This is a collection of 45 colour slides taken by James L.O. Tedder, MBE, during the period 1952 to 1974. Twenty nine of these slides were taken in the Territory of Papua New Guinea (TPNG) and 16 in the British Solomon Islands Protectorate (BSIP).

Of the 29 TPNG images, three are of Lae in Morobe District, dated 1952. There are also five images of Rabaul in New Britain: one dated 1952 may be of Tavurvur volcano, a view from Matupi Island. The other four dated August 1964 show the view from the District Commissioner’s garden, a sunset, dancers and school students. Also dated 1964 is a portrait of an unnamed female nurse in Madang District. This photograph may not belong in this series, nor have been taken by James Tedder. Judging from the information on the badge the nurse is wearing it was taken after Papua New Guinea Independence.

Three images dated 1958 were taken in the Eastern Highlands District, probably all at Mt Michael Patrol Post. They include one of James Tedder, his wife Margaret and their children with District Officer W E (Bill) Tomasetti. Tomasetti served in World War 2 / World War II as a commando in Timor. The other photos were taken of two groups of local men, some of whom are displaying their traditional wealth, including plumes and kina shells.

Mt Hagen and the Western Highlands District is the subject of 14 images probably all taken in August 1964: seven are aerial views of the town, airstrip and geographical features, including the Hindenberg Wall, and the terrain en route to Porgera. Seven are of Highlands people. The people, including a portrait of two women, are shown walking along a road or posing for a photograph and show the wealth and status of these people. Three images taken also in August 1964 in Central District are of the view across Fairfax Harbour to Port Moresby town and, in the foothills of the Owen Stanley range behind Port Moresby, of the Rona (Rouna) Falls hydro plant and the Falls themselves. Both this trip outside Port Moresby in Central Province and the flight in the Western Highlands District were probably facilitated by the Western Highlands District Commissioner of TPNG’s Western Highlands District, Tom Ellis, for the District Commissioner of BSIP’s Western District, James Tedder, after the men met at a meeting in Port Moresby.

The last group of images in this collection were taken in the BSIP of two active volcanoes, one in Western District and one in Eastern. The submarine volcano Kavachi, in Western, is in the UNESCO Marovo Tetepare Complex, which is home to outstanding marine biodiversity. Of the five aerial images, two are captioned in distinctive handwriting “H. Moss 27.12.65”. Three images taken with what appears to be the same camera as Moss’, have “Tedder 1966” recorded on them in Tedder’s writing. It is possible that these are duplicates of three images taken by Harry Moss, MBE, and have been dated accordingly. After retiring as a TAA (Trans Australia Airlines) Captain, Harry became the first pilot in the new Solomon Islands internal airline Megapode Airways. Margaret Tedder worked in the Megapode office and occasionally James Tedder was flown by Harry for work purposes. Both men mention the other in their autobiographies, James in his “A District Administrator in the Islands 1952-1974” (published 2008) and Harry in his “10,000 Hours In the Life of a Flying Doctor Pilot” (published 1988). In Eastern District, in the Santa Cruz Islands, is Tinakula. A conical stratovolcano in the same volcanic arc as Kavachi, Tinakula has a long history of activity, including throughout 2019. There are eleven images, a number of them taken from different angles from the air, dated July 1974, and show landslips caused by the volcano’s activity.

James Tedder and members of his family described/captioned the majority of the images.

These 152 35mm slides were taken between October 1969 and November 1973 by Roger Southern, who was then teaching at the Department of Geography at the University of Papua New Guinea [UPNG] and was researching a master’s degree with the University of Bristol for which he travelled to the PNG Highlands to observe the place of roads and road transport in economic change.

The images illustrate ten themes:

1. TRADITIONAL HIGHLAND VILLAGE LIFE, Lumusa area, Baiyer River district [Images 1 to 25]
2. BAIYER RIVER, local roads, and the emerging cash economy [26-46]
3. BAIYER RIVER, the Baptist Mission and Enga Enterprises coffee cooperative[47-57]
4. ALONG THE HIGHLANDS HIGHWAY, road making and road transport in a challenging environment [58-76]
5. ULYA COFFEE PLANTATION, people, activity in and around the plantation [77-94]
6. MOUNT HAGEN, images of the town [95-104]
7. WAHGI VALLEY, KINDENG, the tea plantation [105-113]
8. WAHGI VALLEY, KINDENG, the smallholder projects [114-126]
9. UPNG [UNIVERSITY OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA], the campus and some events [127-137]
10. UPNG [UNIVERSITY OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA], the students [138-152]

The late Edith Watts MBE and the late John Watts MLA provided many of the opportunities for images 1 to 126 to be made. Southern also remembers fondly the students and staff of the brand new and exciting University of Papua New Guinea [images 127-152].

Joanne Wodak worked as a Tutor then Senior Tutor in literature at the University of Papua New Guinea from 1968-1970. This collection is the result of research conducted in Ombisusu in the latter part of the first half of 1969. It consists of stories by inhabitants of Ombisusu that were mostly translated into English, some left in the original language, and written down or typed by the researcher after recording them on tape. The aim of collecting stories was to keep them for the benefit of the children of Ombisusu villagers and for other people in Papua New Guinea. The collection contains origin stories, history stories and clan stories.

Jean Chambers was a commercial artist who commenced work designing screen slides for Whitford Theatre Ads in Sydney. She then worked for Vivian Art Studios which carried out all branches of advertising and display for many large buisiness firms in Sydney, including Bonds Hosiery, Berley’s and Nestles. In 1935 she married Keith M. Chambers and moved to New Guinea with her husband. They were evacuated in 1941, returned to Madang in 1946, where Keith Chambers was the Customs Officer, then moved to Rabaul in 1948. In 1948 a Maternal and Child Health (MCH) service was established in the TPNG Department of Public Health by Dr Joan Refshauge. The MCH commissioned Mrs Chambers to design posters on infant care. (See posters marked “Rabaul”.) The original paintings were sent to Sydney for lithographic block making in 3 or 4 colours. Thousands were printed and returned for distribution by the Public Health Department as teaching aids in villages throughout the Territory. The couple moved to Port Moresby in the mid 1950s where Keith Chambers eventually became Chief Collector of Customs. In Port Moresby Jean Chambers designed and completed film strips for the Commonwealth Film Unit on women’s club training, and worked for Burns Philp (NG)Ltd for 18 months during 1958-59 on display and newspaper advertising. Mrs Chambers also received more commissions for posters and eventually acccepted a full-time appointment with the Department of Information where she trained New Guinean staff in silk screen printing, using her designs and stencils for posters, mainly on health education but also for the Departments of Agriculture, and Post and Telegraphs. Mrs Chambers left PNG when her husband retired in 1965 or 1966.

34 lithographic and silk screened posters on health education in PNG, 1948-1965(?); 13 posters on the introduction of decimal currency in PNG, 1965.

This collection of 44 photographs documents time spent by Gwen and Tom Taylor at Buin Area School and Kerema in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea from 1945 to 1961. Most of the photographs relate to Buin Area School and document the physical appearance of the school and various aspects of life there. These include photographs of students in classrooms, making cane furniture, weaving, swimming and gardening. Several photographs show Gwen Taylor holding babies and being pictured with nuns. Tom Taylor is pictured in a classroom and mention is made of his role as the principal of the school at Buin. Some of the photographs depict special occasions and ceremonial events being celebrated by local people. There are good examples of houses, school buildings and a church. One photograph depicts the purchase of a new truck and there are a few photographs depicting canoes, including an outrigger canoe. Also pictured are boats, including the MV Gona. One photo appears to show artillery at Kokopo. A few photographs feature non-local adults and children posing for the camera. One photograph shows a large cloud of smoke and appears to be the burning of garden. Another shows an explosion in the sea.