Fiji correspondence, 1880-1947 [microform].

1880-1947.

40 microfilm reels ; 35 mm. + 1 reel list (3 p. ; 30 cm.)

Guide has call no.: Microtext Reference HD9118.F53 C838 2006 (LC) Oversize.

The Colonial Sugar Refining Company was formed in Sydney in 1855, taking over assets of the Australasian Sugar Company. It operated sugar cane plantations and mills in Queensland and northern NSW, and refineries in Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland. In 1880, the year E.W. Knox was appointed General Manager, the Company was invited by Sir Arthur Gordon, Governor of Fiji, to extend its operations to Fiji. It began operations at Nausori on the Rewa River to the east of Suva in 1882 using cane from its own plantation worked with Indian indentured labourers as well as cane purchased from local planters. In 1886 the Rarawai Mill at Ba commenced work, built by CSR for its subsidiary, the New Zealand Sugar Company. Subsequently the Company opened mills in Fiji in Labasa in 1894, in Lautoka in 1903, and in 1926 it purchased the Penang sugar mill at Nadi. In 1924 CSR introduced its 'tenant farming' system in Fiji as a possible solution to labour problems due to the abolition of the Indian indenture system. CSR remained in Fiji until 1973, framing the country's economic development throughout that period.

Press-copy letter-books of CSR Head Office letters-out, all pages folioed. Most of these letter-books are in fragile condition; and the original copies of some of the letters are very light. The letters-in are also in bound volumes; each letter is numbered. CSR Head Office, Fiji letters-out, Vols.1-7, May 1880-Aug 1891, indexed; CSR Head Office, Fiji Colonial Secretary's letters-in, to Fiji Manager, Vols.1-8, 1907-1939, indexed; CSR Head Office, Immigration letters-out (Indian Labour, Fiji), 2 vols., 1916-1937, indexed; CSR Head Office, Rarawai Mill Correspondence-out, 1 vol. & Vols.1-13, 16-30, 1884-1912, 1916-1947, indexed. CSR Head Office, Rarawai Mill Correspondence-in, Vols.1-10, 1903-1925, indexed.

Books / Microforms

English

October 02, 2008