Arundel (1814-1919) was a leading figure in the Pacific phosphate industry from the 1860s until his death, active largely in Kiribati and Nauru. See Pacific Islands Monthly, April 1974, pp.59-61.
The correspondence is chiefly with Lord Stanmore who was chairman of the Pacific Islands Company Ltd, and later the Pacific Phosphate Company Ltd, of which Arundel was the Vice-Chairman.
John T. Arundel (1841-1919) was a leading figure in the Pacific phosphate industry in Kiribati and Nauru from the 1860s until his death. See: Pacific Islands Monthly, April 1874, pp.59-61. For a summary of Arundel's activities from 1865-92, see film PMB MS 494. The National Library of Australia holds a number of Arundel photographic albums. The diaries have been filmed on reels PMB 480 - 492.
Diary 9 June 1870 - 31 December 1872.<BR>See also PMB 14, 498.
John T. Arundel's Diary 1914 - 1919. Arundel was involved in phosphate mining in Kiribati and Nauru. This diary was written in the final years of his life before he died in Bournemouth, England, in November 1919. See also PMB MS 14, 498.
John T. Arundel's Diary 1911 - 1913. At this time Arundel was associated with the Pacific Phosphate Company, which began phosphate mining on Banaba, Kiribati in 1901 and on Nauru in 1906. However, Arundel had already stepped down as deputy chairman of the company in 1909 following a heart attack. See also PMB MS 14, 498
John T. Arundel's diaries from the Pacific, largely Kiribati and Nauru as follows: Reel 1: Diary, January - October 1905; Reel 2: Diary, October 1905 - 15 June 1909; Reel 3: Diary 17 June 1909 - 31 December 1910. In 1897, John T. Arundel & Co merged its business with trading and plantation firm Henderson and Macfarlane. They formed the Pacific Islands Company Ltd (PIC), which was based in London with trading activities in the Pacific, particularly Kiribati. In 1902, PIC became the Pacific Phosphate Company and began phosphate mining on Banaba, Kiribati in 1901 and on Nauru in 1906. See also PMB MS 14, 498
Ellis (1869-1951) was born in Queensland and educated in New Zealand. In the 1890s he became an employee of the Pacific Islands Company Ltd of London, which was involved in the guano industry on islands in the Coral Sea and the Phoenix Group (Kiribati). In 1900, he became curious about a rock which was used as a doorstop in the Sydney office of his company and this led to the discovery of the phosphate deposits on Ocean Island and Nauru. He was a prominent figure in the Pacific Phosphate Company Ltd in 1902. After the phosphate company was bought out by the British, Australian and New Zealand governments after World War I, he became commissioner for New Zealand on the British Phosphate Commission, which was established to exploit the phosphate deposits on Ocean Island and Nauru. He was the author of three books, Ocean Island and Nauru (1936), Adventuring in Coral Seas (1937) and Mid-Pacific Outpost (1946).
The documents on the microfilm include: 1. Ellis' diary for May 1900 when he went to Banaba (Ocean Island) in Kiribati to establish the phosphate industry there; 2. Clippings on the phosphate industry from various newspapers and journals; 3. Correspondence covering the period 1920-51.
Miscellaneous correspondence of John T. Arundel, 1902-09. During this period, Arundel was involved in phosphate mining with the Pacific Phosphate Company in Kiribati and Nauru.
Newspaper clippings, official printed documents and typescripts on the Pacific phosphate industry. Largely associated with mining in Kiribati and Nauru. See also PMB MS 14, 480-495.
The records begin with a report from a German official in Jaluit to the Duke of Bismarck, dated May 6, 1887, stating that local German firms had suggested that the German Protectorate of the Marshall Islands should be extended to cover Nauru. A report written in Jaluit on October 31, 1888, by Herr Sonnenschein, the German Imperial Commissioner in the Marshall Islands, describes the raising of the German flag on Nauru on October 2, 1888. There are several extensive reports on conditions on Nauru. The remainder of the documents deal with the German administration of Nauru.
