This is a collection of 79 images of the Presbyterian mission in the New Hebrides, produced by the New Zealand Presbyterian Church Department of Communications in the 1950s and 1960s. The collection contains photographs of missionary families to the New Hebrides, including Rev. A.G. Horwell who was on Epi, Rev R.W. Murray, and Reverend and Mrs Hyslop. There are also several photographs of named ni-Vanautu pastors and teachers involved with the church including a Pastor Moses, Pastor Kalorib, and K.M. Shing. Many photographs relate to church and mission activities including: the Boys Brigade on Tongoa, bible classes, and Sunday school classes. There are also village scenes and images containing unidentified New Hebridean /ni-Vanuatu people.
The photographs were taken on multiple islands including Epi, Malekula and Tongoa.

The New Hebrides Mission from the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand:
The Presbyterian Church began sending missionaries to the New Hebrides (today known as Vanuatu) in the mid-19th Century. The first missionary was Rev. John Geddie of the Presbyterian Church of Nova Scotia who arrived on the island of Aneityum in 1848. Subsequent missionaries came from the Presbyterian Churches of New Zealand, Canada, Scotland and Australia (Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and New South Wales).

In New Zealand an interest in supporting a Christian mission to the New Hebrides was fostered when Rev. John Inglis of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland toured the country in 1852 following a three month tour of the New Hebrides and Solomon Islands. In that same year, Inglis and his wife joined Geddie on Aneityum. Rev. John Inglis continued to send regular reports of his work to New Zealand, leading to increasing interest from the Church there in sending their own missionaries to the islands.

The Presbyterian Church of New Zealand was at that time divided up into the “Northern Church” and the “Southern Church” (consisting of the Provinces of Otago and Southland). The Southern Church was based on the ideals of the Free Church of Scotland and these principles influenced its mission work for many years. For over 40 years the two Churches worked separately, with mission activities during this time operating independently of each other.

Over several decades the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand sent a number of missionaries to the New Hebrides including the following people. The information below includes the missionaries' date of arrival in the New Hebrides, the name of the missionary and the name of the main island on which they worked:
1866, Rev. William Watt, Tanna
1870, Rev. Peter Milne, Nguna
1879, Rev. Oscar Michelsen, Tongoa
1885, Rev. Charles Murray, Ambrym
1889, Rev. Thomas Smaill, Epi
1892, Rev. Dr. Lamb, Ambrym
1899, Dr. John Bowie, Ambrym
1903, Rev. Thomas Riddle, Epi
1905, Rev. William V. Milne, Nguna (born on Nguna in 1877)
1932, Rev. Basil Nottage, Tongoa
1938, Rev. Ken Crump, Nguna
1941, Rev. J.G. Miller, Tongoa
1944, Rev. Ian Muir, Emae and Epi
1948, Rev. A.G. Horwell, Epi

In the early years there was no organised or reliable shipping service to the individual islands of the New Hebrides so it was important for the Church to have their own vessel to bring regular supplies from Australia and New Zealand. A boat was also necessary for transport to other mission stations. Although the New Hebrides missionaries were responsible for their home churches and allotted areas and islands, they worked closely together on common issues and met annually for a mission Synod meeting. New Zealand Presbyterian Church worked in conjunction with the Australian Presbyterian Church to raise money and purchased a mission supply vessel, the “Dayspring I”. This 115 ton brigantine was launched in Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1863. It was lost in a hurricane ten years later and replaced by a second hand schooner, the “Dayspring II” in 1876. The Dayspring II was sold prior to 1890 as she was too small and slow and uncomfortable to sail in. The Australian missionary Dr. John G. Paton raised £6000 during a visit to Britain in 1884-1885 and later increased the donations to £7000. The “Dayspring III” was built on the Clyde in Scotland to the order of the Victorian Presbyterian Church Foreign Missions Committee. She was 157 feet long and arrived in Australia in 1895. On only her fourth voyage to the islands, she sank on the 16th October 1896 after striking an uncharted coral reef near New Caledonia. The decision was made not to replace the vessel.

