These documents originally formed part of the archives of the Samoan District Committee and later Samoan District Council of the London Missionary Society, and were formerly held in Malua, Western Samoa. The Samoan District Committee was replaced by the Council in 1928.

Correspondence between LMS missionaries in Samoa.

Items on Pacific Islands from reports of annual and semi-annual conferences associated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Church was active in French Polynesia, including Tahiti, Tuamotu Islands, and Tubuai, as well as Hawaiian Islands, Samoa and Tonga in the period covered.

Items on Pacific Islands from the minutes and reports of the annual general conferences (1879-1964) of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Missionaries and the Church were active in French Polynesia at the time, including Tahiti, Tubuai, and the Tuamotu Islands, as well as being active in the Hawaiian Islands, Samoa and Tonga.

John Chauner Williams (1819-1874) was a son of the noted missionary to the Pacific, employed by the London Missionary Society, Rev. John Williams. From 1857 to 1873, J.C. Williams was British Consul in Samoa. Other journals kept by Williams, and by his wife Amelia, have been microfilmed as PMB MS 24.

A daily journal covering the period from February 24, 1868, to March 20, 1872, describing events in Apia, Western Samoa. Also on the microfilm is Williams' letter of appointment as consul, dated September 28, 1857, and signed by the British Foreign Minister, Lord Clarendon.
See also the Bureau's newsletter, Pambu, August 1969:13 pp.6-8.

Alden was an officer in the sloop-of-war 'Vincennes', the flagship of the United States Exploring Expedition which spent four years in the Pacific under the command of Commodore Charles Wilkes.

The journal gives an account - but not a day-by-day account - of the Vincennes voyage which took in the Tuamotu Archipelago, Tahiti, Samoa, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, the Antarctic, Hawaii, the Gilbert (Kiribati), Ellice (Tuvalu) and Marshall Islands. See also PMB MS 124-146 and the Bureau's newsletter, Pambu, Dec. 1971:25, pp. 4-7.

John Chauner Williams (1819-1874) was a son of the noted South Seas LMS missionary, the Rev. John Williams, who was killed at Erromanga, New Hebrides, in 1839. From 1858 to 1873, J.C. Williams was British consul in Samoa, and he was also United States consul for several years until 1864. Williams was married twice - the second time in 1855 to Amelia (Amy) Crook.

This microfilm contains journal-letters (in two exercise books) of John Chauner Williams for the period October 25, 1873 to February 20, 1874. The journal-letters were written to Williams' wife in Samoa while he was in Sydney for medical treatment. The microfilm also contains journal-letters of Williams' wife (in four exercise books) for the periods October 22, 1855 to January 4, 1856; and October 25, 1873, to February 20, 1874, and one on loose sheets for September 1 to September 19, 1864. The first of these was kept in Sydney to send to her husband in Samoa; those for 1873-1874 were kept in Samoa to send to her husband in Sydney; that for 1864 was kept in Samoa to send to a woman friend in England to give her some little idea of our daily life. The letters contain many intimate glimpses of Samoan life and personalities. For a fuller outline of their content see the Bureau's newsletter Pambu, Jan. 1969:6. The Mitchell Library holds the originals of all except that for September 1 - September 19, 1864.

Ogden (1873-1948) was a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

The journal and papers relate to Ogden's missionary work in Samoa. The papers include: missionary call, certificate of ordination, missionary certificate and blessing, letters from Samoan mission president.

Captain William L. Hudson was commander of the US ship Peacock, one of the vessels of the United States Exploring Expedition to the Pacific 1838-42, commanded by Commodore Charles Wilkes.

The journal begins on 20 August 1838 and is preceded by a list of the officers and scientific corps of the United States Exploring Expedition and correspondence relating to it. It continues to 8 August 1840 and includes copies of correspondence exchanged during the voyage. The journal and preceding papers fill 567 pages. On p.564 is a summary of the voyage showing the dates of arrival at various ports. Places visited in the Pacific were: The Tuamotu Islands, Tahiti, Samoa, Lord Howe Island, Tonga and Fiji.

The Rev. Henry Nisbet, LL.D. (1818-76), a missionary of the London Missionary Society, left England for the Pacific Islands in August 1840. He reached Samoa from Sydney in August 1841, and went to Tanna, New Hebrides (Vanuatu), in the following June. He returned to Samoa in February 1843 and was stationed there for the rest of his life. In 1846 and 1848 he visited Niue, the New Hebrides and the Loyalty Islands on behalf of his mission. He visited Australia in 1854 and 1867-68; and England and Canada in 1869-70.

Nisbet began the practice of keeping a daily diary several years before he left England and continued it until ten days before his death.
One notebook (numbered 1), 13 journals (numbered 2-14), some hymns in Samoan, and letters from Nisbet to his second wife, Lydia Lantoret.

Reel 1: Notebook (5pp) recounting Nisbet's interest in missionary labours, 1835-6, and his connection with the LMS, 1836. Diaries numbered 1-3, 21 September 1836 to 26 July 1840. Journal of a voyage from England to Tanna, New Hebrides, 10 August 1840 - 8 February 1841. Diary No.4, 8 Sept. 1840-3 Jan. 1851. Correspondence register, 1840-67.
Reel 2: Journal Nos 5-9, 6 January 1851 to 12 February 1869.
Reel 3: Journal Nos 10-14, 13 February 1869 to 29 April 1876. 'Mr Nisbet's Hymns', circa 1850 - hymns in the Samoan language. Letters from Nisbet to his second wife, Lydia Lantoret, 1870-76, and a few of her letters to the family and other miscellaneous letters, 1870-82.