Identity area
Reference code
AU PMB MS 1075
Title
Date(s)
- c.1883-1968 {Bulk: 1900-1913} (Creation)
Level of description
Collection
Extent and medium
1 reel; 35 mm microfilm; Digital PDF (transcript)
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Maurice Myles Witts was born in Bombala, NSW in 1877 and died in Moss Vale, NSW in 1966. During 1899-1900 he worked for the Colonial Sugar Refining Co. in Fiji. In 1900 he enlisted in the Mounted Rifles and fought in the Boer War, after which he was discharged as a Sergeant in 1902. In 1904 he moved to Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides where he established a coconut plantation at Hog Harbour. In 1904 he married Mabel Herring (born Sydney, 1877) on Santo. The Witts returned to Australia about 1913. See PMB 1 and PMB 8 for diaries of Maurice Witts, 1905 and 1911.
- Diary of Mabel Witts, 7 February to 4 November 1909. Describes daily life at Hog Harbour, including the birth of daughter Helen in October 1909.<BR>2. Family correspondence, business and other documents, 1900-17, 1931, 1941, 1968. Includes personal and official letters, printed material and other papers documenting inter alia: Maurice Witts' work in Fiji, 1900; Boer War service, 1902; planting activities on Santo, 1905; membership of the Legion of Frontiersmen, 1906-7; marriage in 1907; appointment as a police constable, 1911; and purchase of property at Wyong, NSW, 1911. Also includes letters from Witts to daughter Betty, 1931 and wife Mabel, 1941 and a letter from a firm of Port Vila Solicitors to Mrs Betty Tyler of Moss Vale re the ownership of Lathu Island off Hogg Harbour, 1968.<BR>3. Four family photographs: Mabel, c.1883 and c.1904; Maurice, 1956; and a group portrait of Maurice and two others, c.1905.<BR>4. Printed map of Espiritu Santo with pencil annotations, n.d.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Available for reference
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Mr Grant Jones, 55 Melrose Mews, Medley Street, Chifley, ACT, 2606, Australia
Existence and location of copies
Access this title at PMB Member Libraries or by contacting the Bureau directly: http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/pambu/accessing.php
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Diary of Mabel Witts for 1909 was transcribed by Paul Lesley Jones.
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Witts, Mabel (Subject)
- Witts, Maurice M. (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
ms1075