South Seas Reports

Series of official or annual reports from LMS mission stations to LMS headquarters, relating to the South Seas missions. Comprises detailed reports from missionaries in charge of stations, schools and hospitals, as well as their wives and occasionally indigenous teachers or assistants. The reports c...

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Date(s) of creation: 1866-1972
Level: Series
Format: Archive           

Summary: Series of official or annual reports from LMS mission stations to LMS headquarters, relating to the South Seas missions. Comprises detailed reports from missionaries in charge of stations, schools and hospitals, as well as their wives and occasionally indigenous teachers or assistants. The reports contain a great deal of information, including statistical data on the number of local converts, the number of indigenous preachers, and the amount of local children attending mission schools for example. They can provide information on specific institutions. Some reports were used in missionary publications, and many have been edited with blue pencil lines. Occasionally, a report has been cut up and areas of text removed. Reports written in January of each year are included in the previous years' file. Some reports consist of decennial reviews of the advances or otherwise made by the mission. The South Seas or Pacific Reports include reports from Samoa, including Apia, Malua, Leulumoega, Tutuila, Upolu and Savaii. Also includes stations at Saluafata and Falealili; the Society Islands - Tahiti (including Papeete), Raiatea, and Huahine; the Loyalty Islands - Lifu [Lifou] (including Mu), Mare and Uvea [Ouvea]; the Cook Islands or Hervey Islands - Mangaia, Aitutaki, Rarotonga (Tereora), Atiu; Niue; Tokelau, Gilbert Islands [Kiribati] and Ellice Islands [Tuvalu] - includig Beru (Gilbert Islands), and Ocean Island. Some reports relate to specific Institutions, and for the South Seas these include the Malua Theological Institution or Malua Mission Seminary (founded in 1844), Leulumoega High School (opened 1890), Papuata Girls School, Atauloma Girls School. Significant missionaries reporting for the period to 1940 include Samuel Hickman Davies (1841-1917, Samoa mission 1867-1895 & later Niue), Frances Edwin Lawes (1843-1917, Niue mission 1868-1910), William Edward Goward (1860-1931, Samoa mission 1888-1899, then Gilbert Islands to 1919), James Hadfield (1864-1934, Lifu, Loyalty Islands mission 1878-1920), John William Hills (1864-1932, Samoa mission 1887-1924) and his wife Elizabeth Hills (d.1961), John Joseph Knight Hutchin (1857-1912, Rarotonga mission 1882-1912), Elizabeth Moore (1862-1920, Samoa mission 1891-1920), James Edward Newell (1852-1910, Samoa mission 1880-1910), Wilhemine Franzeska Louise Valesa Schultze (1859-1935, Samoa mission 1890-1916), James Wilberforce Sibree (1871-1927, Samoa mission 1898-1921) and Samuel James Whitmee (1838-1925, Samoa mission 1863-78 & 1891-93).
Extent: 13 boxes (& part box)
Arrangement: Reports to 1940 are organised chronologically into yearly files, and then alphabetically by author. Reports written in January of each year, or where they specifically refer to the previous year, are included in the previous file. From 1940, reports are arranged alphabetically by author, and grouped approximately by decade.
Access status: Open
Finding aids: A detailed list of South Seas Reports is available for consultation in the Special Collections Reading Room, SOAS Library.
Format: Archive