The New Hebrides Mission shared a practical concern for the everyday needs of island people. In addition to converting local people to Christianity, the missionaries worked to improve education, through the introduction of schools where the training of local mission teachers was initiated. The Tangoa Teachers’ Training Institute opened at Tangoa, South Santo, in 1895. The purpose of the Institute was to train local teachers and it was supported by all the Protestant missions working throughout the New Hebrides. Missionaries also worked to improve health education and services and encouraged the production of arrowroot and island trading as a means to generate revenue. Arrowroot powder was shipped to New Zealand and other countries, where it was initially distributed by women’s missionary groups and later by commercial organisations. The funds from the sale of arrowroot were used to build additional churches in the islands and, in some cases, as a donation towards New Zealand mission funds to be used elsewhere. From 1880 to 1918 on Nguna alone, over 26 tons of arrowroot was produced.

By 1910, the work of the New Hebrides Mission was declining. This was partly due to a rapidly decreasing population on the islands and a feeling that little room existed for further expansion of mission work, as by then most areas were adequately covered. The reduction in population was primarily caused by introduced European illnesses and epidemics which decimated the local population. The Queensland labour trade had also had an impact on the local population, with many locals having decided to remain in Queensland.

In 1947 there was a general consensus held among the Island missionaries that the local church was ready to assume control of its own affairs. A constitution was drawn up, and after amendments submitted by the New Zealand and Australian Mission Committees and the New Hebrides Mission Synod, it was adopted. At a Centennial Synod meeting in 1948, the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the Rev. John Geddie, the local church was placed fully in charge of its own affairs. The island mission councils for Australia and New Zealand were then limited to the affairs of their immediate mission staff. The New Zealand Church continued to provide a large financial grant to the New Hebrides Presbyterian Church. A continued focus remained on training church leaders and education more generally. The Tangoa Training Institute later introduced a curriculum of advanced theological studies.
In the early 1950s, the New Zealand Missions Committee responded to the request for assistance to establish a High School at Onesua on Efate, along with funds and personnel to set up and run a small hospital on Tongoa. The Committee viewed this project as a practical means by which the New Zealand Church could provide for a social need rather than a means for furthering evangelistic opportunities. This policy shift in Mission funding opened up other opportunities for aid from the New Zealand Church including developing Navota Farm and opening the Maropa religious bookshop in Port Vila, training local islanders to be trades people and undertake the building work. The New Zealand Bible Class volunteer scheme sent out young people during the 1960s to assist with building, administration and nursing. The Mission, at the request of the Presbyterian Church of the New Hebrides, divested itself of all remaining authority in the Islands so that the New Zealand missionaries effectively worked for the New Hebrides Church. In 1965 a memorandum was prepared which defined the terms of “responsible partnership” and sought to define the responsibilities of each partner. The Church continues today as the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu.

For more information about New Hebrides Mission collections at the Archives of the Presbyterian Research Centre, Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa, and New Zealand, see: http://www.archives.presbyterian.org.nz/missions/newhebrideshistory.htm

Collection of 84 black and white photographs associated with the Presbyterian mission in the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu). The images were captured between c.1955-1965, and produced by the New Zealand Presbyterian Church Department of Communication. The photographs show various scenes associated with the work of the church such as the Teachers Training Institute on Tangoa, classes at Onesua High School, mission nurses at work, and church services. Other subjects include gardening and house building, as well as a number of portraits and group photographs. Named individuals within the images include Sister Mary Wells, Pastor Moses, Leckarie, Rev. Tevita Galuvakadua, Roy Fletcher, Rev. W. Francis, and Sister Gillanders. The photographs were captured on a number of islands including Tangoa, Nguna, and Makura. For many images the date and exact location was not recorded.

The New Hebrides Mission from the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand:
The Presbyterian Church began sending missionaries to the New Hebrides (today known as Vanuatu) in the mid-19th Century. The first missionary was Rev. John Geddie of the Presbyterian Church of Nova Scotia who arrived on the island of Aneityum in 1848. Subsequent missionaries came from the Presbyterian Churches of New Zealand, Canada, Scotland and Australia (Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and New South Wales).
In New Zealand an interest in supporting a Christian mission to the New Hebrides was fostered when Rev. John Inglis of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland toured the country in 1852 following a three month tour of the New Hebrides and Solomon Islands. In that same year, Inglis and his wife joined Geddie on Aneityum. Rev. John Inglis continued to send regular reports of his work to New Zealand, leading to increasing interest from the Church there in sending their own missionaries to the islands.
The Presbyterian Church of New Zealand was at that time divided up into the 'Northern Church' and the 'Southern Church' (consisting of the Provinces of Otago and Southland). The Southern Church was based on the ideals of the Free Church of Scotland and these principles influenced its mission work for many years. For over 40 years the two Churches worked separately, with mission activities during this time operating independently of each other.

