Archdeacon Stephen Romney Maurice Gill (1886-1954), from a family of Pacific missionaries, joined the Anglican mission to Papua in 1908. He was ordained at Dogura, in 1910, and his first parish was nearby Boianai, where he remained until 1922. He then moved to the Mamba district, where he established a temporary station at Manau on the mouth of the Mamba (or Mambare) River. Two years later, at Duvira, he began work on what was to be his head station until 1942, when it was destroyed by the Japanese. In 1943, he began building a new mission station at nearby Dewade. He retired in 1952 and died in England two years later.

The letters, written from Papua New Guinea to members of Gill's family in England, are mainly of the period 1922-28. The original letters are owned by members of the Gill family in England. Those on the microfilm are typewritten copies of the originals made available by Mr David Wetherell, of Popondetta, Papua (1969).

Mr Ian Grabowsky, born in Finland in 1899, was actively associated with New Guinea aviation from 1931 to 1937 as a pilot and manager for Guinea Airways Ltd. Between 1962 and 1967, he compiled a history of civil aviation in New Guinea to the year 1935 for the Commonwealth Department of Civil Aviation (Australia). For further details of Grabowsky's career and his compilation, see Pacific Islands Monthly for February, 1968, p.14.

A detailed account of the development of civil aviation and the exploits of the early fliers in Papua New Guinea to 1935, drawing upon a wide range of published and unpublished material.
Reel 1: Introduction; Vol.1 - Chapter 1 The Discovery of Gold 1529-1925. Chapter 2 The Early Transport System (including a section on oil, administration patrols and recruitment of human transport). Chapters 3 and 4 Transport and the Goldfields 1926 (Chapter 4 includes A Wild Road Winds to Wau by Mrs Alice Allen Innes, 'mine hostess' at Salamau from 1927, recounting an incident recorded in her diary). Chapters 5 to 7 deal with Air Transport and the Goldfields from 1927 to 1929 respectively. Vol.2 - Chapters 7 to 9 cover air transport and the goldfields from 1930 to 1932 respectively. Vol.3 - Chapter 10 Great Discoveries of New Lands, New People, New Wealth, New Ventures and New Ambitions.
Reel 2: Vol.3 (cont.) Chapter 11 - 1934. Vol.4 - 1935.

The papers consist of:

1. A miscellaneous collection of 30 letters written between 1900 and 1936 by and to missionaries at Vunapope, Poporang, Koromira, Buka Passage, Mussou [Mussau], and Shortland.
2. Reports to the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda, Rome, on the history and progress of the Roman Catholic Church, North Solomons, dated 1921 to 1936.
3. A history of the Roman Catholic Mission at Buin, Bougainville, 1903-1916, by Father Francois Allotte. It is entitled 'Notice sur Buin'.
4. A daily journal kept by Father Jean-Baptiste Poncelet from May 24, 1937 to May 22, 1940 at Turiboiru, Buin, Bougainville.
5. An account by Father Maurice Boch of his arrival and early days in the Solomon Islands, April - June, 1908. Father Boch was stationed at Poporang.
6. A miscellaneous collection of documents comprising: A history of Koromira mission station, 1907-1923; a list of baptisms at Koromira, 1908-1924; a history of Choiseul, 1768-192?; a history of Choiseul, 1911-1927; a report of the Marist mission to the Committee of Inquiry into Mission Affairs, Keita, 1929; a resume of the Committee of Inquiry's report, n.d.; a history of Timbutz mission station.
7. Correspondence of Father E.M. Babonneau, S.M., of Wainoni Bay, San Cristobal [Makira], 1915-1920. (Many of the letters have been damaged or partly destroyed).

Sir Hubert Murray (1861-1940) was Lieutenant-Governor of Papua from 1908 until his death.

The letters, about 130 in all, are addressed to Sir Hubert Murray's daughter, Mrs Mary Pinney, and to his granddaughter, Miss Maura Pinney. For five of the nine and a half years covered by the correspondence, the Pinneys lived on Norfolk Island, where Mrs Pinney's husband, Captain C.R. Pinney, MC, was Administrator. The letters provide intimate glimpses of the life, thoughts and opinions of a man who presided over the destiny of Papua for 31 years, and contain numerous references to Captain Pinney's career. Several letters from H. Leonard Murray to Mrs Pinney are also included in this collection. H.L. Murray (1887-1963) was Sir Hubert Murray's nephew and Official Secretary of the Papuan Administration during the 1930's. He became Administrator of Papua after Sir Hubert's death in 1908 in Papua New Guinea.

Archdeacon Gill (d.1954), a member of a family of Pacific missionaries, joined the Anglican mission to Papua in 1908. He was ordained at Dogura in 1910, and his first parish was nearby Boianai, where he remained until 1922. He then moved to the Mamba district, where he established a temporary station at Manau on the mouth of the Mamba (or Mambare) River. Two years later, at Duvira, he began work on what was to be his head station until 1942, when it was destroyed by the Japanese. In 1943, he began building a new mission station at nearby Dewade. He retired in 1952 and died in England two years later.

Typed transcripts of Archdeacon Gill’s letters, Jan 1942-Dec 1944, photocopied for Professor Hank Nelson from the originals held in the New Guinea Collection at the UPNG Library, together with Professor Nelson’s correspondence with Nancy Lutton, the New Guinea Collection Librarian, and Professor Nelson’s notes on the letters.

See also PMB 40: Letters of Archdeacon Gill, 1897-1928.