Guide to the Records of the Marist Fathers (Society of Mary) (As filmed by the AJCP)
M425-M432
National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record
Created: 2019
Collection Summary
- Title
- Records of the Marist Fathers (Society of Mary) (as filmed by the AJCP)
- Date Range
- 1844 - 1946
- Collection Number
- M425-M432
- Extent
- 99 items
- Language of Materials
-
French
With occasional exceptions, all the letters and other documents are in French. - Repository
- Australian Joint Copying Project
- Sponsor
- The Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP) online portal was created with the assistance of the Australian Public Service Modernisation Fund, 2017-2020. The National Library of Australia gratefully acknowledges the contribution of the other foundation AJCP partners, the State Library of New South Wales and The National Archives of the UK, and all other organisations which supported the work of the AJCP, the world's most extensive collaborative copying project, operating from 1948 to 1997.
Introduction
Scope and Contents
The records consist predominantly of letters written by Marist fathers, brothers and nuns in Fiji and Rotuma in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In addition, there are some journals covering the early years of the Mission and extracts from published works on the history of the Marist missionaries in the Pacific.
With occasional exceptions, all the letters and other documents are in French.
Conditions Governing Access
Available for Access.
Conditions Governing Use
Many of the records digitised as part of the AJCP are still in copyright. Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the owner of the original material.
Preferred Citation
Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.
Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.
Example:- M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February-23 September 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)
Archival History
Filmed at Societas Marriae, Rome, as part of the Australian Joint Copying Project, 1957 (AJCP Reels: M425-M432). Original microfilm digitised as part of the NLA AJCP Online Delivery Project, 2017-2020.
At the time of filming, the records were evidently in quite a disordered state. The letters of Bishop Vidal formed a discrete group and some of the letters of priests and nuns formed short chronological sequences. In general, however, the letters had not been arranged in any logical way, parts of journals had become separated from each other, and journals, manuscripts and published items were mixed up with letters. Unavoidably, this disorder was perpetuated on the microfilm. In this listing, an effort has been made to show the sequence of documents on each reel. Artificial Series have been created to identify the separate microfilm reels and the order in which the documents were filmed.
Existence and Location of Originals
Societas Mariae. Archivio Padri Maristi, Rome, Italy.
For further information, see Society of Mary [http://www.padrimaristi.it/]
Existence and Location of Copies
The original AJCP microfilm of the records filmed from this collection is available at the National Library of Australia [https://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn668333] as well as other institutions holding AJCP microfilm.
Finding-Aid Notes
This finding aid is a revised online version of the original finding aid prepared by the Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP), published by the National Library of Australia in 2019. The original AJCP finding aids were unpublished typescripts or photocopies available from libraries that held copies of the original microfilm.
Dates used in this finding aid refer to the date range of the records selected for filming rather than to the date range of the Series or Files.
Subjects
Bataillon, Bishop; Caroline Islands, Pacific Ocean; France; French in the Pacific; Futuna Island, Pacific Ocean; Marist Fathers (Society of Mary); Tonga: missions; Solomon Islands: missions; Samoa: missions; Papua New Guinea: missions; Fiji: missions; Missions and missionaries: Pacific Islands; Roman Catholic Church: Pacific Islands; Roman Catholic Church: Papua New Guinea; Rotuma Island, Pacific Ocean; Society of Mary (Marist Fathers); Wallis Island, Pacific Ocean
Bibliography
Originally cited in Australian Joint Copying Project Handbook. Part 8: Miscellaneous (M) Series. Third Edition, published 1998. Entry 308, p. 115.
Biographical / Historical
The idea of a Society of Mary originated with a group of Catholic seminarians at Lyon, France, in 1816. One of the group, Jean-Claude Colin (1790-1875), was subsequently given permission by the Bishop of Belley to form a missionary group to work in the rural districts of the diocese. In 1836 Pope Gregory XVI, who was looking for missionaries for Oceania, approved the formation of a religious institute, the Priests of the Society of Mary, or Marist Fathers. Colin was elected as the first Superior General and held the office until 1854. He was succeeded by Julien Favre (1854-1885), Antoine Martin (1886-1905) and Jean-Claude Raffin (1905-1922). Lyon was the seat of administration from 1839 until 1925, when it moved to Rome.
The Pope created the Vicariate General of Apostolic of Western Oceania in 1835. It covered a vast area, including New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands, the Gilbert Islands and New Guinea. Jean-Baptiste Pompallier (1802-1871) was appointed the Vicar Apostolic and, together with a group of Marist missionaries, he sailed for the Pacific in 1837. Pompallier made New Zealand the centre of his operations and he was to become the first Bishop of Auckland in 1848. The Marists quickly spread through the western Pacific, reaching Wallis and Futuna islands in 1837, Tonga in 1842, New Caledonia in 1843, Fiji in 1844 and Samoa in 1845. The large vicariate was soon divided into a number of dioceses and vicariates. The Vicariate of Central Oceania was created in 1842 under Bishop Pierre Bataillon.
