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Autobiographical record - Adventures of a Guano Digger in the Eastern Pacific

  • AU PMB MS 20
  • Collection
  • 1871

Richard Branscombe Chave, was born in 1849, probably in England. He was manager of the guano diggings on Starbuck Island (part of the central Line islands of Kiribati) in 1871, when the island was under lease from the British Government to Holder Bros. of London. Subsequently, Chave appears to have returned to his profession as a sailor.

In 1871, Chave, then 22, was in charge of a guano team of three Europeans and 50 Rarotongans working on Starbuck Island. When provisions began to run low, and there was no sign of a brig which was to bring replenishments, Chave and three Rarotongans set off in a large boat to try to reach Malden Island, 120 miles away, which was being worked for guano by a Melbourne company. After becoming lost and surviving a capsize, the party reached Penrhyn Island, several hundred miles in the opposite direction. Later, Chave and a Penrhyn Islander tried to sail back to Starbuck Island, but again Chave became lost and he and his companion finally drifted to an uninhabited island, which proved to be Suwarrow Atoll, where they lived for two years before being rescued. Chave's narrative gives a vivid account of his adventures up to a point where he and his companion had been on Suwarrow for about nine months. For further details, see the Bureau's newsletter Pambu, Nov. 1968:4, pp.5-9 and Jan. 1969:6, pp.6-9.

Chave, Richard Branscombe

Letters relating to Tonga

  • AU PMB MS 29
  • Collection
  • 1855

Dr William Henry Harvey was a botanist, becoming professor and chair of Botany at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland, from 1856 until his death in 1866.

The letters, four in number, give vivid accounts of Dr Harvey's visits to Tonga and Fiji in the latter half of 1855 during the course of a world tour. The letters are addressed to Harvey's sister Hannah (Mrs Hannah Harvey Todhunter) and his niece Mary (Mary Christy Harvey). Dr Harvey was particularly interested in algae; but he also investigated other aspects of the natural history of Tonga and Fiji, and wrote at length of a religious revival in Tonga and cannibalism in Fiji. (Twenty-six other letters of Dr Harvey, dealing with other aspects of his world tour, which took in Gilbraltar, Malta, Ceylon, Australia and New Zealand, are deposited in the library of Trinity College, Dublin). See also the Bureau's newsletter PAMBU, March 1968: 8, pp.1-4.

Harvey, William Henry

Fiji photographs

  • AU PMB PHOTO 70
  • Collection
  • 2009

This collection of 54 photographs records a visit to Fiji in August 2009 by Bill Gammage. The visit was to see friends and look around. The photos were taken in Suva and around Viti Levu. PMBPhoto_101 complements these photos.
Subjects include Suva, Suva hinterland, Bau, Takalana Bay and Moon Reef, Tongan hill fort and views, Nausori Highlands and Bukuyu Village. The Sigatoka Sand Dunes and Mt Victoria (Mt Tomanivi) are also subjects.

Gammage, Bill

Collected documents: “An alphabetical list of villages in PNG”, 1970, and “Basic documents concerning the Japanese peace settlement”, N.D.

  • AU PMB MS 1346
  • Collection
  • 1970 & n.d.

Alan Ives is a former Librarian at the National Archives of Australia and Archivist at Charles Sturt University. He was also an editor of the Pacific Archives Journal.

• An Alphabetical List of Villages in Papua and New Guinea, Waigani, the Library, University of PNG, 1970; Ts., bound, 103pp. Cf. Village Directory, PNG Dept of District Administration, 2nd revised edition, 1968, arranged under Districts and Sub-Districts, whereas this UPNG Library publication is an alphabetical list derived from the Village Directory.
• Basic Documents concerning the Japanese Peace Settlement, n.d..; Ts., roneo, c.40pp. Texts of documents concerning the future of Japan and her territories:
A. The Cairo Declaration of 2 Dec 1943.
B. The Secret Yalta Agreement of 11th Feb 1945 (made public on 12 Feb 1946)
C. The Potsdam Declaration of 26 July 1945.
D. Notes exchanged between the Japanese Government and the Governments signatory to the Potsdam Proclamation in August 1945.
E. President Truman’s Directive to the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers 13 Aug 1945.
F. Proclamation of the Emperor of Japan 12 August 1945.
G. The instrument of Japan’s surrender signed on board the USS “Missouri” at Tokyo Bay on 2nd September 1945.
H. Basic initial post-surrender directive to Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers for the Occupation and Control of Japan.
I. The Moscow Communique of 28 December 1945 (relevant portion).
J. Proposed US 25 year Treaty on disarmament and demilitarisation of Japan.

Ives, Alan

Report By Lieutenant W.J. Read Ranvr on coastwatching activity Bougainville Island, 1941-1943

  • AU PMB MS 1245
  • Collection
  • 1974

Jack Read joined the Australian administration of the Mandated Territory of New Guinea as a Cadet in 1929. He worked as Patrol Officer in most parts of the Territory, having covered New Britain and the mainland from the Sepik River to the Morobe Goldfields, but had not been located in Bougainville until his appointment in November 1941 as Assistant District Officer in charge of the Buka Passage Sub-District, under District Officer Merrylees. Following the Japanese entry into the War on 8 Dec 1941, Read helped evacuate most European residents from Buka, established inland dumps of emergency provisions and shifted his administration to Bougainville island just before a Japanese attack on the Sub-District HQ on Sohano island on 24 January 1942. Following the winding up of civil administration in February 1942, Read, the only remaining government representative, was appointed Lieutenant in the Australian Navy under Lt Commander Feldt with instructions to remain in Bougainville as a coastwatcher.

Photocopy of original typescript. Parts I-XI and appendices A-L, includes detailed contents list; Ts., foolscap, 148pp. Appendix M, ‘Map of Bougainville’, missing. Front sheet signed by Jack Read and dated 9 July 1974.

Read, W.J.

Kweli Times: a short history of the Apostolic Church Vanuatu 1946-1965

  • AU PMB DOC 472
  • Collection
  • 2002

This rare book is an account of the development of an independent ni-Vanuatu church, established in West Ambae by Peter Pentecost around 1901 and, after his death, led by Joe Lulu, Bihu and other elders. After the War, missionaries from the Apostolic Church, Allan and Daisy Mann, Inger Christensen, Frank and Molly Thompson, and Paul and Dulcie Grant, and others, connected with the independent church. The Ambae church was re-established as part of the Apostolic mission, under the leadership of Lulu of Wahala, Bihu of Vilakalaka, Samson of Tavala and Aaron of Halalulu. Links were forged with an Apostolic mission in Luganville, Santo, which eventually merged with the Ambae church to form the Apostolic Church New Hebrides in 1976.

Paul and Dulcie Grant, Kweli Times: A Short History of the Apostolic Church Vanuatu 1946-1965, Coopers Plains, Queensland, 2002; 58pp., illus.

Paul and Dulcie Grant

Preparation and Negotiation: the transfer of power from Australia to Papua New Guinea, 1970-1975

  • AU PMB DOC 411
  • Collection
  • Sep 1975

Thesis submitted to the Department of Political Studies, University of Papua New Guinea.

I. Introduction
II. A Historical Perspective, 1967-1969
III. The First Transfers of Power, 1970-1971
IV. 1972, A Year of Transition
V. 1973, Transfer of Power to Self-Government: a year of negotiation
VI. The Legislative Framework and Mechanics of Transferring Power
VII. Disengagement: from Self-Government to Independence
VIII. Conclusion.
Appendices:
I. Lists of Ministerial Offices, 1968-1975
II. Approved arrangements issued by the Minister for External Territories/Minister Assisting the Minister for Foreign Affairs in Papua New Guinea Matters under Section 25 of the Papua New Guinea Act, 1968 to 1975
III. Governor-General's Instructions to the Administrator/High Commissioner under Section 15 of the Papua New Guinea Act, 1970 to 1975
IV. Transfer of defence and Foreign Relations Functions - exchange of letters.

Goode, Christine Mary

Selected Archives from the Catholic Bishop's Office in Kavieng

  • AU PMB MS 1425
  • Collection
  • Various

This collection includes selected archives from the Catholic bishop’s office in Kavieng, New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea. Papers describe the history of the Catholic Church in Kavieng, including meeting and conference papers, along with other official documentation. It also includes accounts of church personnel around and during World War II. This collection also includes documentation relating to the Australian Television Service, Australian War Crimes Commission, 1975 Independence Programme for Kavieng and the Catholic Handbook for PNG. See individual items for more detailed descriptions of content.

Roman Catholic Church, Kavieng

Scorpion - Central New Guinea . Narrative of exploring expedition.

  • AU PMB MS 83
  • Collection
  • 1965

The narrative is an account of one of the first crossing by Europeans of the rugged 12,000 ft Star Mountains Range, in what was then the Australian Trust Territory of New Guinea. The Star Mountains are a mountain range in western Papua New Guinea and the eastern end of Highland Papua, Indonesia. The crossing of the mountains was accomplished by a party of six men, including Thomas Hayllar, who set out from Telefomin on February 25, 1965. The men climbed two of the highest peaks in the ranges, Mt Capella and Mt Scorpion, and visited a sheet of water called Lake Vivien.

Hayllar, Thomas

Notes sur les Moeurs et Coutumes des Fujuges, specialement des Tribus d'Alo et Sivu

  • AU PMB MS 6
  • Collection
  • Notes completed in 1937

Father Paul Fastre, M.S.C. (born 1880), was a member of the Roman Catholic Mission in Western Papua, whose headquarters are at Yule Island. His notes were completed in 1937.

Notes on the customs of the Fujuges (English Fuyuges) people of the Mt. Scratchley-Chirima River area of the Central and Northern Districts of Papua New Guinea. Principally:

  • Ceremonies, dances and songs, including the major ceremony, Le Gabe;
  • Warfare;
  • Chiefs (Utumi);
  • Engagement and marriage;
  • Conception and childbirth;
  • Naming;
  • Nose-piercing;
  • Illness;
  • Funerals and mourning;
  • Treatment of murderers;
  • Beliefs and cults;
  • Magic;
  • Legends;
  • Property; and
  • Fishing, hunting and agriculture.

Fastre, Paul

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