Identity area
Reference code
AU PMB MS 1123
Title
Date(s)
- 1884-1895, 1913-1915 (Creation)
Level of description
Collection
Extent and medium
2 reels; 35mm microfilm
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
William Gray was born near Gawler, South Australia. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Adelaide and graduated in Divinity from Union College in 1880, the first Presbyterian student to complete the course. He spent 1881, the year of his ordination, in medical training at Adelaide Hospital and as Minister to the congregations of Goodwood and Mount Barker. He married Elizabeth McEwen in 1882 and shortly after they sailed for Weasisi, Tanna, New Hebrides in the 'Dayspring'. Gray was the first Presbyterian Church of South Australia missionary to the New Hebrides. He produced a grammar, primer, hymnal and translation of Luke's Gospel in the Tanna language. Six of his seven children were born on Tanna. At the age of 71 Gray became head of the Smith of Dunesk Presbyterians Mission which later became the nucleus of John Flynn's Australian Inland Mission.
Gray was an outspoken advocate for the end of the Melanesian labour trade.
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Scope and content
William Gray (1854-1937) was born near Gawler, South Australia. He obtained his BA from Adelaide University and graduated in divinity from Union College in 1880, the first Presbyterian student to complete the course. He spent 1881, the year of his ordination, in medical training at Adelaide Hospital and as Minister to the congregations of Goodwood and Mount Barker. He married Elizabeth McEwen in 1882 and shortly after they sailed for Weasisi, Tanna, New Hebrides in the <I>Dayspring</I>. Gray was the first Presbyterian Church of South Australia missionary to the New Hebrides. He produced a grammar, primer, hymnal and translation of Luke's Gospel in the Tanna language. At the age of 71 Gray became head of the Smith of Dunsek Presbyterian Mission which later became the nucleus of John Flynn's Australian Inland Mission. See also PMB 1046, 1047 and 1048.
Rev Gray's manuscripts, phamphlets and press cuttings on the labour traffic; copies of some annual reports of the Queensland Kanaka Mission and the Queensland Department of Pacific Island Immigration; pamphlets by J G Paton, A C Smith and J Inglis 1915; William Watt Erskine's recollections of his childhood on Tanna, lantern slides and photographs of missionary life in the New Hebrides, 1880s. <P> <b>See reel list for further details</b>.
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Available for reference
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Existence and location of originals
Transferred by Mrs Audrey Harvey, Rev William Gray's grand daughter, to the Mortlock Library in the State Library of South Australia in 1999. The three volumes of press cuttings collected by Rev Dr David Crombie held by Rev Graham Miller, Wangaratta VIC
Existence and location of copies
Access this title at PMB Member Libraries or by purchasing it directly from the Bureau: http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/pambu/accessing.php
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Description identifier
ms1123
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Digital object metadata
Filename
Digital_reference_image.pdf
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Text
Mime-type
application/pdf