people, society and culture, this album features men, women and children of all ages.

The series of photographs contained in this album covers an aspect of the life of the Tedder family in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate (BSIP) between 1955 – 1974. James L.O. Tedder held various positions in the colonial administration. His family lived and travelled extensively throughout the Protectorate. His spouse, Margaret Tedder, had a firm interest in botany and this particular album is her documentation of Islanders’ horticultural practices of certain root crops, especially yams. In this photographic collection, Margaret documented the cultivation methods, garden layout, harvesting practices and storage of yams in various locations on Makira, Guadalcanal, Malaita and Santa Cruz. Margaret also captured different yam varieties and a ceremonial display at Makaruka on the Weather Coast of Guadalcanal. Besides the focus on yams in this album, there are some images of other crops such as taro, cassava and sweet potato. In its own right, this album is an ethnography of Islanders' cultivation practices of the mid-1950’s to the early 1970’s.