George Turner was a missionary for the London Missionary Society posted to establish Christian missions in the Pacific Islands in the middle of the nineteenth century. Missionary societies hoped to ‘civilise’ Pacific Islanders by introducing them to Christianity, teaching them to read and to write and to abandon centuries-old customs and beliefs. Missionaries often worked with local communities: translating Scripture into Indigenous languages and training local preachers to spread the faith to others. This strategy allowed for Christianity to spread rapidly throughout the Pacific.

Turner spent nineteen years in the Pacific, arriving first in the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu), before spending much of the time in Samoa where he worked at a mission station. He also travelled throughout the south Pacific, founding new missions in Vanuatu, Niue and Tokelau. This account, published following his return to Britain in 1860, describes the various cultures of Pacific Islanders and lauds the progress of Christianity in the region. In his conclusion, Turner lists the number of people who had been converted, the number of churches built, teachers trained and the activities of newly established printing presses but also emphasises that more missionaries ought to be sent to finish the work that had been started.