This collection of 292 slides was transferred from the National Museum of Australia ‘Ellestan Dusting Collection’ to the Pacific Manuscripts Bureau in 2010. The slides came in two wooden boxes: one labelled ‘Papua and New Guinea’; the other labelled ‘Cocos Islands, New Hebrides and New Caledonia’ (however, inside the second box, the labels are for New Hebrides and New Caledonia only). No information was supplied with the slides except for a few handwritten captions on those for Papua and New Guinea.

There are 139 photos taken in 1957 and 1959, during official visits to the Territory of Papua and New Guinea by then Australian Minister for Territories, Paul Hasluck. Ellestan Dusting served as Hasluck’s private secretary in this period. On the 1957 tour, Hasluck was accompanied by Netherlands Minister for Overseas Territories, Mr Helders. The images captured in this set include several photos of Hasluck, Helders and other officials, though the majority of photos are of services and infrastructure, people, scenes of daily life and photos taken in transit. The delegates visit Goroka, Madang, Rabaul, Lae and Port Moresby. Photos include sing-sing at Wau show, visits to schools, hospitals and cemeteries.

The 135 slides of New Hebrides were taken as Dusting accompanied a short official “Joint Tour” in conjunction with the French and British Commissioners. The tour started in Vila and then went up through the central islands, Pentecost Island and on to Espiritu Santo. The slides depict images of dancers from many different regions. They don’t necessarily indicate the island where the photograph was taken as dancers from other islands were often asked to participate in tour festivities. In addition to formalities of the tour, including the consecration of a church and the opening of a bridge, this collection includes several images of Girl Guides and Boy Scouts. Dusting had a lifelong involvement with the Girl Guides movement.

No information was supplied for the 16 slides of New Caledonia. These photographs depict images around Noumea in an unknown year. This set of images features landmarks such as Haut Commissariat / former Hotel du Gouvernement, Noumea port, Societe Le Nickel (SLN), South Pacific Commission / Du Pacifique Sud building, Noumea, Pointe de l'Artillerie and Cathedrale Saint Joseph de Cluny] as well as many natural features.

The Oceania Marist Province Archives Series (OMPA) is the result of a special project during which records of the Catholic Church in islands of the Western Pacific were copied by Father Theo B. Cook, SM in collaboration with the Pacific Manuscripts Bureau. (Cook was born Theodorus Bernardus Wilhelmus Kok but chose to go by the name Cook in Australia: Povey, 2010). The OMPA series covers the Diocese of Tonga (OMPA 1-25), Diocese of Samoa and Tokelau (OMPA 26-74), Marist Fathers, Rome (OMPA 80-100), Diocese of Wallis and Futuna (OMPA 101-126), Diocese of Port Vila (OMPA 127-178), Archdiocese of Noumea (OMPA 179-360) and the Oceania Marist Province Archives (OMPA 361-400).

Detailed indexes were prepared for the six diocese and those records copied in Rome. These can be found at http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/pambu/collections/microfilm.php or compiled in The Catholic Church in the Western Pacific: a guide to records on microfilm (Robert Langdon, ed.), Canberra, 1986.

For details see PMB Doc 11

Nos. 1123-1200, 30 March 1881 - 20 September 1882

For details see PMB Doc 11

Nos. 1028-1122, 1 June 1879 - 23 March 1881

The Moniteur, New Caledonia's first newspaper, was an official weekly. The first 119 issues consisted of two printed pages containing Government decrees and decisions, court judgements, statistics, news of official ceremonies, shipping movements and some general news. From the beginning of 1862, the size of the paper was doubled and was divided into official and non-official sections. The non-official section was open to contributions from readers so long as they did not transgress the limits of an official journal. There was a further liberalisation of the paper's policy six months later. For detailed description see P. O'Reilly Bibliographie ... de la Nouvelle Caledonie (Paris, 1955)

Nos. 1-248, 2 Oct 1859 - 26 June 1864

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).

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.