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, Lyn 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 (Tanna, Aniwa, Aneityum, Futuna and Erromango). Walker returned to live in Melbourne in April, 1977 but has continued to visit Vanuatu over the years.

This collection of 322 digitised colour 35mm slides is a selection of photographs showing Walker's life mostly from in South West Bay, Malekula but also Santo, Tangoa and Efate. The images show students at South West Bay District School, other missionaries and volunteers, Walker's house, church activities including of the Presbyterian Women's Missionary Union (PWMU), big and small nambas, custom masks, plants and Tangoa Training Institute.

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, Lyn was based in South West Bay, Malekula where she worked as a teacher at the South West Bay District School. She also developed a new syllabus. 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 (Tanna, Aniwa, Aneityum, Futuna and Erromango). Walker returned to live in Melbourne in April, 1977 but has continued to visit Vanuatu over the years.

This collection of 319 digitised colour 35mm slides is a selection of images from her time working in New Hebrides, including in South West Bay, Vila, Ambrym, Nguna, Lelepa, Paama and Tanna. The images include church activities, landscapes, volcanic activity and people. There are also photographs of New Caledonia, visited en route to New Hebrides. This collection includes photos of Walker's return to South West Bay in 1998 for celebrations to mark the Golden Jubilee or 50th anniversary of the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu (PVC).

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, Lyn was based in South West Bay, Malekula where she was a teacher at the South West Bay District School. She also developed a new syllabus.

This collection of annotated black and white photographs and postcards features many missionaries to the New Hebrides from Australia and New Zealand. The collection also depicts landscapes, village scenes, wedding celebrations and Lyn’s departure from South West Bay in 1965. The collection also includes an article from the July 1962 issue of Presbyterian Life magazine about the status of missionary work in New Hebrides and a missionary newsletter to supporters which includes an invitation to the opening of the rebuilt Boyd Memorial Clinic.

Album of photographs and two loose images taken by Reverend Conrad George Stallan, who was a missionary stationed on Malekula in the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) from 1940-1946. Supported by the John G Paton Mission Fund, Stallan was based in Wintua, South West Bay, Malekula, with his wife Christina (Chriss) and their children Donovan, Roger, Janet, and Margaret. During his life, Stallan was a keen photographer. He maintained a dark room on Malekula to develop and print his photographs, as well as later while stationed in Georgetown, British Guiana, 1955-1961.

The original images are mounted in a barkcloth/tapa bound album, accompanied by typed captions. See item PMB PHOTO 109-000 for a PDF of full album layout. The album contains numerous images of the Big Nambas region of Malekula. During the war, regulations forbade Europeans, including Stallan, from entering the Big Nambas area. However, Stallan was lucky enough to accompany a US Army patrol to the area, which included a member of their publicity section. Some of the images are possibly taken by that US photographer. High Chief Nisai of Amokh is one of the named people in those images, and it is likely multiple photographs are from Amokh village itself. The album also includes photographs from South West Bay, Malekula, captured around the Wintua mission. Several young women associated with the mission are named in the photographs (see individual items)

This collection of photographs illustrates the life of Rev Isaac Neilson Whyte and Dr Mary Grace Whyte durng their service with the Australian Presbyterian Board of Missions in the New Hebrides, 1952-1957. With their children Michael, Robyn, Alistair and Peter, they were based in the village of Wintua in the South West Bay region of Malekula. Mary Grace and Neilson arrived in Wintua shortly after a hurricane had been through and destroyed much of the village infrastructure. In the years that followed, Wintua was rebuilt with the help of people from neighbouring villages, who helped to build a new church, mission house, district school and a small hospital. Rev Whyte was often away from Wintua, visiting other villages in his mission jurisdiction. He visited Big Nambas territory, which had in the previously been hostile to Europeans, and helped bring about a peace agreement between village leaders. Mary Grace practised medicine in Wintua and surrounding villages.

This collection of photographs depicts village and church life in South West Bay. It shows the reconstruction of the village, family photographs, Rev and Dr Whyte giving medical care and travel between villages by launch and canoe. There are also photos of a Big Nambas village and the Leviamp peace talks, as well as family photos taken on return to Australia.

Album of photographs taken by Reverend Conrad George Stallan, who was a missionary stationed on Malekula in the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) from 1940-1946. The original images are mounted in a black bound album, accompanied by typed captions. See item PMB PHOTO 111-000 for a PDF of full album layout. Some pages are missing photographs.

Supported by the John G Paton Mission Fund, Stallan was based in Wintua, South West Bay, Malekula, with his wife Christina (Chriss) and their children Donovan, Roger, Janet, and Margaret. During his life, Stallan was a keen photographer. He maintained a dark room on Malekula to develop and print his photographs, as well as later while stationed in Georgetown, British Guiana, 1955-1961.

