Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1890 - 2009 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
8 type 1 boxes plus 1 type 10 box.
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Nigel D. Oram was an ethnologist and academic. In 1946, after military service in World War II, he read history at Oxford University. This was followed by a career in the British Colonial Service in East Africa and Uganda, where, in his own words, he had experience of law-and-order problems. In 1961, Oram helped set up the New Guinea Research Unit, Port Moresby, which was an offshoot of the Australian National University. His role was to undertake social research. To facilitate his information gathering, Oram learnt the Motu and Hula languages, and undertook his field work along the coast in a 35-foot long lakatoi canoe. In 1969, he was appointed a fellow at the University of Papua New Guinea, where he remained from 1969 to 1975. Oram returned to Australia where he taught prehistory for nine years at La Trobe University and where, upon his retirement in 1984, he became an honorary senior research fellow. He subsequently continued his research, frequently with the assistance of his daughter Rosemary Joan Oram (later Dobbyn).
Content and structure area
Scope and content
This series consists largely of academic research materials accumulated by Oram from 1962 onwards, and pertains to Papua New Guinea, especially Port Moresby - about which Oram wrote a book, Colonial town to Melanesian city : Port Moresby, 1884–1974 - and the nearby coastal Hula region. There is also a significant amount of material for a study of Reginald Edward Guise, Grandfather of Sir John Guise, first governor-general of independent Papua New Guinea.
A highlight of the collection is the photographic material. In addition of Oram's own photographs of 1960s Port Moresby, there are several albums of remarkable photographs by A. C. English and others of Papua New Guinea c.1900.
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Researchers must sign an access agreement.
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Contains some material in Motu language.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Audio materials generated by Nigel Oram at the National Library of Australia: https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/8562901
Material generated by Nigel Oram in the Pacific Manuscripts Bureau: https://asiapacific-anu-edu-au.virtual.anu.edu.au/pambu/catalogue/index.php/oram-nigel-d-1919-2003
Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigel_D._Oram
Notes area
Note
A stone adze and wooden figurine removed from the series.
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Description control area
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Created and processed by David Romney Smith February 2026
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English