Reverend Dr Ernest Edgar Vyvyan Collocott (1886-1970) served as a Methodist missionary in Tonga from 1911 to 1924. During his career in Tonga and afterwards, he wrote numerous papers on Tongan myths, legends, history, language, customs and astronomy for Mankind, The Journal of the Polynesian Society, Folklore, and the special publications of the Bernice P. Bishop Museum.

The correspondence comprises approximately 100 letters relating to a wide range of Pacific subjects, with emphasis on Tonga. Correspondents include many of the leading Pacific scholars of the day, such as Elsdon Best, W.H. Skinner, H.E. Gregory, anthropologists W.C. McKern and E.W. Gifford, and linguists Sidney H. Ray and S. Churchward. Also included is a copy of a speech made by Queen Salote of Tonga at the laying of the foundation stone of the schoolhouse at Nafuala in 1921 and the annual report of the Chief Justice of Tonga for 1921.