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James L.O.Tedder Solomon Islands Photographs

  • AU PMB Photo 66
  • Collectie
  • 1952-1974

PMBPhoto66 is a collection of 1558 black and white photographs of uneven quality of British Solomon Islands Protectorate (BSIP) subjects over the 22 years from 1952 to 1974. Much of pre-Independent Solomon Islands is shown in the photos, each of the four administrative districts of the time (Central, Malaita, Eastern and Western) being represented.
The collection is ordered more or less by island name and dated by year. The dating is not always chronological and there are 80 undated images. Roughly speaking there are 388 images of the 1950s, 353 of the 1960s and 739 of the period 1970 to 1974. The majority of the 1950s images are from Malaita, Makira including Ugi, and islands of the “Far East” including Anuta, Vanikoro, the Duff Islands, the Reefs, Santa Cruz, Nukupu, Pileni, Lomlom, Fenualoa, Nibanga Temoa and Tikopia. The images from the 1960s include some of Santa Ysabel, Rennell and Russell Island, Choiseul, Gizo, Ontong Java and Savo. The majority in the 1970s are images of Guadalcanal but also include images from Choiseul, Kolombangara, New Georgia, Nggela/Gela and Tulagi.
Subjects include geographic features such as islands and atolls, volcanoes, coastlines, bays and landing beaches, plains, mountains and mountain ranges, rivers and lagoons and vegetations - for example, Lambi Bay on Guadalcanal’s weather coast, Graciosa Bay in Santa Cruz and Mt Alasa’a in Malaita. In the west Kolombangara Island, in the east Mt Tinakula, Savo Island in Central, and Mounts Tatuve, Gallego, and Popomanesiu on Guadalcanal, are all types of volcano, and each a subject in this collection. Mt Popomanesiu is of special environmental and/or conservation interest for its tropical rainforest vegetation.
Images of aspects of traditional Islander economic activity include gardening particularly of yams; fishing and fishing equipment; the construction of various types of canoe and paddles; and the making of utensils such as mortars and pestles for pounding, and containers; building houses and using leaves to weave walls, roofs, mats, and baskets; carvings; and caring for specific trees like the betel nut palm, for use on ceremonial occasions for example, and the impacts of storms and floods. Images show people at work (for example James No’oli using a backstrap loom, men making yam gardens, and women preparing cassava and making string).
Islander participation in economic and social development, including schools and training centres, is shown in many images: working for Christian missions (mainly Catholic and Anglican) and the government in a variety of roles including as headmen, administrators, police, carriers, guides, captains and crews of boats and ships, nurses, teachers, personal servants and staff in the houses of expatriates, and labourers (women and men) in forestry and logging, coconut plantations and the production of copra, building infrastructure including roads and bridges, and geological/mineral exploration for example on San Jorge for nickel mining and on Gold Ridge and in the Betilonga Basin on Guadalcanal. Images of early airstrips and the transport of goods by carrying on foot, on canoes, boats, and ships are shown, as are cruise ships, a part of the development of the tourist industry. Images of individuals include Silas Sitai as a young administrative assistant with Inspector Dick Richardson and Senior Clerk Walter Togonu; Headman Lumani of Paripao, Headman Chamatete and his wife Betizel as guides, and businessman Samuel Saki and his family. Pelise Moro, the leader of a movement on the weather (south) coast of Guadalcanal to return to customary ways of living, is also a subject and shown in regalia.
Art and cultural heritage subjects include petroglyphs on Guadalcanal, old terraces built to irrigate taro on New Georgia; old slit gongs used in ceremony in memory of Frederick Melford Campbell on Makira; sacred stones on Guadalcanal; graves on Choiseul; and the re-enactment on Santa Ysabel of the killing of Anglican Bishop Patteson at Nukapu in 1871. Images of men, women and children dancing; music including singing, panpipes and bands; jewellery including kap kaps, necklaces, earrings; woven headdresses and skirts; carved masks for ceremonies and welcomes for visitors. Images show Petero Cheni illustrating string figures and Moses and his wife making panpipes and baskets.
Special occasions are often the subject of images and include visits to Moro’s village on the weather coast of Guadalcanal in 1965 and 1969; a welcome to Ontong Java in 1960 at the start of which visitors walked on the hands held at waist height by women who were covered in coconut oil mixed with turmeric; police parades for the Queen’s Birthday on Makira in 1957; and welcomes to visiting High Commissioners to villages and schools. Father Adrian Smith and Bishop Stuyvenburg are shown at the opening of the new Roman Catholic Church at Makina.
Villages, government stations and Honiara are also subjects. Many villages are named and images show residents, including Gilbertese people and squatters, women working, houses and sometimes their contents, water supplies, social gatherings, flood damage, and meetings with government officials.
Throughout the collection there are glimpses of expatriates at work within the British colonial administration as High commissioners, District Officers and District Commissioners, including James Tedder, and Forestry Officers. There are also glimpses of James Tedder’s family, his wife Margaret and children, and some of their friends. Also as part of the collection are images of the houses they lived in and the recreational activities they enjoyed, such as bush walking to interesting sites, plant collecting and swimming. James Tedder and members of his family described/captioned the majority of the images.
The collection is complemented by a number of publications. As a guide to these images, James Tedder’s book A District Administrator in the Islands 1952-1974 Solomon Island Years is useful, although it does not have an index. There are also other Tedder collections in the Pacific Manuscripts Bureau catalogue and the Pacific Research Library, also at ANU.

