1875: writer, Anthony Trollope - “Levuka has been the white man’s capital in Fiji”; merchants and the missionaries compelled colonial control

 English writer, postal commissior, Anthony Trollop gives an English view of Fiji in 1875, after visiting Consul Hector Robinson, who quotes Cakobau as he explained his tactic in ceding to Britain..
October 1874: Trollope reported the British flag was hoisted, “with the usual formalities,” by Sir Hercules Robinson, in Fiji. Anthony Trollope, in The Tireless Traveler: [...]

Between 1863 and 1904, over 62,000 Pacific island people sent as slaves or indentured labour to Queensland

Between 1863 and 1904, over 62,000 people from the Melanesian archipelagos provided the colony of Queensland with indentured labour for its emerging agricultural industries. A Sydney parliamentarian and merchant, Captain Robert Towns, first arranged for a sandalwood trader operating from Tanna, Henry Ross Lewin, to recruit islanders from the Loyalty and New Hebrides Groups in [...]

1861 - 1862: Tui Levuka’s house, as photographed by the crew of the Pelorus

This photo was purchased Oct 1912, and part of a photo album made by the crw of the Pelorus. It was a Transfer from Mitchell Library Printed Books collection Q980/C, May 2005. Call no. PXA 1056. Copies can be ordered: Digital order no. a1251001 - a1251030
The are held in the PICMAN database, titled “Photographs [...]

1844:The Catholic Church mission in Fiji started in Lau in 1844 with the arrival of Bishop Bataillon

The “Catholic Church mission in Fiji initially started in Lau in 1844 with the arrival of Bishop Bataillon, who traveled from Wallis and Futuna with Frs. Roulleaux and Breheret, brother Annet, and two catechists from Wallis, Pako and Apolonia; the group included four Fijians, whom they met on the way in [...]

1822: David Whippy, of European descent of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, U.S.A., arrived in Fiji aboard a beche-de-mer ship in 1822,

Research and documentation done by Henry Simpson a Master Mariner residing in Auckland, New Zealand – these are his notes. “  I, Henry Simpson a Master Mariner and residing in Auckland but born in Fiji, a great grandson of the European, William Simpson of Poplar, London, England, Ship’s Carpenter, am recording a brief history and [...]

1862: United States in the midst of a Civil War

In 1862 the United States was in the midst of a Civil War. England was worried about the possibility of an invasion of the North American colonies (Lower Canada, Upper Canada, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia) by the US and so began to reinforce her military and naval presence there. The Illustrated London News (ILN) [...]