Guide to the Records of the Melanesian Mission (as filmed by the AJCP)
M802-M806
National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record
Created: 2018
Online Items
Series. John Blencowe, 15 July 1862 - 22 July 1874
Filmed Selectively.
Subseries. Miscellaneous correspondence, 15 July 1862 - 22 July 1874
John Keble (Hursley) to James Patteson (London), 15 July 1862 (File)
£400 paid into Mission's ship account; projected new ship Southern Cross.
John Palmer (Norfolk Island) to William Floyd, 12 February 1871 (File)
Schooner Nukalau at Santa Cruz involved in the labour trade. (copy)
William Floyd (Levuka) to [Bishop J.C. Patteson], 27 April 1871 (File)
Labour problem in Fiji; need for teachers for the Fijians and a native missionary or teacher to instruct men of New Hebrides; looks forward to Patteson's visit. (copy)
Bishop J.C. Patteson (Mota) to W. Floyd, 26 May 1871 (File)
Does not expect to visit Fiji before next March; European traders and Fijian labourers; need for Christian teaching of the labourers.
John B. Thurston (Levuka) to [unknown], 5 August 1871 (File)
Account of a meeting with Bishop Patteson to discuss foreign labour in Fiji and the need for a native minister or teacher.
G.W. Underhill (Hobart) to T.C. Tilly (Auckland), 23 December 1871 (File)
A ship to the islands; hopes for the capture of Henry Hayes.
Lord Belmore (Throsby Park, NSW) to T.C. Tilly, 25 December 1871 (File)
A theory on the cause of Bishop Patteson's death told to him by Lord Normanby.
W. Floyd (Ovalau) to R.H. Codrington, 31 January 1872 (File)
Death of Bishop Patteson at a time when they were expecting him hourly; effect on the labour traffic; India and China possible sources of labour.
Capt. Albert Markham (Auckland) to T.C. Tilly, 24 February 1872 (File)
Defends himself against charges of inhumanity; HMS Rosario acted in self-defence; the labour trade; murder of the crew of the Fanny and release of women from slavery.
W. Floyd (Ovalau) to R.H. Codrington (Norfolk Island), n.d. (File)
Has examined the log book of the Nukalau in his enquiry into the death of Bishop Patteson; owners intend to discontinue with labour traffic.
W. Floyd (Levuka) ro R.H. Codrington (Norfolk Island), 12 November 1872 (File)
Cannot leave Fiji as he has no assistant; Langham of Wesleyan Mission considers the Margaret Chessel was the vessel accessory to Bishop Patteson's murder; return of stolen natives; move to create a bishop of Fiji; Church and politics; difficulties with the Welseyans; the labour trade would end if Fijians were not so indolent.
W. Floyd to R.H. Codrington, 22 November 1872 (File)
Hopes of tracing five men stolen when Patteson was murdered; statement by the police that the Emma Bell was the guilty ship; agent of the Margaret Chessel repudiates the charge of complicity; hopes all stolen islanders will be returned to Fiji.
Capt. Harding to [unknown], n.d. (File)
The ship Emma Bell was on a voyage collecting labourers. (copy)
Bishop C.J. Abraham (Lichfield) to R.H. Codrington, 4 February 1873 (File)
Moneys received for the Mission; a disaster off Dunganess; departure of John Selwyn and his party; Brook's article has pained Bishop Selwyn and the Patteson family.
Series. Cole C. Fowler, 1 January 1888 - 3 September 1891
Log book and journal kept by Fowler on HMS Lizard and Rapid and RMS Ballarat, while serving on the Australian Station, 1 January 1888 - 3 September 1891 (File)
Item is mainly a record of courses, latitude and longitude, currents and winds, with very brief notes in the remarks column.
Service journal kept by Fowler on HMS Lizard on the voyage to Australia, November 1887 - May 1888, and on HMS Rapid, May 1888 - September 1891 (File)
There are detailed accounts of visits to New Zealand, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, the Solomon Islands, Norfolk Island, the New Hebrides, New Caledonia, as well as various ports in Australia. At the end of the volume are notes on Australasian defences, distances run, a survey of Apia harbour and a plan of a model prison at Port Arthur.
Series. Charles Elliot Fox, 1849 - 1955
Subseries. Correspondence, 13 October 1952 - 12 September 1953
Series. Commodore James Goodenough, 1851 - 1876
Commission of James Goodenough, appointed as lieutenant on HMS Calcutta, signed by Sir Michael Seymour, Hong Kong, 23 June 1851 (File)
Journal of Lieut. Goodenough kept while serving on the China Station, March 1861 - January 1862 (File)
It includes a brief account of his visits to Singapore and Penang in December 1861 on the voyage back to England.
Goodenough to the Secretary of the Admiralty, n.d. (File)
Comments on Parliamentary Paper C1114 on the annexation of Fiji. (draft)
Series. Bishop Edmund Hobhouse, 24 February 1868 - 7 June 1870
As well as the original letters there are typescript copies.
Hobhouse (Reading) to Bishop J.C. Patteson, 24 February 1868 (File)
Departure of Bishop G.A. Selwyn from New Zealand; difficulty of filling his place; character of Hobhouse's successor, A.B. Suter.