Tedder, James L.O.

Diaries of Colin Allan

  • AU PMB MS 1437
  • Collectie
  • 1947-1956

Sir Colin Allan was an administrator in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate (BSIP). He first served as District Officer Nggela, Western Solomons, then D.O. and District Commissioner Western (1946-1948), D.O. Choiseul and Ysabel (1948), D.O. Malu`u (1949) and finally District Commissioner Malaita (1950-1952) at the time of the Maasina Rule (also Maasina Ruru and Marching Rule).
After World War II, there were efforts by the colonial administration to extend European use of land. A Special Lands Commission was established to examine local land customs and make recommendations on the use of unclaimed land. He was appointed by the High Commissioner of the Western Pacific to be Special Lands Commissioner on 10 July 1953.

This set of five diaries cover a significant amount of Allan’s BSIP tenure, but not the full period. The diaries begin on 1 January, 1947, with a voyage on board the ‘Myrtle’ through the Western District, where Allan was Assistant District Commissioner, then District Commissioner. The diaries end in 1954 after the Special Lands Commission, however no diary for 1952 was transferred to Pacific Manuscripts Bureau.

Diary 1 covers the periods 1 January – 28 November 1947, 28 June – 11 August 1948, then 1 January – 28 March, 1949. There are brief descriptions for most days indicating professional and personal activities. During 1947, he describes visits to various villages in the Western District noting movement of people and vessels, trade, weather conditions, local disputes and crimes and a word list (language unknown). During 1948, he documents the establishment of the Choiseul office, notes demographic information and bureaucratic matters. From 1949, Allan takes the post of D.O. in Malu’u, Malaita during the period of Maasina Rule (also Maasina Ruru and Marching Rule). His diary entries are brief but make reference to early colonial politics, the Maasina Rule movement and associated raids, arrests and imprisonments. He also refers to land matters, native courts and census collections.

Diary 2 (1948) has only sporadic entries, mostly reporting on village visits and bureaucratic activities. This diary also contains a list of plantations and owners on Isabel/Ysabel, meeting resolutions, lists of fines and accounts. There is also a reference to Belamataga’s Guadalcanal Freedom Movement.

Diary 3 (1949) has only sporadic entries, beginning in April and ending in October. The diary begins in Malu’u, Malaita, with observations about other administrators and missionaries, as well as arrest numbers. Entries from August detail travel in England.

Diary 4 (1950-51) covers the period 29 May 1950-9 Jan 1951, having returned to Honiara from London to the news he will be posted to Malaita to take over from Acting DC Stanley Masterman. On arrival, and throughout, he writes of his concerns over the Maasina Rule situation. As he tours Malaita, he writes of colonial administrative politics, arguments around tax collection, religious affiliations in different areas, movement of workers/labour, village politics, local infrastructure matter such as schools and hospitals. He goes on tour with the Resident Commissioner. Throughout he discusses Ariari (‘Are’are) and Kwarae people.

Diary 5 (1953-54, 1956) has a typed report (11pp) relating to the Special Lands Commission inserted in the front of the diary. The report covers an investigative visit to the Western Solomons between July-September, 1953. The diary itself contains handwritten notes on the Special Lands Commission investigations, covering the period May-June 1953 in Honiara, before visiting villages throughout the Western District during the period July-September, then October-November, 1953. Allan returns to Honiara in December 1953 to continue work on the report. During 1954, he tours Central Province and Guadalcanal until 2 April, 1954. The diary resumes on 24 July 1956, explaining it was paused while the Lands Commission was suspended and he took leave in England. From July, Allan tours the Eastern District. The diary ends on his return to Honiara on 14 December, 1956.

