Guide to the Diaries of Reverend William Henry Edgell (as filmed by AJCP)
M721
National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record
Created: 2019
Online Items
Diary, 27 April 1897 - 6 July 1897 (File 1)
Edgell was accompanied on this voyage by Cecil Wilson, the Bishop of Melanesia. The diary describes the voyage from Norfolk Island to Ambrym and Pentecost, arrival at the villages of Raga and Opa, meetings with teachers and villagers, impressions of the villages, church and vicarage, Edgell's relations with Wilson, church services, insects and rats, Edgell's study of the Raga and Opa languages, conflicts between indigenous groups, journeys between villages, dances, and the return to Norfolk Island.
Diary, 23 July 1898 - 19 December 1898 (File 2)
The diary begins with a list of Mota words and phrases and a list of the books in Edgell's library. The diary describes the voyage from Norfolk Island to Vila, Ambrym and Pentecost, baptisms and weddings, inspections of schools, an earthquake, the activities of labour recruiters, visits by British warships, labourers who had returned from Queensland, meetings with French missionaries, social customs, problems with school teachers, school attendances, weapons, quarrels between chiefs, dealings with traders, diseases of villagers, boat crews, and the voyage back to Norfolk Island. At the end of the volume are population and school statistics, registers of baptisms and marriages, and lists of names in Opa and Maewo.
Diary, 23 July 1899 - 11 July 1900 (File 3)
The diary describes Edgell's voyage from Norfolk Island to Pentecost, accompanied by Bishop Wilson, visits to villages, settlement of disputes, baptisms, the activities of Catholic missionaries, journeys on foot and by boat, the construction of school houses, encounters with Queensland labour vessels, labourers returned from Queensland, medical treatment of villagers, feasts and dances, negotiations with the Roman Catholic missionaries, Edgell's reading and his translations of the Prayer Book and Psalter, the opening and closure of schools, and conflict between the Islanders. At the end of the volume are school statistics, registers of baptisms, marriages and burials, and a list of dedicated churches.
Diary, 19 September 1900 - 10 September 1901 (File 4)
The diary describes Edgell's voyage from Norfolk Island, travels by foot and by boat, inspection of churches and schools, baptisms and confirmations, observance of the end of the nineteenth century, attacks on French missionaries, relations with the Roman Catholic mission, settlement of disputes, the introduction of new laws, relations with traders, Edgell's work on a dictionary and translating the Psalms, a visit by Bishop Wilson (August 1901), and travels among the islands, including the Santa Cruz Islands.
Diary, 11 September 1901 - 20 November 1901 (File 5)
The diary describes Edgell's travels with Bishop Wilson to the Solomon Islands, the consecration of the first stone church in Melanesia, their return to Raga to find his home, church, school and outhouses, together with his books and stores, destroyed by the French schooner Julia, investigations and claims for compensation, their return to Norfolk Island, Edgell's meeting with his mother and sister, and their voyage to Auckland. At the end of the volume are some cookery recipes.