Album of 226 photographs taken by Reverend Conrad George Stallan, who was a missionary stationed on Malekula in the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) from 1940-1946. The original images are mounted in an album, accompanied by handwritten captions, some of which are now faded. See item PMB PHOTO 110-000 for a PDF of full album layout. Many images are of the Stallan family, particularly in the years 1940-41, as well as a number of named Malekulan adults and children. The album includes photographs captured at the Wintua mission station, and Mindu and Aulua villages, Malekula, as well as on Toman island and several images of Santo.

Supported by the John G Paton Mission Fund, Stallan was based in Wintua, South West Bay, Malekula, with his wife Christina (Chriss) and their children Donovan, Roger, Janet, and Margaret. During his life, Stallan was a keen photographer. He maintained a dark room on Malekula to develop and print his photographs, as well as later while stationed in Georgetown, British Guiana, 1955-1961.

A collection of photographs taken by Reverend Conrad George Stallan, who was stationed on Malekula in the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) from 1940-1946. Supported by the John G Paton Mission Fund, Rev Stallan was based in Wintua, South West Bay. During his life, Stallan was a keen photographer. He maintained a dark room to develop and print his photographs in both Malekula and Georgetown, British Guiana, where he was stationed in 1955-1961.

Five documents from the family collection of Conrad Stallan, who was employed as a missionary in the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) from 1940-46, including:

• Typescript document (3pp.)
• Letter from Boys High School Malua, author unknown, 19 Dec 1931, Ts. (9pp.)
• ‘1-447’, notebook containing a numbered list of photograph titles and dates (Mar 1940-Jun 1943)
• ‘448-663/ 700 (-1947)’, notebook of photograph titles and dates (Jun 1943-1947)
• Notes on Samoan Islands, n.d. Ms, (7pp.)

Frank (Francis James Clezy) and Rita Paton were Presbyterian missionaries in Tangoa, New Hebrides from 1931-1933. They married in Ballarat in April 1931 and in May 1931 left for the New Hebrides.

Rev. Dr John G. Paton's eldest son, Rev. Robert Robson Paton, could not serve in the New Hebrides because he was declared medically unfit for work in the tropics, but he was pleased that two of his sons were able to go. Frank was the first of the third generation. He worked as assistant to Rev. Fred Bowie, the Principal of Tangoa Teachers' Training Institute (TTI) and District Missionary of South Santo. Frank was a teacher supported financially by the John G. Paton Fund.

At Tangoa, Frank built a workshop for the TTI students where they could do repair and maintenance jobs. After returning to Australia, three children - Barbara, David and Ruth - were born. Frank undertook pastoral work and preaching in NSW, then taught at Caulfield Grammar School and Scotch College Melbourne. Rita died in 1982. Frank subsequently remarried.

Frank writes the following: "After my early days at school I began work in the city of Melbourne but decided that I really wanted to become a school teacher. So for some years I did a lot of study and teaching. We married in Ballarat, Victoria, and set off in 1931 for the Tangoa Training Institute (TTI).

The Rev. Bowie was the principal and we were the only assistants. There were 60 students, of which about a dozen were married.
We set our clocks every fortnight at sunrise, for 6am, because at that time we met in the Hall for prayers and study. 8-8:30 was breakfast time, 8:30-10 school work; 10:15-12:30 practical work in the plantation and weeding and gathering coconuts for copra, while my work was on the buildings etc., to see that they were in good order. For this work I could call on as many helpers as were necessary for any building and carpentry jobs.

The afternoon was for the students to work in their gardens over on Santo, except that we always needed to keep at least four of them in case anything unexpected suddenly had to be done. Rita took the married women for school work in the afternoons. All sorts of things might suddenly become urgent problems, for instance, the baker's oven developed some cracks and, as the two students who looked after the bread making usually baked every Tuesday and Thursday, they had to do it on Monday and Friday that week and I had to attend to and supervise the dismantling of all the bricks and make sure that the 'new' bricks were quite sound before rebuilding the oven ready for the Friday baking. (The oven was about six feet long, four feet wide and four feet high.) At one time, we found that the workshop was in a bad way. White ants or similar unwelcome guests had made it unsafe. It had to be pulled down, the timber burnt and a new one built.

Often in the evening, the students would practice singing new hymns in the Hall and as our house (?Number Three?) was only about 50 yards away, it was a joy to listen to. The hymn books had tonic solfa notation and the students were wonderful sight readers."

(From They served in Vanuatu by Jungwirth, Fred, 1988, 2nd ed., p.39)