William Charles Groves, B.A. (Melb), Dip.Ed., F.R.A.I. (1898-1967) was a Supervisor of Education in the Mandated Territory of New Guinea from 1922 till 1926. He carried out anthropological work in the Western Pacific, including New Guinea, from 1931 till 1936, as a Research Fellow in Social Anthropology under the Australian National Research Council. He was Director of Education in Nauru from 1937 till 1938 and Advisor on Education in the Solomon Islands from 1939 till 1940. After World War II he was appointed Director of Education in the Territory of Papua and New Guinea (TPNG) and remained in that post till 1958.

This copy of Groves’ Report on Education in the British Solomon Islands, March 1940, Ts., roneoed, c.200pp., is an uncatalogued item in the Hallstrom Pacific Collection. Its contents consist of:
Part I., Section 1. Introduction, Acknowledgements, etc.
Section 2. The Solomon Islands Background in Relation to Education.
Section 3. The Missions in the Solomon Islands
Section 4. Educational Aims and Objectives for the Solomon Islands
Section 5. The Missions and the Government in Education: (a) The present educational situation; (b) The Mission-Government Cooperation Principle.
Section 6. General Conclusions.
Part II., Section 1. Introductory
Section 2. Outline of a Suggested Educational Organisation.
Section 3. Educational Organisation (continued).
Section 4. Problems of Educational Content and School Curricula.
Section 5. Problems of Educational Content (continued).
Section 6. Educational finance.
Section 7. The Introduction of the Proposed System: Staff Requirements, legislation, Method of Organisation, etc.
Bibliography: (a) Solomon Islands (b) Native Education.
Appendix. Suggested Courses of Study for Solomon Islands Schools.

In 1932 W.C. Groves carried out ethnographic fieldwork centred on the village of Fisoa in the northern half of the island of New Ireland, in the Territory of New Guinea, part of the administrative district which had its headquarters in the town of Kavieng. His fieldwork was carried out under a grant from the Australian National Research Council. Reports of Groves' work were published in <I>Oceania</I> and <I>Mankind</I>. Following a successful career as an educator, culminating in his appointment as Director of Education in the Territory of Papua and New Guinea, 1946-1958, Groves was appointed Visiting Fellow in Anthropology in the Research School of Pacific Studies at the Australian National University in 1965 and 1966, where he complied the papers copied on this microfilm.

<BR>W. C. Groves, <I>An Ethnographic Study of Fisoa, a New Ireland Community</I> [in 1932], ANU, Canberra, 1965. Ts., 48pp.
<BR>W. C. Groves, <I>Kinship and Social Organisation in a New Ireland Community</I>, ANU, Canberra, 1965-66. Ts., 111pp.
<BR>W. C. Groves, <I>A South Seas' Panorama</I>. Ts. 151pp.
<BR>See Finding aids for details.

W.C. Groves (1898-1967) prepared this manuscript on the life of Peter Hansen for publication whilst Groves was working in Rabaul in 1925. The original copy of the work, which included drawings, was lost en route to a publisher in London.

The documents consist of:<BR>1. Letter signed by P. Hansen concerning the disposal of the manuscript on Hansen's life, 7 January 1924<BR>2. The life story of Mr Peter Christian Hansen as told to the Author at Rabaul, New Britain, North West Pacific Islands, 15 January 1922<BR>3. Manuscript of Peter the Island King, 1925

William Charles Groves (1898-1967) was a Supervisor of Education in
Mandated Territory of New Guinea from 1922 till 1926. He carried out
anthropological work in the Western Pacific, including New Guinea,
from 1931 till 1936, as a Research Fellow with the Australian National
Research Council. He was Director of Education in Nauru from 1937
till 1938 and Advisor on Education in the Solomon Islands from 1939
till 1940. After World War II he was appointed Director of Education
in the Territory of Papua and New Guinea (TPNG) and remained in that
post till 1958.

The W C Groves Papers were arranged and calendared by John A.
Collier in 1972 in eight parts: 1. Mission education in Melanesia; 2. Papua New Guinea Pre-War; 3. Papua New Guinea Port-War; 4. Nauru; 5. Correspondence and Miscellaneous; 6. South Pacific Commission; 7. Honolulu Conference, 1936; 8. Photographs in the Collection. Parts 2-4 are microfilmed here by the Bureau, together with John Collier’s, Guide to the Groves Papers. <P><B>See reel list for further details</B>

Groves (1898-1967) carried out anthropological research among the people of Fisoa and Tatau Villages, New Ireland, in 1932-34 as a research fellow of the Australian National Research Council. Fisoa is on the New Ireland mainland while Tatau is on Tabar Island.

The documents are:

1. Record of fieldwork in New Ireland, 24 May 1932 - 14 July 1934 (2 books)
2. Draft account of work at Tatau village, Tabar Island, 1934 (4 books)
3. Notebooks on research at Fisoa village, 1932-33 (8 books)
4. Notebooks on research at Tatau village, 1933-34 (3 books).

See also articles in Oceania, nos 3, 4, 5 and 6 (1933-35/36).