Nigel Oram was an ethnologist and academic. In 1946, after military service in World War II, he read history at Oxford University. This was followed by a career in the British Colonial Service in East Africa and Uganda. In 1961, Oram helped set up the New Guinea Research Unit, Port Moresby, which was an offshoot of the Australian National University. His role was to undertake social research. To facilitate his information gathering, Oram learnt the Motu and Hula languages. In 1969, he was appointed a fellow at the University of Papua New Guinea, where he remained from 1969 to 1975. Oram returned to Australia where he taught history for nine years at La Trobe University and where, upon his retirement, he became an honorary senior research fellow. An extensive collection of Oram’s PNG research papers is held at the National Library of Australia (MS 9436).

Papers left outside Nigel Oram’s room when he left La Trobe University, Melbourne, rescued by Professor Martha Macintyre, and transferred to the PMB in August 2011, including the following:
• The Mystery of Guise (a longer draft than that microfilmed at PMB 1288);
• 2 box files, ‘British Solomon Islands Protectorate’, on Honiara town planning and related matters, 1962-1979;
• File, ‘Bougainville” on the Bougainville Copper Project and urban development ion Bougainville, 1969-1974;
• PNG Constitutional Planning Committee, Record of Proceedings, 4 Dec 1972-16 Feb 1973;
• PNG Constitutional Planning Committee, part draft report and recommendations;
• Papers on the PNG Department of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, c.1972;
• Documents on the PNG Department of Public Health, 1972;
• Maps of Port Moresby, c.1965 and Bougainville, c.1970.
See Finding aids for details.