The first Marist missionaries in Fiji were Jean-Baptiste Breheret and Joseph-Francois Roulleaux. They first worked at Lakeba in Llau and in 1855 moved to Levuka. Breheret became the first Prefect Apostolic of Fiji in 1863. In 1887 the Vicariate Apostolic of Fiji was established and Bishop Julien Vidal (1846-1922) was appointed Vicar Apostolic. He held the office until his death. He was also Prefect Apostolic of the southern Solomon Islands from 1897 to 1903. By the early twentieth century there were 30 priests (Marist Fathers) working in Fiji, together with 11 Little Brothers of Mary (Marist Brothers) in charge of schools and 24 European and 31 Fijian Sisters of the Third Order of Mary.
Item Descriptions
Series. Correspondence (Vicar Apostolic, Fiji), 1848 - 1935
31 itemsThe bulk of the letters in this series were written in the years 1889-1915 by Bishop Julien Vidal, the Vicar Apostolic of Fiji from 1887 until 1922. They were mostly written to the Superior-General of the Society of Mary, Antoine Martin and Jean-Claude Raffin, the Procurator of Missions and other priests in Lyon. There are also a few letters written by Jean-Baptiste Breheret in Fiji in 1848 and 1870-1878.
The order of the letters and other documents is as listed.
The Series is an artificial one created to described the documents originally filmed as AJCP Reel 425. No order was apparent in the original collection.
Archival History
Originally filmed on AJCP Reel M425.
Series. Correspondence (Missionaries - Fiji), 1860 - 1905
10 itemsLetters written by missionaries in Fiji between 1860 and 1899. The recipients are often not named, but the majority were almost certainly written to Fathers Julien Favre and Antoine Martin, the Superior-Generals of the Society of Mary, and the Procurator of Missions.
The correspondents include Augustin Aubry (Suva, Sydney), E.M. Bertreux (Loreto, Levika), Henri Bousquet, Jean-Baptiste Breheret (Levuka), Jean-Baptiste Chevreuil (Rotuma), Alfred Deniau (Verata), Laurent Faure (Ovalau), Jean-Victor Favier (Rewa), Laurent Favre (Solevu), Hector Jay (Wairiki), Francois Leberre (Solevu), Andre Marion (Rewa), Simon Montmayeur (Ovalau), Celestin Picherit (Ba River), Emmanuel Rougier (Levika, Rewa), Fabien Terrien (Wairiki), Victor Thierry (Loreto) and Julien Vidal (Suva, Levuka).
The order of the letters and documents is as listed.
Archival History
Originally filmed on AJCP Reel M426.
Series. Correspondence (missionaries and nuns), 1882 - 1917
8 itemsLetters written from missionaries and nuns in Fiji between 1882 and 1917. The recipients are often not named, but they were mostly written to the Superiors-General Antoine Martin and Jean-Claude Raffin, the Procurator of Missions, other fathers at Lyon, and Father Augustin Aubry in Sydney.
The correspondents include Pierre Bourdier (Suva), Henri Bousquet, Joseph Calviac, François Dupont (Levuka), Thomas Fox (Macuata), Alexis Gonnet (Loreto, Levuka), Yves Helliot (Levuka), Gabriel Lahaye, Leon Lejeune (Loreto), Sister Marie Adèle (Wairiki), Sister Marie Agnes (Wairiki), André Marion (Levuka), Jean de Marzan (Lomary), Pierce Michel, Jean Orève (Natovi), Célestin Picherit (Macuata, Suva), Alphonse Roth (Naduri), Emmanuel Rougier (Rewa), Jean-Baptiste Schneider (Solavu), Lucien Soubreyan (Sumi), Fabien Terrien (Wairiki)and Auguste Villaine (Ba River).
Archival History
Originally filmed on AJCP Reel M427.
Series. Journals and Correspondence (Missionaries - Fiji), 1844 - 1914
11 itemsIncludes parts of journals of the first two Marist missionaries in Fiji, Jean-Baptiste Breheret and Joseph-Francois Roulleaux, and letters written by missionaries in Fiji, mostly between 1909 and 1914. The recipients are often not identified, but many of the letters were addressed to Father Regis.
The correspondents include Henri Bousquet (Solevu), Joseph Calviac, Benjamin Courrech (Wairiki), Francois Dupont (Levuka, Suva), Thomas Fox (Suva), Alexis Gonnet (Levuka), J.L. Guinard (Namosi), Yves Helliot (Levuka), Gabriel Lahaye, Leon Lejeune (Faguta), Sister Marie Agnes (Wairiki), Sister Marie Suzanne (Makogai), Jean de Marzan (Nausori), Jean Oreve (Suva), Celestin Picherit, Alphonse Roth, Alphonse Soubreyan, Lucien Soubreyan (Matusa, Levuka), Fabien Terrien (Wairiki), Julien Vidal (Suva) and Auguste Villaine.
The order of the letters and documents is as listed.
Archival History
Originally filmed on AJCP Reels M428-M429.
