Guide to the Collections held by the School of Oriental and African Studies (as filmed by the AJCP), 1769-1937
Filter Online content
Online content
Collection context
Summary
- Collection number:
- M681-M686
- Creator:
- School of Oriental and African Studies. University of London
- Extent:
- 214 items
- Language:
- English
- Preferred citation:
-
Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the School of Oriental and African Studies 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: Ranjang poems, 1783, School of Oriental and African Studies (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla-obj-1379824672)
- Availability:
- Available
- Access conditions:
- Available for reference.
Background
- Content Summary:
- Contains vocabularies and grammar lists from language groups found in Tahiti; New Zealand; Indonesia; Malaysia; Melanesia; Micronesia; Queensland; New South Wales; Tasmania; the western coast of South America and other parts of the Pacific Islands.
- Biographical / Historical:
-
The School of Oriental Studies was founded at Finbury Circus, London, in 1916 with the intention of training colonial administrations and providing London University with a school to rival the Oriental institutes of Berlin, Petrograd and Paris. Africa was added to the School's name in 1938. The School moved to Bloomsbury in 1946.
Sidney Herbert Ray (1858-1939) was born in London and was educated at the British School at Bethnal Green in the East End. In 1880 he entered the St Mark's Training College at Chelsea and in 1884 he was appointed an assistant master at the Board School at Bethnal Green. He remained a teacher at the school until his retirement master at the Board School at Bethnal Green. He remained a teacher at the school until his retirement in 1923. His career as a primary schoolteacher was paralleled by his long career as a comparative and descriptive linguist. He became interested in Pacific languages as a toung man and his first paper was published in 1886. In 1888 he became a fellow of the Anthropological Institute. Ray relied heavily in the publications of the British and Foreign Bible Society and the pubished and unpublished writings of missionaries who had a strong interest in languages, such as the Reverend R.H. Codington and later the Reverend W.G. Ivens. In 1890 he met the Cambridge anthopologist Alfred Haddon, who remained a friend and supporter for the rest of Ray's life. They jointly published papers and Ray was a member of the Cambridge Anthopological Expedition which Haddon led to the Torres Strait in 1898. His publications included A study of the languages of Torres Straits (with A.C. Haddon, 1893-97), A comparative vocabulary of the dialects of British New Guinea (1895), Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits (vol.3, Linguistics, 1907) and A comparative study of Melanesian Island languages (1926).
William Marsden (1754-1836) was born in Verval, County Wicklow, Ireland, and was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He was appointed to the East India Company and sent to Benkulen, Sumatra, in 1771. He was promoted to the position of principal secretary to thr company's goverment in Sumatra in 1774. He resigned from the position of principal secretary to the company's goverment in Sumatra in 1774. He resigned from the position in 1779 and returned to England. He became aquainted with many leading scholars and writers, including Sir Joseph Banks, Alexander Dalrymple, William Herschel and Nevil Maskelyne. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1783 and was a foundings member of the Irish Academy in 1785. He had acquired an extensive knowledge of Sumatra and the Malay language and his History of Sumatra appeared in 1812. His later years were devoted to scholarly pursuits. He published A dictionary of the Malayan language (1812) The travels of Marco Polo (1818) and Numismata orientalia illustrata (1823-25), as well as miscellaneous works and contributions to jounrals. In 1835 he presented his library of books and manuscripts to King's College, London. Part of Marsden's manuscript collection was transferred to the School of Oriental Studies in 1916.
Access and use
- 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 School of Oriental and African Studies.
- Preferred citation:
-
Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the School of Oriental and African Studies 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: Ranjang poems, 1783, School of Oriental and African Studies (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla-obj-1379824672)
- Location of this collection:
-
Parkes PlaceCanberra ACT 2600, Australia
- Contact: