Records of the Melanesian Mission, New Hebrides (Vanuatu) from the period 1857-1968. Including the following:

1. Baptismal Register of St Paul's Church, Lolowai, and from ketch Patteson, 1928-1968, with Register of Burials, St Paul's Church, Lolowai, 1929-1964, and Marriages, 1929-1965.
2. Register of Baptisms, Marriages and Deaths, at Mera Lava, 1917-1963, copied from the original register, 1967.
3. Names of Birds in Various Languages of the Solomon Islands and the New Hebrides.
4. An Account of the Huqe (or Suqe) of Nduindui, Aoba (Ambae), written c.1930; found among the papers of Archdeacon A.E. Teall, Archdeacon of Southern Melanesia, d.1966.
5. Vocabularies of and stories in various languages of the New Hebrides [including Pentecost, Maewo, Ambae, Torres Islands and Banks Islands] - Vocabularies of North, Central and South Raga; story in Mota; Vocabularies of Mota, Tegua and Toga; Loh-English Dictionary; Notes on Loh Grammar; Maewo Vocabularies; Stories in the Aoba Language.
6. Family Prayers and Communion for the Sick in the Language of Lakona, Santa Maria, Banks Islands, with English translations.
7. Melanesian Mission Papers, 1891-1934, mainly relating to land matters.
8. History and Diary of Aoba, 1857-1922, by Father A.S. Webb.
9. Records of Events and Register of the Melanesian Mission at Maewo.
10. Mota-Maewo Vocabulary.

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. See also PMB MS 1245 for Report by W. J. Read on coast watching activity Bougainville Island, 1941-1943, and PMB MS 1309 for Read

Kalsakau became chief of Fila Island in 1908 and held that position for many years. He was a member of one of the most notable New Hebridean families of Efate. His three sons, Graham, John and Makau are (1969) also outstanding members of the New Hebridean community.

1. Lists of important dates and events in Kalsakau's career and family life.
2. Record of births and deaths (1908-1961)
3. Accounts relating to business, household and the marriage feast of his son Makau (March 1, 1945)
4. Record (September 1956) of visit by Gen. and Mme de Gaulle
5. Centenary Celebrations, Erakor, 1st May, 1945 - an account of the settlement of Erakor by the early missionaries.
6. School fees collected in 1943 - list of families and amount paid.
7. Lease of land owned by Kalsakau.
8. Celebration of the 105th Anniversary of the New Hebrides Presbyterian Mission, May 1, 1950.
9. Correspondence regarding residency of Fila Island Reserve.
10. Discipline book (1911-1943) in which fines and other punishments against members of Kalsakau's village are recorded.

Deaconess Lynette Grace Walker served as an educational missionary in the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) for the Australian Presbyterian Board of Missions. Between 1958-1965, Walker was based in South West Bay, Malekula where she worked as a teacher at the South West Bay District School. From 1971, Walker served as Deaconess for Central Islands (Efate and adjacent islands). Based in Vila, she worked with women, young people and Sunday school teachers. Between 1975-1977, she took on the post of Deaconess for Southern Islands. Walker returned to live in Melbourne in April, 1977 but has continued to visit Vanuatu over the years.

This collection of 389 digitised colour 35mm slides is a selection of images from three return visits in 1988, 1995 and 1998. 1995 marked the centenary anniversary of the arrival of Robert Boyd, the first missionary to South West Bay. 1998 marked the Golden Jubilee or 50th anniversary of the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu (PVC). This collection features images of Port Vila, Iririki Island, Onesua (Efate), Talua (Espiritu Santo), South West Bay, Lawa, Lorlow, Wintua (Malekula) and Lenakel (Tanna). The photos feature former missionaries and church office bearers, Presbyterian Women’s Missionary Union (PWMU) activities, historical plaques and the Dayspring IV canoe.

Manuscripts catalogued at MS in Father Amerigo Cools' Repertoire des archives de l'archidiocese de Papeete, 1970, including: Pierre-Felix Ribourt (comp.), Dictionnaire Maori-Francais, n.d. [1847-49?]<BR>Abbe<BR>Abbe Tryphon Mama Taira Putairi, <I>E atoga Mangareva mei te ao eteni roa</I>story of Mangareva since the pagan era], n.d., Mangarevian text, Ms. Parts 1-16, 18-21<BR><I>Atoga no Magareva mei te ao eteni kite ao Kiritiano nei</I> [History of Mangareva from pagan to Christian times], n.d. Managrevan text with some pages of French translation by P. Honore Laval<BR><I>Na Takao Turega Mangareva - Dictionnaire Paumotu</I>[French-Tuamotu], 4,800 words<BR>Mgr. Jaussen, <I>Vocabulaire Pomotu-Francais. c. 350 words<BR> Paraua mui</I>[list of words in Tuamotu]<BR>Tuamotu vocabulary [list of Tuamotu words without translation]<BR>Arorai-French vocabulairies, grammars and conversations<BR> P. Latuin Leveque, <I>Catehisme Arorai</I> [Arorai text with French translation]<BR> P. Latuin Leveque, <I>Examen de conscience pour les Arorai</I> [Arorai text]<BR><I>Un petit abrege de la grammaire kanac</I> [in the Hawaiian language]<BR> Fr, Alexandre Andre <I>Cahier a l'usage du f. Alexandre</I> n.d. [1872?]<BR><I>Aritemetika</I>[in Tahitian]<BR><I>Plan de la 'Maris-Stella', Takume</I>

<b>See reel list for further details.</b>

This collection of Charles Morris Woodford includes photographs of the Woodford family; Solomon Islands, Samoa, British New Guinea (Papua New Guinea), etc.; Photographs were bundled with story as told by Solomon Islands person, 1907 (See PMB MS 1381, item 002).

PMBPhoto 63 is a collection of 183 photographs of New Caledonia subjects taken between 27 October and 5 November 2005 when Jan Gammage and Bill Gammage were visiting friends, David and Beryl Gowty, in Noumea. Except for a small number taken of the Isle of Pines, all the photos are of the people and places on Grand Terre, the majority taken outside Noumea.

Subjects in and around Noumea include the following: a panorama from the little hill behind Cathedrale St Joseph, the Cathedral itself, the Place des Cocotiers, the Museum, the Kanak memorial, sunset over Baie des Citrons and the central market. The Tjabaou Cultural Centre, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, a protest march and the cruise ship Clipper Odyssey were also subjects.

South of Noumea subjects include travelling along the Yate road to the Parc Provincial de la Riviere Bleue and Yate Lake, collecting water from Mt Dore, visiting Le Bois du Sud and Vallon Dore beach and the suburbs of Val Plaisance and Vallee des Colons.

Subjects on a trip north to Plage de Poe include the petroglyphs at Dumbea, and a grotto and mangroves at Plage d’Ouano. Other subjects include Fort Teremba, Bourail and the Arab cemetery (Nessadiou), the New Zealand Military Cemetery, a French war memorial and church, a Kanak “grande salle”, Belvedere Lookout, La Roche Percee and the Bonhomme; Houailou, Poindimie, Ponerihoven River, Touho, Hienghene and the Linderalique cliffs, Kone (War Memorial), Pouembout, La Foa (Memorial to 1878 and WWI memorial), Kanak sculptures, and Boulouparis (twin of Biloela in Queensland, Australia). Women at their roadside stalls selling flowers and plants, vegetables, and shells are also subjects.

Photographs taken in Mount Hagen (Papua New Guinea) during a parasitology survey of the New Guinea Highlands by Dr G. Heydon and Arthur Joseph Bearup for the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, University of Sydney, 1934.

Solf (1862-1936) became president of the municipality of Apia, Western Samoa, in 1899, after serving as a district judge in German East Africa. In 1900 he became governor of Western Samoa when that country became a German colony. He remained in that post until 1911 when he became Secretary for the colonies in the German government. After World War I, he served as German ambassador in Japan. The Solf papers have been filmed on reels PMB 581 - 589.

The papers comprise:

1. letters to family (3 volumes), 1885-1935
2. personal honours, 1927-34
3. congratulations on 70th birthday, 1932
4. publications, speeches, etc. 1886-1932 (Continued on PMB 582)

Maurice M. Witts, (1877-1966) an Australian who fought in the Boer War, went to the New Hebrides as a settler in 1904 after a brief sojourn in Fiji. With two cousins, Theo and Arthur Thomas, he planted coconuts in the Hog Harbour area of Espiritu Santo. He returned to Australia about 1913 and lived in the Moss Vale district until his death.

The diary gives an account of the life of a copra planter in a remote part of the New Hebrides, and contains numerous observations on the natives of the Hog Harbour area. See also PMB 8 for a later diary by Witts for the year 1911.