Australasia/South Seas [South Pacific]

Scope and Content

Minutes (primarily Synod) for Australia (including Tasmania) and New Zealand are extant from 1822 to 1862 whilst for Fiji and Tonga they are extant from 1828 to 1855. Correspondence is available for Australia (1812-1889), Fiji (1835-1884), New Zealand (1819-1882), Samoa & New Britain (1834-1881), Tasmania (1823-1876) and Tonga (1822-1859). Some photographic material (c.1880-c.1957) is also extant.

Administrative / Biographical History

Wesleyan missionary work started in Australia in 1818, had reached New Zealand by 1822 and the South Sea Islands in the 1820s (Tonga first in 1826). The Australasian Methodist Missionary Society was formed as an auxiliary in 1822 with independence taking place in 1855.

Access Information

The majority of the collection is only available for consultation on microfiche. Only photographic material is available in original format.

Restrictions Apply

Other Finding Aids

Handlists to correspondence up to 1889 are available in the SCRR.

Archivist's Note

Catalogued

Conditions Governing Use

For permission to publish, please contact Archives & Special Collections, SOAS Library in the first instance

Copyright held by Methodist Missionary Society