Christmas Island, Coolies Memorial Commemorations

Copyright National Archives of Australia

[Christmas Island] [Collection of 5 colour photographs and accompanying Cantonese/Mandarin text] Coolies Memorial Commemorations Series history Provenance The first transfer for the series is a photograph album collected by Anthony Murray, a descendant of John Murray, who was the co-founder of the settlement and mining operations established on Christmas Island in1899. The album had been in the care of the Christmas Island Historical Society which transferred it to the Christmas Island Shire when the Society ceased to operate. Photographs in this album date from circa 1905. In December 2011 a further collection of photographs was added to consignment one (1) of this series. The photographs were taken in about 1949-50 by David Barton, a British merchant seaman from Norfolk, United Kingdom. They were donated to the Christmas Island Chinese History and Heritage Museum and were subsequently acquired by the Christmas Island Shire which transferred them to the National Archives, Perth Office. Items transferred in July 2013 were gifted to the Shire of Christmas Island prior to transfer to National Archives of Australia.