Resonant Histories

Book excerpt: This book explores the complex relational assemblage that is the ethnographic collection of Admiral Edward Henry Meggs Davis, made during the three voyages of the H.M.S Royalist between 1890-1893. The collection is indicative not just of a period of colonial collecting in the Pacific, but also the development of museum collections in the UK and Europe. This period of history also affects the way that Pacific Islanders think about their own lives today. Using the collections as a starting point the book is divided into three parts. The first will provide the historical background to the three voyages of the H.M.S Royalist, discussing each voyage, its aims and outcomes, and the role that Davis played within this. This will then provide the context for the large collection of 1400 objects made by Davis during his time as Captain of the Australian naval cruiser. It will then interrogate the motivations of Davis to collect and the various means of collecting that he employed. The second section will consider what happened to the collection once Davis returned to England, where and how it was sold, and how the collection became a part of and subject to the networks of museums, and private collectors in the UK and Europe during the end of the 19th century beginning of the 20th century. Finally the third section will look at history and contemporary change. Focusing on three Pacific Islands- one from each voyage- this section will explore how indigenous people discuss the arrival of the H.M.S Royalist in relation to contemporary life- often as a means of understanding current social, political or environmental issues -, and consider the contemporary significance of these dispersed collections to Pacific Islanders today.