Allan, Colin

“Taem bilong iume: Some notes on people and events in the post WWII British Solomon Islands Protectorate by a proud former resident”

  • AU PMB MS 1376
  • Collectie
  • 2007

Paul Brown first went to the British Solomon Islands Protectorate in July 1958. For 19 years he was based in Honiara. He helped to establish Solomon Island Airlines, SOLAIR, growing the business from two bush aircraft to a fleet and introduced flights to PNG and Vanuatu. He was involved in many areas of tourism and travel in the Solomon Islands.
Paul Brown was initially asked by Ian Wotherspoon and Trevor Clark to contribute a chapter on early planters and traders and another on the development of the internal air service to a larger book called Taem bilong iume (De bilong mi) on the British Solomon Islands Protectorate prior to independence in July 1978. (See correspondence from Trevor Clark re: De bilong mi in PMB1365/46). Taem bilong iume was never published. Paul Brown later edited his chapters and added more information to create this book. The book was privately written and published by Paul H. Brown and is not for sale.

Preface
1 – Planters and traders, p.1
2 – Air services, p.14
3 – Missionaries, p.26
4 – Most obedient servants, p.31
5 – Box wallahs, p.37
6 – Friends for life, p.42
Appendix I: The UK’s “Daily Telegraph” obituary notice for Ninian Scott-Elliot RN (Ret’d), Sir Renn Davis and Sir Jocelyn Bodilly.
Appendix II: Copy of an unpublished report on the mysterious loss of R.C.S. “Melanesian” in July 1958 by an unknown then S.I. based author.
61pp. plus appendices.

Brown, Paul H.

James Tedder slides of Territory of Papua and New Guinea and British Solomon Islands Protectorate

  • AU PMB PHOTO 75
  • Collectie
  • 1952 - 1974

This is a collection of 45 colour slides taken by James L.O. Tedder, MBE, during the period 1952 to 1974. Twenty nine of these slides were taken in the Territory of Papua New Guinea (TPNG) and 16 in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate (BSIP).

Of the 29 TPNG images, three are of Lae in Morobe District, dated 1952. There are also five images of Rabaul in New Britain: one dated 1952 may be of Tavurvur volcano, a view from Matupi Island. The other four dated August 1964 show the view from the District Commissioner’s garden, a sunset, dancers and school students. Also dated 1964 is a portrait of an unnamed female nurse in Madang District. This photograph may not belong in this series, nor have been taken by James Tedder. Judging from the information on the badge the nurse is wearing it was taken after Papua New Guinea Independence.

Three images dated 1958 were taken in the Eastern Highlands District, probably all at Mt Michael Patrol Post. They include one of James Tedder, his wife Margaret and their children with District Officer W E (Bill) Tomasetti. Tomasetti served in World War 2 / World War II as a commando in Timor. The other photos were taken of two groups of local men, some of whom are displaying their traditional wealth, including plumes and kina shells.

Mt Hagen and the Western Highlands District is the subject of 14 images probably all taken in August 1964: seven are aerial views of the town, airstrip and geographical features, including the Hindenberg Wall, and the terrain en route to Porgera. Seven are of Highlands people. The people, including a portrait of two women, are shown walking along a road or posing for a photograph and show the wealth and status of these people. Three images taken also in August 1964 in Central District are of the view across Fairfax Harbour to Port Moresby town and, in the foothills of the Owen Stanley range behind Port Moresby, of the Rona (Rouna) Falls hydro plant and the Falls themselves. Both this trip outside Port Moresby in Central Province and the flight in the Western Highlands District were probably facilitated by the Western Highlands District Commissioner of TPNG’s Western Highlands District, Tom Ellis, for the District Commissioner of BSIP’s Western District, James Tedder, after the men met at a meeting in Port Moresby.

The last group of images in this collection were taken in the BSIP of two active volcanoes, one in Western District and one in Eastern. The submarine volcano Kavachi, in Western, is in the UNESCO Marovo Tetepare Complex, which is home to outstanding marine biodiversity. Of the five aerial images, two are captioned in distinctive handwriting “H. Moss 27.12.65”. Three images taken with what appears to be the same camera as Moss’, have “Tedder 1966” recorded on them in Tedder’s writing. It is possible that these are duplicates of three images taken by Harry Moss, MBE, and have been dated accordingly. After retiring as a TAA (Trans Australia Airlines) Captain, Harry became the first pilot in the new Solomon Islands internal airline Megapode Airways. Margaret Tedder worked in the Megapode office and occasionally James Tedder was flown by Harry for work purposes. Both men mention the other in their autobiographies, James in his “A District Administrator in the Islands 1952-1974” (published 2008) and Harry in his “10,000 Hours In the Life of a Flying Doctor Pilot” (published 1988). In Eastern District, in the Santa Cruz Islands, is Tinakula. A conical stratovolcano in the same volcanic arc as Kavachi, Tinakula has a long history of activity, including throughout 2019. There are eleven images, a number of them taken from different angles from the air, dated July 1974, and show landslips caused by the volcano’s activity.

