Guide to the Papers and photographs of Jim Taylor, 1914-1987
Collection context
Summary
- Collection number:
- MS 9218
- Creator:
- Jim Taylor
- Extent:
- 0.9 metres and (7 boxes)
- Language:
- English
- Preferred citation:
- Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers and photographs of Jim Taylor, National Library of Australia, MS 9218, [series and/or file number]'.
- Availability:
- Available
- Access conditions:
- Available for research. Not for loan.
Background
- Content Summary:
-
Papers and records documenting Taylor's career as a Patrol Officer (kiap) in the New Guinea Highlands in the period 1927-49. The major component of the collection comprises photographs taken on the famous Hagen-Sepik Patrol led by Taylor in 1938-39. Taylor's patrol diary and reports, together with workbooks, field notes, letters and other papers accumulated during the expedition are represented amongst the supporting documentation. Other items of interest include materials recording the Bena-Hagen Patrol (1933-34), correspondence concerning the Leahy gold discovery, vocabularies, pocket diaries, lecture notes, papers relating to early post-World War II administrative policy and notes about Taylor's post-government career.
Except for Series 2, the original order of the collection had fallen into disarray, and pages of the same document were often widely separated amongst the papers. Between 1987-99 Gammage organised the papers in their present arrangement, and in 1998-99 produced this descriptive list under contract to the Library.
- Biographical Note:
-
Jim Taylor was born on 25 January 1901 in Alexandria, Sydney, second surviving son of George Henry and Harriette (née Carter) Taylor, who had arrived from London a year before. He attended Bondi Public and Sydney Technical High Schools, but cut short his schooling to enlist in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on 22 March 1917, aged 16. He served in France with the 34th Battalion, and was wounded and gassed on the Somme. In 1919 he matriculated from King's College London, and in 1920 studied science at Sydney University. There he failed a subject and consequently the year, and after various jobs joined the New South Wales Police in 1923.
Taylor transferred to the New Guinea Police in Rabaul in September 1926 but moved to Salamaua as a kiap (patrol officer) in February 1927. He returned to the Police force to reform internal corruption in Rabaul in 1928-31, before serving again as a kiap, principally in the Highlands. During the ensuing 18 years, Taylor was notable for opening up the Highlands to more outsiders than any other European.
In March-August 1933 Taylor, prospectors Mick and Dan Leahy and surveyor Ken Spinks explored Simbu, the Wahgi, and the country around Mt Hagen, finding a scenic wonderland and meeting large populations and rich cultures unimagined by the world. Between March 1938 and June 1939 Taylor led the Hagen-Sepik Patrol from Mt Hagen to the Dutch New Guinea border. It was the longest patrol in New Guinea history, and the world's last major land exploration.
In 1942-45 Taylor served in the Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit (ANGAU). In March 1942 he was wounded by rebel police at Angoram, but on recovery served behind enemy lines in the Sepik, then in the Highlands. Between November 1944 and June 1945, with J.V. Barry and Ian Hogbin, he planned a war compensation scheme for Papua New Guineans, then moved to Port Moresby as Assistant Director of Labour. As such Taylor ranked as the Territory's second senior kiap, but in September 1946 dropped salary to take charge of the Highlands. In January 1948 he was reprimanded for not reporting a shooting of natives by a junior kiap, and resigned in October 1949. He married Yerima Manamp, grew vegetables and coffee, and worked gold leases on tribute at Porgera. He settled west of Goroka, and died there of pneumonia on 28 June 1987. His wife, two daughters and an adopted son survived him.
- Provenance:
-
The Taylor Papers were donated to the National Library by Bill Gammage, on behalf of Taylor's nephew Russ Robinson, in 1998. The core of the collection is comprised of records Taylor brought to Sydney in 1940 to prepare his report on the Hagen-Sepik Patrol. This material spans the period 1932-40, though Taylor also drew on other records relating to the Patrol in his assessment. On completing the report Taylor passed the records to his nephew, Russ Robinson, who in turn added papers to the collection. In 1986, at Taylor's request the records were lent by Robinson to Bill Gammage for his book about the Hagen-Sepik Patrol, entitled The sky travellers: journeys in New Guinea 1938-1939 (Melbourne University Press, 1998). Gammage added further Taylor records to the original body of papers, principally acquired from John Black and Ian Downs.
Indexed terms
- Names:
- Jim Taylor
Access and use
- Conditions Governing Access:
- Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn43306).
- Conditions Governing Use:
- Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.
- Preferred citation:
- Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers and photographs of Jim Taylor, National Library of Australia, MS 9218, [series and/or file number]'.
- Location of this collection:
-
Parkes PlaceCanberra ACT 2600, Australia
- Contact: