Dr Peter Cahill is a former projects officer of the Department of the Administrator in Konedobu, Port Moresby, where his interest in the history of PNG developed. His research concentrated on the Gazelle Peninsula of New Britain. His article dealing with the Chinese in between the Wars was published in The Journal of Pacific History in July 1996. He also published an article on the Expropriation Board 1921-1927, and carried out further research work on pre-1900 European traders and pre-1942 European planters.
His work on collecting Papua New Guinea documentation held by Australians who have lived and worked in PNG during the Australian colonial administration blossomed into the New Guinea Collection at the Fryer Library at the University of Queensland.

This file consists of correspondence with Jennifer Terrell (editor of the Journal of Pacific History), Hank Nelson, Pat Hopper, Marie Clifton-Bassett (editor of Una Voce), Peter Stone, Donald Denoon, Jim Kemsley re comic strip Ballantyne, Anne McCosker, W.L. (Wandering Wally) Doe, S.G.C. Simpson (Rabaul Photographics), Maxwell Hayes, Gananath Obeyesekere, Tessa Jones, Lance Oakley, Ken Brown, B.L. (Betty) Wood, and others.

Sixteen letters from Dr Walter Mersh Strong to Gladys de Groen, Alan de Groen's sister, about his Port Moresby domestic affairs and visits to Australia, one accompanied by Papua Medical College students. Others deal with the purchase of a tobacco plantation in 1934 from Beatrice Grimshaw, Strong's period as Acting Lieutenant Governor (Feb-March 1936) and his time in ANGAU. There are also five letters from Alan de Groen containing his personal comments about his career in the Health and Treasury Departments and as Boarding Inspector. The last section of the microfilm includes photographs, press clippings and a short story.

Part 1: 15 letters from Dr W.M. Strong to Gladys de Groen 1926-1944 including: references to the plantation 'MacDhui'; Government Gazette nos 1, 2, 4 and 5 (January 1936); enclosures from the National Geographic Society; references to Rigo Government Station and ANGAU.<P>Part 2: 8 letters from Alan and Nin de Groen to Gladys de Groen 1929-1941(?) mostly from Port Moresby, one from Daru and one during service with ANGAU.<P>Part 3: Gladys de Groen: photographs (unindentified); press clippings - obituary of H.A.C. Bunting; Sir Hubert Murray's report: evil spirits and gold exports; flying boats for PNG; Bulolo River floods; 'Strange stories series', unsigned manuscript, handwriting not that of Gladys de Groen (3p.)

The Lost Caravel was published in June 1975 by Pacific Publications Pty Ltd., Sydney. The book puts forward the theory that the crew of a Spanish ship, the caravel San Lesmes, lost in the eastern South Pacific in 1526, played a prominent role in the prehistory of several Polynesian islands, including the Tuamotu Archipelago, Society Islands, Austral Islands, Easter Island and New Zealand. The San Lesmes was one of the ships of the expedition of Garcia Jofre de Loaisa which left Spain in July 1525 to obtain a cargo of spices in the East Indies.

The correspondence includes comments on the book following its publication and Langdon's subsequent research into related matters discussed in the book. The correspondence is in three parts:<P>1. General correspondence, 1975-80<BR>2. Correspondence, 1978-87, re the conservation of two iron cannon retrieved from Amanu Atoll, French Polynesia, in 1969<BR>3. General correspondence, 1981-1987<BR><P>A calendar for each section of correspondence precedes the correspondence itself on the microfilm. Sections 1 and 3 are filmed in alphabetical order by correspondent and then in chronological order; section 2 is microfilmed in chronological order.<P>Reel 1: Section 1, A - Kish<BR>Reel 2: Section 1, Ko. - Z; Section 2 to 1986<BR>Reel 3: Section 2, 1987; Section 3.<P>For Langdon's pre-publication correspondence on The Lost Caravel, see PMB 551.

Langdon's book, The Lost Caravel, was published in June 1975 by Pacific Publications Pty Ltd, Sydney. The book puts forward the theory that the crew of a Spanish ship, the caravel San Lesmes, lost in the eastern South Pacific in 1526, played a prominent role in the prehistory of several Polynesian islands, including the Tuamotu Archipelago, Society Islands, Austral Islands, Easter Island and New Zealand. The San Lesmes was one of the ships of the expedition of Garcia Jofre de Loaisa which left Spain in July 1525 to obtain a cargo of spices in the East Indies.

Correspondence relating to research and other matters leading to the publication of The Lost Caravel. On the microfilm, the correspondence is preceded by a chronological list of letters from the author to individuals and institutions. The correspondence is microfilmed in alphabetical order in two sections: individual correspondence and institutions. Each section is preceded by a calendar.<BR>For original documents relating to the Loaisa expedition see PMB 135-140. See also PMB 999

Prior to 1949, the Presbyterian Church of the New Hebrides was known as the New Hebrides Presbyterian Mission.

Correspondence re land, 1945-62

See PMB MS 432, material relating to the Roman Catholic Mission Fiji.

Correspondence re Leper Asylum, Makogai and related papers. Reel 2 begins at correspondence for 1919.

Correspondence that resulted in the production of microfilms PMB 1 - 999 of the Pacific Manuscripts Bureau between April 1968 and April 1985 when Robert Langdon was the Bureau's Executive Officer. The correspondence is filmed in numerical order by microfilm number. In some cases, the correspondence extended over several years and resulted in the microfilming of a large number of documents on several or many reels. Where the documents were not filmed in a continuous sequence, e.g. PMB 36 and PMB 600 (papers of Gordon Thomas), the correspondence has been cross-referenced. For some reels of film, there is no correspondence - arrangements to film a manuscript or collection having been made by word of mouth. In those cases, the only background information available to researchers is that contained on the relevant information sheet(s).<BR>The correspondence covered by each reel is as follows:<BR>Reel 1: PMB 1 - PMB 100<BR>Reel 2: PMB 101 - PMB 429 (to letter of 20/3/1973)<BR>Reel 3: PMB 429 - PMB 908<BR>Reel 4: PMB 909 - PMB 999

See PMB MS 432, material relating to Roman Catholic Mission Fiji.

Correspondence re mission work among the Indians of Fiji.

Father Rougier (1864-1932) was born in France; he was ordained in the Society of Mary in 1888, and he went to Fiji soon afterwards as a Roman Catholic missionary. He acquired a large sum of money in what was known as the Cecile Affair (1906-7), and soon afterwards left Fiji and acquired plantation interests at Fanning, Washington and Christmas Islands. He resided in Tahiti and became a prominent figure there in the business and cultural worlds, being known as Abbe Rougier. (For a brief biography, see Patrick O'Reilly and Raoul Tessier, Tahitiens, Paris, 1962, pp.410-11). See also PMB 432

Correspondence relating to Father Rougier's involvement in the Cecile Affair and the disciplinary action taken against him.