James Tedder and members of his family described/captioned the majority of the images.

Tedder, James L.O.

Slides from Tim Bayliss-Smith’s Voluntary Service Overseas placement and PhD research in Solomon Islands

  • AU PMB PHOTO 100
  • Collectie
  • 1966-1972

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.

Bayliss-Smith, Tim

Essays on Solomon Islands life and Missionary Review extracts

  • AU PMB MS 413
  • Collectie
  • c.1902 - 1964

The Rev. John R. Metcalfe (1889-1970) a Methodist missionary in the Solomon Islands for 37 years, was born in Yorkshire and went to Victoria in 1914. He became a candidate for the Methodist ministry in 1916, and after being ordained was appointed to the Solomon Islands in 1920. After a brief period at Roviana, he was appointed to Choiseul as assistant to the Rev. V. Lec. Binet. Apart from four years at Teop, he remained on Choiseul until 1951. During the war, he served as a Coastwatcher. He was chairman of the Methodist Mission in the Solomons from 1951 until he retired to Australia in 1957. He continued to take an active interest in the mission until his death.

The papers comprise essays written by Solomon Islanders in vernacular languages describing their lives, local events and people of importance (52 pages); similar writings in English; annotated extracts from the Missionary Review 1902 - 1921; etc.

Metcalfe, John R.

Slides from John Baker’s Voluntary Service Overseas placement in Solomon Islands

  • AU PMB PHOTO 114
  • Collectie
  • 1964-1965

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.

Baker, John R.

Solomon Islands Broadcasting Memorabilia

  • AU PMB DOC 544
  • Collectie
  • 1982-1984

The first music and voice transmitted by radio in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate (BSIP) occurred in 1923 through the Methodist Mission?s wireless station at Kokegolo in New Georgia. The station often presented choral and band recitals performed in local languages, primarily for the interest of passengers on passing ships which were equipped with wireless sets. However, actual broadcasting in the BSIP began in June, 1944 with radio station WVUQ based in Guadalcanal, and was followed a few months later by WVTJ based in Munda. Both stations were operated by the United States of America military as part of the Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) and were primarily sources of news and entertainment for American troops serving in the Pacific. Both stations were part of a grouping known as ?The Mosquito Network?.
In the years after World War II, a radio service was maintained by volunteers in Honiara, primarily for an English-speaking, licence fee-paying, expatriate audience. In 1952, the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Service was established as VQO, broadcasting news and music six days a week to local audiences in most parts of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate. By the mid-1950s, colonial administrators saw the important role radio was playing for local audiences and invested in programming (including Pijin content), staff, transmitters and new studios. The studios on Mendana Avenue, Honiara, opened in 1959. By the 1960s, SIBS was also providing school services and outside broadcasting of special events, putting a strain on the still new studio facilities. Studio and office upgrades were made in 1965.
In 1976, under the administration of Sir Peter Kenilorea, SIBS became a statutory body, and commenced operations as the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation (SIBC) in 1977. In 1978 the Australian Government committed funds for the upgrade of studio and transmission facilities in Honiara, the establishment of a new regional station in Gizo and correspondents based in more remote parts of the country. Broadcasting House at Rove, Honiara opened on 7 August, 1982.
From 1980-1984, Martin Hadlow was the News/Programme Trainer, then Head of Development and Training at SIBC. During this time the service transitioned from a government broadcasting service to an independent public service broadcasting corporation. This transition meant new management (including a new Board), a complete revamp of programming and news structure, and the new studio building at Rove. Hadlow prepared this booklet for the opening of the studio and was involved with the preparation of the First Day Cover stamp set for the 20th Anniversary of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU).

Hadlow, Martin

Diary (photocopy of original in Roviana)

  • AU PMB MS 1105
  • Collectie
  • January-April 1937

This diary, associated with the Methodist Mission in the Solomon Islands, was found with Job Tozaka's diary (see PMB 1102). Diary of an unnamed person, possibly John Kevisi, 14 Jan-21 Apr 1937. See reel list for further details.

John Kevisi [?]

Diary (Roviana original and English translation)

  • AU PMB MS 1104
  • Collectie
  • May 1935-Jan 1936

David Voeta was associated with the Methodist Mission in the West of the Solomon Islands. Diary (possibly a transcript), May 1935-Jan 1936. English translation of the diary, May 1935-Jan 1936.

See reel list for further details.

Voeta, David

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