Hobhouse (Reading) to Bishop J.C. Patteson, 31 March 1868 (File)
Proposed establishment of chaplains on Fiji and Pitcairn Islands; cheerful letters from Nelson; Bishop Selwyn; his plans to visit Auckland.
Hobhouse (Reading) to Bishop J.C. Patteson, 24 February 1869 (File)
Decay of missionary zeal; letter from Robert Codrington; mutual friends; progress of his successor, Andrew Suter; Bishops of Wellington, Lichfield and Lincoln.
Hobhouse (Ashbourne, Derbyshire) to Bishop J.C. Patteson, 28 September 1869 (File)
Qualities of Robert Codrington; health of Bishop Selwyn; Hobhouse's move to Lichfield; growth of liberalism.
Hobhouse (Ashbourne) to Bishop J.C. Patteson, 24 February 1870 (File)
Remembrance of Patteson's consecration in 1861; Rev. Robert Codrington; news from his old diocese; Lichfield Theological College.
Hobhouse (Ashbourne) to Bishop J.C. Patteson, 10 May 1870 (File)
Pascoe; marriages of theological students; his boys.
Series. Melanesian Mission
Series. M. Rice, 10 April 1941 - 29 March 1952
Series. John Still, 22 July 1874 - 29 June 1876
Still (Auckland) to H.E. Wench (Wolverhampton), 22 July 1874 (File)
Voyage of the Southern Cross among the islands with R.H. Codrington, John Selwyn and the Melanesians (24pp). A footnote written at Norfolk Island is dated 17 Sept. 1874.
Series. Roger Tempest, 1942 - 15 January 1965
Paper entitled 'Comparisons and contrasts, Melanesia and Suffolk', read to the Guild of St Mary 1939 and Saxmundham R.D. Chapter, (9pp), 1942 (File)
Tempest (Bury St Edmunds) to R. de Voil: encloses a paper entitled 'Melanesia 1877-1919'. (13pp), July 2, 1949 [?] (File)
'George Augustus Selwyn and the foundation of the Church of the Province of New Zealand', a paper for the Bury Clerical Society (13pp), 3 February 1953 (File)
'John Coleridge Patteson', paper read at the Guild of St Mary, Ipswich (22pp), 19 February 1957 (File)
'Bishop John Selwyn', paper read at the Guild of St Mary at Charsfield (21pp), 17 October 1960 (File)
Series. Henry Welchman, 5 December 1887 - 10 November 1908
Subseries. Correspondence, 5 December 1887 - 15 November 1896
All the letters are copies.
Welchman to his mother Charlotte Welchman: voyage of SS Orizaba (part 2 only), [28 Nov. 1887?] (File)
Welchman to Charlotte Welchman, 5 December 1887 (File)
Visit to Naples; description of Port Said, with HMS Serapis bringing home troops.
Welchman (Norfolk Island) to Charlotte Welchman, 4 May 1888 (File)
Daily routine; departure of missionaries on Southern Cross; his life on Norfolk Island; visit of Lord and Lady Carrington; visiting ships.
Welchman (Norfolk Island) to Charlotte Welchman, 24 May 1888 - 16 June 1888 (File)
Departure of Dr Metcalfe for England; illnesses and deaths of Melanesians; teaching in Mota; events at the mission; tropical fruit. (part only)
Welchman (Norfolk Island) to Charlotte Welchman, 15 July 1888 (File)
Arrival of mail; bathing places; local happenings.
Helen Welchman (Siota) to Julia Farr, 15 November 1896 (File)
Welchman's school at Siota; behaviour of brides at their weddings; missionary work.
Subseries. Diaries of Henry Welchman (12 vols.), 1 January 1889 - 10 November 1908
The diaries of Henry Welchman provide an extremely detailed record of his life in the Pacific Islands, as well as his later life in England. The 1892-96 diaries are held elsewhere, but apart from that gap there are entries for virtually every day, ranging from a few lines to two pages or more. The first diaries were written when he was based in Norfolk Island, but from 1890 onwards he was mainly at Santa Cruz, Santa Isabel and Nggela in the Solomon Islands. The diaries deal inter alia with his work as a doctor, teacher, printer, translator and priest, cruises among the islands including visits to the New Hebrides, journeys in the bush, classes, relations with his pupils, household chores, bread baking, cooking, gardening, conversations with Islanders, conflict and disputes between Islander groups, illnesses and deaths, arrivals and departures of ships and travellers, the school at Siota, church services, examinations of catechisms, baptisms, marriages, funerals and the ordination of deacons, fishing, bathing and cricket. There are also accounts of the long illness and departure of Bishop John Selwyn in 1890-91, Welchman's marriage to Helen Rossiter (30 July 1896), the illness and death of Helen (12 January 1897), news of the death of Bishop Selwyn (1898) and the establishment of St Luke's Central School at Siota. The later entries describe Welchman's journey to New Zealand, Australia and back to England (1901), his meetings with members of the Selwyn Family in England and his return to Santa Isabel in 1903. The last entry is dated 10 November 1908, two days before his death...