'Journal du P. Breheret et Roulleaux de la mission de Notre Dames des Sept Douleurs etablie a Lakemba' (15 pp.), 1844 - 1847 (File)
'Journal de la Mission de Notres Dames des Sept Douleurs a Lakemba', 18 September 1844 - 28 February 1847 (File pp.18-148)
Series. Correspondence and Journals (Missionaries - Fiji), 1844 - 1946
20 itemsLetters from missionaries in Fiji, dating from 1844 to 1897, a journal of the Fijian Mission (1850-1852) and other documents and extracts from publications. The letters are addressed to Julien Favre and Antoine Martin, the Superior Generals, Francois Poupinel, the Assistant Superior General, the Procurator of Missions and other fathers at Lyon and also Bishop Alloys Elloy, the Vicar Apostolic of Central Oceania.
The correspondents include Jean-Baptiste Breheret (Levuka), Isidore Bochettaz (Wairiki), Alfred Deniau (Verata), Pierre Dezest (Rotuma), Jean-Victor Favier (Rewa), Laurent Favre (Solevu), Antoine Grosselin (Levuka), Louis Hurlin, Hector Jay (Wairiki), Francois Leberre (Rotuma), Victor Lenniger (Levuka), Stanilas Loyer (Rotuma), Charles Mathieu, Simon Montmayeur (Ovalu), Joseph-Francois Roulleaux (Lakeba) and Joseph Trouillet (Rotuma).
The order of the letters and documents is as listed.
Archival History
Originally filmed on AJCP Reel M430.
'Journal de la Mission de Notres Dames de sept Douleurs a Lakemba', 1850-08 - 1852-10; 1851-02-16 - 1852-10 (File pp.1-56; pp.34-52)
'Prefecture apostolique de Fiji, lettre du R.P. Brerehet au T.R.P. Martin', 6 November 1885 (File)
(pp. 369-377 from an unidentified book)
'Convention entre Jacobao Jui Viti (Roi du Boi) d'une part et au nom de S.M. Empereur...', 7 July 1858 (File)
'...des Francais M. le Capitaine de Frigate Le Bris Durumain, Commandant la Corvette La Bayonnaise, fonde de pouvoir de M. le Gouverneur des establishments francais de l'Oceanie d'autre part' (3pp.)
Series. Correspondence (Missionaries - Fiji), 1881 - 1899
18 itemsLetters, including a few reproduced in published works, from missionaries in Fiji, dating from 1881 to 1899. They were written to the Superior General Antoine Martin, Francois Poupinel, the Assistant Superior General, the Procurator of Missions and other fathers in Lyon, priests in other French cities, and Father Augustin Aubry in Sydney.
The correspondents include Augustin Aubry (Levuka), Isidore Bochettaz (Ovalau), Henri Bousquet, Pierre Chaix (Wairiki), Jean-Baptiste Chevreuil (Rotuma), Alfred Deniau, Laurent Faure (Solevu), Jean-Victor Favier (Rewa), Karl Flaus (Wairiki), Antoine Grosselin (Loreto), Karl Flaus (Wairiki), Joseph-Marie Guitet (Loreto), Hector Jay, Louis Hurlin (Metz, Levuka), Gabriel Lahaye (Sovelu), Francois Leberre (Solevu), Augustin Lepetit (Wairiki, Suva), Louis-Jean Lezer (Loreto), Stanilas Loyer (Levuka), Sister Marie St Clair (Loreto), Sister Marie Stanilaus (Rewa), Andre Marion (Levuka), Jean de Marzan (Wairiki), Louis Passant (Rewa), Eugene Rideau (Ba River), Emmanuel Rougier (Rewa), Jean-Baptiste Schneider (Rotuma), Fabien Terrien (Levuka), Victor Thierry (Ba River), Francois Trillot and Joseph Trouillet (Rotuma).
The order of the letters is as listed.
Archival History
Originally filmed on AJCP Reel M431.
Wairiki, 12 November 1886 (File)
1 letter from Augustin Lepetit concerning the death of Rev. P. Courveck.
'Lettre du A. Hurlin au R.P. Assistant pour les Missions', 5 July 1887 (File)
pp. 24-31 from an unidentified printed book.
'Lettre du R. Pere Deniau, missionnaire apostolique aux Hebrides a Mesdames Poil et Isambert de Bonneval' (printed), 21 June 1888 (File)
'Lettres des Soeur Marie Saint Clair, n.d., et P. Hurlin a Mgr Vidal', 29 October 1887 (File)
(pp. 41-47 from an unidentified printed book)
'Missions maristes aux Iles Fidji, lettre de Sœur Marie du Sacre-Coeur au R.P.M.', November 1883 (File)
pp. 185-191 from an unidentified printed book.
Series. Correspondence (Missionaries - Fiji), 1850 - 1897
5 itemsA small number of letters dating from the early years of the Fijian Mission, as well as three letters written in 1897. Most of the letters were written by C. Mathieu (Rewa). The other correspondents include Joseph-François Rouillaux, Jean-Victor Favier (Ovalau), Jean de Marzan (Solevu) and Sister Marie Agnes (Wairiki). The recipients are not named.
The order of the letters is as listed.
Archival History
Originally filmed on AJCP Reel M432.