Over several decades the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand sent a number of missionaries to the New Hebrides including the following people. The information below includes the missionaries' date of arrival in the New Hebrides, the name of the missionary and the name of the main island on which they worked:
1866, Rev. William Watt, Tanna
1870, Rev. Peter Milne, Nguna
1879, Rev. Oscar Michelsen, Tongoa
1885, Rev. Charles Murray, Ambrym
1889, Rev. Thomas Smaill, Epi
1892, Rev. Dr. Lamb, Ambrym
1899, Dr. John Bowie, Ambrym
1903, Rev. Thomas Riddle, Epi
1905, Rev. William V. Milne, Nguna (born on Nguna in 1877)
1932, Rev. Basil Nottage, Tongoa
1938, Rev. Ken Crump, Nguna
1941, Rev. J.G. Miller, Tongoa
1944, Rev. Ian Muir, Emae and Epi
1948, Rev. A.G. Horwell, Epi
In the early years there was no organised or reliable shipping service to the individual islands of the New Hebrides so it was important for the Church to have their own vessel to bring regular supplies from Australia and New Zealand. A boat was also necessary for transport to other mission stations. Although the New Hebrides missionaries were responsible for their home churches and allotted areas and islands, they worked closely together on common issues and met annually for a mission Synod meeting. New Zealand Presbyterian Church worked in conjunction with the Australian Presbyterian Church to raise money and purchased a mission supply vessel, the ÒDayspring IÓ. This 115 ton brigantine was launched in Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1863. It was lost in a hurricane ten years later and replaced by a second hand schooner, the ÒDayspring IIÓ in 1876. The Dayspring II was sold prior to 1890 as she was too small and slow and uncomfortable to sail in. The Australian missionary Dr. John G. Paton raised £6000 during a visit to Britain in 1884-1885 and later increased the donations to £7000. The ÒDayspring IIIÓ was built on the Clyde in Scotland to the order of the Victorian Presbyterian Church Foreign Missions Committee. She was 157 feet long and arrived in Australia in 1895. On only her fourth voyage to the islands, she sank on the 16th October 1896 after striking an uncharted coral reef near New Caledonia. The decision was made not to replace the vessel.
The New Hebrides Mission shared a practical concern for the everyday needs of island people. In addition to converting local people to Christianity, the missionaries worked to improve education, through the introduction of schools where the training of local mission teachers was initiated. The Tangoa TeachersÕ Training Institute opened at Tangoa, South Santo, in 1895. The purpose of the Institute was to train local teachers and it was supported by all the Protestant missions working throughout the New Hebrides. Missionaries also worked to improve health education and services and encouraged the production of arrowroot and island trading as a means to generate revenue. Arrowroot powder was shipped to New Zealand and other countries, where it was initially distributed by womenÕs missionary groups and later by commercial organisations. The funds from the sale of arrowroot were used to build additional churches in the islands and, in some cases, as a donation towards New Zealand mission funds to be used elsewhere. From 1880 to 1918 on Nguna alone, over 26 tons of arrowroot was produced.
By 1910, the work of the New Hebrides Mission was declining. This was partly due to a rapidly decreasing population on the islands and a feeling that little room existed for further expansion of mission work, as by then most areas were adequately covered. The reduction in population was primarily caused by introduced European illnesses and epidemics which decimated the local population. The Queensland labour trade had also had an impact on the local population, with many locals having decided to remain in Queensland.
In 1947 there was a general consensus held among the Island missionaries that the local church was ready to assume control of its own affairs. A constitution was drawn up, and after amendments submitted by the New Zealand and Australian Mission Committees and the New Hebrides Mission Synod, it was adopted. At a Centennial Synod meeting in 1948, the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the Rev. John Geddie, the local church was placed fully in charge of its own affairs. The island mission councils for Australia and New Zealand were then limited to the affairs of their immediate mission staff. The New Zealand Church continued to provide a large financial grant to the New Hebrides Presbyterian Church. A continued focus remained on training church leaders and education more generally. The Tangoa Training Institute later introduced a curriculum of advanced theological studies.
In the early 1950s, the New Zealand Missions Committee responded to the request for assistance to establish a High School at Onesua on Efate, along with funds and personnel to set up and run a small hospital on Tongoa. The Committee viewed this project as a practical means by which the New Zealand Church could provide for a social need rather than a means for furthering evangelistic opportunities. This policy shift in Mission funding opened up other opportunities for aid from the New Zealand Church including developing Navota Farm and opening the Maropa religious bookshop in Port Vila, training local islanders to be trades people and undertake the building work. The New Zealand Bible Class volunteer scheme sent out young people during the 1960s to assist with building, administration and nursing. The Mission, at the request of the Presbyterian Church of the New Hebrides, divested itself of all remaining authority in the Islands so that the New Zealand missionaries effectively worked for the New Hebrides Church. In 1965 a memorandum was prepared which defined the terms of Òresponsible partnershipÓ and sought to define the responsibilities of each partner. The Church continues today as the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu.
For more information about New Hebrides Mission collections at the Archives of the Presbyterian Research Centre, Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa, and New Zealand, see: http://www.archives.presbyterian.org.nz/missions/newhebrideshistory.htm

