The Rev. John R. Metcalfe (1889-1970) was born in Yorkshire and served as a Methodist missionary in the Solomon Islands for 37 years. He served as a home missionary in Great Britain before moving 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 (also, Lauru) 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 became chairman of the Methodist Mission in the Solomons in 1951, a post he held until he retired to Australia in 1957. He continued to take an active interest in the mission until his death.
From time to time during his career in the Solomon Islands, Metcalfe wrote long, descriptive newsletters to friends overseas which he called general letters. They were invariably typewritten. Apparently several carbon copies of each letter were sent out. Those on this microfilm were written in the following years: 1920 (2), 1921 (2), 1922 (1), 1924 (1), 1925 (1), 1926 (1), 1927 (1), 1929 (1), 1936 (2), 1937 (2), 1938 (2), 1939 (1), 1941 (1), 1946 (2), 1947 (2), 1948 (1), 1950 (1).
Metcalfe, John R.