The Reports of the Cambridge Anthropological Expedition to Torres Straits were the culmination of an expedition to Torres Strait in 1898, led by Alfred Cort Haddon.

Haddon was born on 24 May 1855, in London. He was educated at Christ’s College, Cambridge and in 1880 was appointed professor of zoology at the Royal College of Science, Dublin. In 1888 he journeyed to Torres Strait off the north eastern coast of Australia to study the marine biology there, spending the month of October at Mabuiag and then five months at Mer (Murray Island). During this time he became interested in ethnography, collecting folk tales and ethnographic material.

In 1893 he moved to Cambridge and gained a lectureship in physical anthropology. He planned and organized a further expedition to Torres Strait, duly arriving at Thursday Island on 22 April 1898.

His team consisted of seven staff, namely himself and Sidney H. Ray, linguist, Dr. William Halse Rivers, physician and psychologist, Dr. Charles S. Myers, psychologist and musician, Dr. William McDougall, psychologist, Anthony Wilkin, photographer and Dr. C. S. Seligman, pathologist

Most of their time was spent on Murray Island and they departed from Torres Strait in November 1898.

Haddon spent the rest of his life organizing and editing the material collected. He also returned to the Torres Strait for a brief visit in 1914. He died on 20 April, 1940. During his prolific career he wrote and edited over 600 publications.

The expedition to Torres Strait was the first scientifically planned and executed interdisciplinary study of a traditional people. 67 musical cylinders were collected, along with some 2 000 artifacts and the world’s first ethnographic film was made – a four minute production displaying Malo ceremonies and fire stick usage.

The results of the expedition were published in 6 volumes by the Cambridge University press from 1905 – 1935. In 1971 the Johnstone Reprint Corporation reprinted the volumes. However the work was published and reprinted without any indexes