PMBPhoto 69 is a collection of 152 photographs of Vanuatu subjects and one poster. Jan Gammage took the photos between 29 June and 22 July 2007 when on a holiday with friends, David and Beryl Gowty, and also collected the poster. The photos are of people and places on the islands of Efate, Malekula, Ambrym, Espiritu Santo, and Tanna and are complemented by the photos in PMBPhoto102 taken by Bill Gammage.
Subjects in and around Port Vila include the waterfront, the womens’ handcraft market, and the food market. At the Vanuatu National Museum, a demonstration of the art of sandroing [sand drawing] by Edgar Hinge was photographed.
South Malekula subjects include Lakatoro, its shops and the Cultural Centre. At Lamap, the Tiano family made us welcome. Levi’s Store, kava trading, the hospital, ruins of a French convent, slit gongs and carved ferns were subjects. On the Maskelyne Islands, subjects include the local string band, pigs, beach and a starfish on the reef.
At Craig Cove on the west coast of Ambrym and Dip Cove, subjects include a cargo boat unloading, the Lake Fanteng Conservation Area, megapods, hot springs, rock peckings and a men’s ceremonial site.
On Espiritu Santo, subjects include Port Olry, Lonnoc, Vatthe Conservation Area, Matantas near Big Bay, Luganville and surrounds, a Seventh Day Adventist baptism, and real estate advertising.
On Tanna, subjects include White Beach, and at Lenakel the shops and the market, Yasur volcano, Manuapen, and Port Resolution.
The educational poster deals with environment and endangered species protection.

Album of 226 photographs taken by Reverend Conrad George Stallan, who was a missionary stationed on Malekula in the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) from 1940-1946. The original images are mounted in an album, accompanied by handwritten captions, some of which are now faded. See item PMB PHOTO 110-000 for a PDF of full album layout. Many images are of the Stallan family, particularly in the years 1940-41, as well as a number of named Malekulan adults and children. The album includes photographs captured at the Wintua mission station, and Mindu and Aulua villages, Malekula, as well as on Toman island and several images of Santo.

Supported by the John G Paton Mission Fund, Stallan was based in Wintua, South West Bay, Malekula, with his wife Christina (Chriss) and their children Donovan, Roger, Janet, and Margaret. During his life, Stallan was a keen photographer. He maintained a dark room on Malekula to develop and print his photographs, as well as later while stationed in Georgetown, British Guiana, 1955-1961.

Album of photographs and two loose images taken by Reverend Conrad George Stallan, who was a missionary stationed on Malekula in the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) from 1940-1946. Supported by the John G Paton Mission Fund, Stallan was based in Wintua, South West Bay, Malekula, with his wife Christina (Chriss) and their children Donovan, Roger, Janet, and Margaret. During his life, Stallan was a keen photographer. He maintained a dark room on Malekula to develop and print his photographs, as well as later while stationed in Georgetown, British Guiana, 1955-1961.

