Collection MS 1029 - "King Taufa"

PMB MS 1029 Finding Aid

Identity area

Reference code

AU PMB MS 1029

Title

"King Taufa"

Date(s)

  • c1930 (Creation)

Level of description

Collection

Extent and medium

1 reel; 35mm microfilm

Context area

Name of creator

(1886-1970)

Biographical history

Rev. Dr Ernest Edgar Vyvyan Collocott was a missionary and scholar born 7 June 1886 at Northcote, Melbourne, son of Victorian-born parents Alfred John Collocott, a Methodist minister who had recently returned from Fiji, and his wife Alice Jane, née Bickford. E.E.V. Collocate entered the Methodist ministry in 1911 and the same year went to Tonga as a missionary with his wife Edith Idabelle Bickford. In 1915, he became principal of Tupou College, Nuku'alofa. Collocott conducted his own research of the history and culture of Tonga and published as well as acting as an intermediary for other researchers. He is also known for his peace activism.

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Content and structure area

Scope and content

The Reverend Collocott (1886-1970) served as a Methodist missionary in Tonga from 1911 until 1924, initially at Ha'apai and from 1915 as Principal of Tupou College. He wrote numerous papers on Tongan myths, legends, history, language, customs and astronomy for Mankind, the Journal of the Polynesian Society, Folklore and the special publications of the Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Honolulu. See also PMB 28

The typescript is not dated but is thought to have been written after Collocott left Tonga, possibly between 1921 and 1930. The manuscript is a history of Tonga centred around King Taufa'ahau (George Tupou I) and his family. It contains stories of creation, myths, legends, songs, and family histories and, as the chapter headings denote, the more recent history and personalities associated with the coming of the Europeans (Cook, Bligh, Edwards, Moulton, the London Missionary Society etc.). A number of published works are named as reference sources. The manuscript appears to contain twenty-six chapters but from Chapter 13 onwards the arrangement is very confused. The detailed list of the contents, at the beginning of the microfilm, also indicates the position of some additional pages in Collocott's handwriting. Annotations have been made at some time by an unknown researcher.
See Finding aids for details.

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Conditions governing access

Available for reference but no part of the contents may be published or used in quotation without the written permission of the Dr. Niel Gunson, c/- Division of Pacific and Asian History, Research School of Pacific Studies, ANU, GPO Box 4, Canberra ACT 2601.

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Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Division of Pacific and Asian History, Research School of Pacific Studies

Existence and location of copies

Access this title at PMB Member Libraries or by contacting the Bureau directly: http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/pambu/accessing.php

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Description identifier

ms1029

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