Personal Papers
The Personal Papers collection comprises records created, collected or used by individuals within the church, and documents their involvement or experience in the life of the Lutheran church in Australia and New Zealand.
The collection is predominantly collected from pastors, teachers and members of the church, as well as individuals who have had a significant influence on church ministries and development.
The records in this collection frequently complement records found in the Synods & Departments collection and the Congregation collection (e.g. correspondence kept and deposited by pastors often addresses synodical or congregational matters).
![Letter from Pastor A G Simpfendorfer to his fiancé [SIMPFENDORFERAG_BOX1_LETTERS_001]](https://lutheranarchives.lca.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/SIMPFENDORFERAG_BOX1_letters_1-scaled-e1702611094181-768x587.jpg)
![Wanderbuch (Journeyman's book) - Heinrich Christian Busch [BUSCH_HANGINGFILE_(HeinrichChristian)WANDERBUCH_001]](https://lutheranarchives.lca.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Busch-Wanderbuch_003-Page-1-e1702611232238-768x586.jpg)
![Correspondence book of Pastor G A Heidenreich [Heidenreich, GA_Correspondence 1893-1895_002 Inside front cover 3]](https://lutheranarchives.lca.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Heidenreich-GA_Correspondence-1893-1895_002-Inside-front-cover-3-scaled-e1701128925606-768x552.jpg)
![Faye Lienert parament design book [LIENERTFaye_BOX1_DesignsofAltarPieces2010-2014_4]](https://lutheranarchives.lca.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/LIENERTFaye_BOX1_DesignsofAltarPieces2010-2014_4-e1701129048701-768x588.jpg)
ABOUT PERSONAL PAPERS
TYPES OF RECORDS
Records within this collection can include:
- diaries and memoirs
- sketch books
- personal publications and theses
- personal correspondence
- certificates of ordination
- letters of calls to congregations or teaching appointments
- 19th century passports and naturalization certificates
- civic documents from before migration
THEMES
Themes prevalent within this collection include:
- migration and settlement
- early life in the colonies
- church settlement and expansion
- pioneer women
- internment and other experiences during WWI and WWII
- life on the mission stations
COMPLEMENTARY RECORDS
For genealogical records, please see Genealogy and Family History where you can search our Names Index database for records of pastoral acts (baptisms, confirmations, marriages, burials) along with Post WWII-migrant records.
Other relevant holdings can be found in the Synod & Department Records or Congregation records
SEARCH THE RECORDS
Click the button to view a PDF outlining the holdings in the Personal Papers series (it will open in a new browser tab). Not all contents have been scoped, as this is a work-in-progress. Contents of a particular series can be prioritised and scoped on demand for a small fee.
Sample some stories
Gottlieb Blaess – Missionary to the Māori
When 29-year-old theological student Gottlieb Blaess returned from his Christmas holidays in the winter of 1893, he found a letter waiting for him: a call from the Hermannsburg Free Church to serve as missionary in New Zealand.
Emma Kriewaldt – Diary of a Pastor’s Wife
At the age of 23, Emma Kriewaldt nee Eberlein moved from Shawano, Wisconsin, USA to Lobethal in South Australia with her husband Emil Kriewaldt, an LCMS pastor who had been called to serve in Australia.
Two German tradesmen and their Wanderbücher
These Wanderbücher document the journeyman travels of two German tradesmen: stone mason Daniel Heinrich Christian Busch and carpenter Friedrich Johann Christian Juers.