The original images are mounted in a barkcloth/tapa bound album, accompanied by typed captions. See item PMB PHOTO 109-000 for a PDF of full album layout. The album contains numerous images of the Big Nambas region of Malekula. During the war, regulations forbade Europeans, including Stallan, from entering the Big Nambas area. However, Stallan was lucky enough to accompany a US Army patrol to the area, which included a member of their publicity section. Some of the images are possibly taken by that US photographer. High Chief Nisai of Amokh is one of the named people in those images, and it is likely multiple photographs are from Amokh village itself. The album also includes photographs from South West Bay, Malekula, captured around the Wintua mission. Several young women associated with the mission are named in the photographs (see individual items)

Five documents from the family collection of Conrad Stallan, who was employed as a missionary in the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) from 1940-46, including:

• Typescript document (3pp.)
• Letter from Boys High School Malua, author unknown, 19 Dec 1931, Ts. (9pp.)
• ‘1-447’, notebook containing a numbered list of photograph titles and dates (Mar 1940-Jun 1943)
• ‘448-663/ 700 (-1947)’, notebook of photograph titles and dates (Jun 1943-1947)
• Notes on Samoan Islands, n.d. Ms, (7pp.)

This collection of 14 items includes material relating to: Anglo-French relations, including land disputes, the labour and liquor trade; property purchases and agreements of land in New Hebrides; the building of the Ambrym hospital in 1908; events of the 1913 volcanic eruption on Ambrym; New Hebrides native teachers’ correspondence and archives; and correspondence of Rev. Peter Milne, his wife Mary Jane and his son Rev. William V Milne. Within the Peter Milne correspondence are a series of letters covering his disagreement with Rev Daniel MacDonald over bible translation work. There is also personal correspondence between William Milne and Oscar Michelson (1915-1934) and a scrapbook created by the Auckland Ladies New Hebrides Mission organisation.

Farquhar, a farmer of Maryborough, Queensland, visited New Caledonia, the Loyalty Islands and New Hebrides (Vanuatu) in the schooner 'City of Melbourne' in November 1870 to January 1871 to recruit Pacific Islander labourers for himself and other farmers in Maryborough. He made a second voyage to New Caledonia, the New Hebrides and Banks Islands in the schooner Petrel in September 1871-January 1872 as a government agent under the Polynesian Labourers' Act of 1868.

Description of the two voyages mentioned above.

Captain Hamilton (1852-1937) was born in Scotland and came to Australia at the age of 10. In 1882 - 1883 he made voyages from Brisbane to Vanuatu (at that time the New Hebrides), New Britain and New Ireland (Papua New Guinea) in labour recruiting vessels. For a dozen or so years from the late 1890s, he ran the Hamilton Pearling Co. with luggers operating out of Komuli in the Admiralty Islands and Gizo in Solomon Islands. This company also traded in copra, tortoise shell, black lip and green snail shell. Later, Captain Hamilton had big planting interests in the Solomons, mainly on Choiseul. He died in Sydney in November, 1937.

The papers copied on this microfilm are the most interesting and valuable historically of a large collection (in the Oxley Memorial Library) relating to Captain Hamilton's career. They comprise:

• Diary of a recruiting voyage in the schooner Lochiel from Brisbane to the New Hebrides from September 20, 1882, to December 29, 1882.
• Diary of a recruiting voyage in the schooner Jessie Kelly from Brisbane to the New Hebrides, New Britain and New Ireland from March to September, 1883.
• Two reports on voyages in search of pearl shell in New Guinea and the Solomons in 1899-1900.
• Log of the pearling lugger Nippon from April 20, 1901 to September 24, 1901, kept at the Hamilton Pearling Company's station at Komuli, Admiralty Islands.
• Log of the Hamilton Pearling Company's station at Komuli from September 27 1902 to March 10 1903.
• Logs and diaries kept by William Hamilton in the vessels Canomie, Ysabel, Gazelle and Kambin from January 1 1903 to November 14 1905. These concern the operations of the Hamilton Pearling Company in New Guinea and the Solomons.

For further details of Captain Hamilton's career and of his other papers in the Oxley Memorial Library, see the Bureau's newsletter 'Pambu' October 1968:3, pp.3-6.

Dictionaries produced by the Roman Catholic Mission New Hebrides (now Vanuatu):

1. Dictionary of the language of South-West Bay, Malekula, by Father Pierre Chauvel, S.M. (French-South West Bay).
2. Dictionary of the language of Vao, Malekula, by Father Casimir Salomon, S.M. (Vao-French).
3. Dictionary of the language of Olal, Ambrym (French-Olal).
4. Dictionary of the language of Talomako, Big Bay, Espiritu Santo (Talomako-French).
5. Dictionary of the Talomako language of Big Bay, Espiritu Santo, by Father Alphonse Ardouin, S.M., (French-Talomako).