State Library Victoria > La Trobe Journal

No 17 April 1976

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Select List of Accessions to the Australian Manuscript Collection, 1975

  • Ancient Order of Foresters, Court of Perseverance Branch, Collingwood — Records, including minute books, subscribers books and ledgers 1857–1957. 75 cms. Pres. by Ancient Order of Foresters in Victoria.
    The Ancient Order of Foresters was constituted in Victoria in June 1850. The first meeting of the Collingwood court (2727) was held at the Freemason's Hotel, Smith Street, Collingwood on 18 August 1857. Copies of History of Court Perseverance, 2727 (1892) are also included with the records.
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  • Anderson, William — Scripts of 32 plays and pantomimes produced by William Anderson. Pres. by Mrs. Mary K. Lawson.
    William Anderson (1870–1940) was a theatrical entrepreneur and a contemporary of Bland Holt. His melodramas and sensational dramas such as “Face at the window” achieved a remarkable success in Melbourne and Sydney during the period between the turn of the century and the First World War.
  • Australian Conservation Foundation — Papers, including correspondence, pamphlets, photographs 1964–1969. 50 cms. Pres. by Dr. Norman Wettenhall.
    Dr. Wettenhall was a member of the Council and the Executive of the Australian Conservation Foundation 1965–1969.
    Executive Files, including agendas, minute papers, correspondence 1962–1973. 1.25 metres. Pres. by Mr. R. D. Malcolmson, M.B.E.
    Mr. Malcolmson was Chairman of the Working Committee of the Australian Conservation Foundation 1964; a member of the Executive Committee 1965–1972; and Chairman in 1973.
  • Cheong, Cheok Hong — Letterbooks 1881–1918 (incomplete). Xerox copy. (7 vols.) Originals are held privately.
    Cheok Hong Cheong (1853?–1928) arrived in Melbourne in 1863. He later became a church missionary among the Chinese in Victoria and the leading spokesman for the Chinese community. He fought strenuously against anti-Chinese attitudes and legislation, especially against the Commonwealth Immigration Restriction Act of 1901.
    Each volume of the letterbooks has been indexed. Some press cuttings and personal accounts are also included.
  • Chisholm, Caroline — Notebook of handwritten copies of letters to and from Mrs. Chisholm, of newspaper articles, government proclamations and dispatches. 1841–1853. Purchase.
    The copies in the notebook are in the handwriting of Mrs. Chisholm and her husband. On one flyleaf is: “Presented to Archibald Chisholm by his affectionate and grateful wife Caroline, Albert Park, Liverpool Rd., Sydney N.S.W. July 24, 1845 …”
    Holograph letter to the Hon. the Colonial Secretary on the subject of emigration headed “Melbourne, Elizabeth Street, 27th Nov. 1854”. Also “Copy of the Honorable the Colonial Secretary's Minute” signed W.C.H. 27 Jan., 1855. Purchase.
    Caroline Chisholm (1808–1877) spent her first period in Australia working amongst immigrants from 1838–1846. The notebook dates from this period. In 1854 she returned to Australia, landing in Melbourne.
  • Congregational Union of Victoria — Records, including minutes and member books of the Congregational Church, 30 Walpole Street, Kew, Vic. 1854–1927. 40 cms. Pres. by Miss E. Haynes.
    The records of the Kew Church have been added to the substantial collection of records of the Congregational Union of Victoria which came into the La Trobe Library in 1971.
  • Cotton, John — Drawings and manuscript notes describing birds of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales. 12 cms. Purchase.
    John Cotton (1802-1849), naturalist and pastoralist, arrived in Port Phillip in 1843 and settled at Doogallook in the Goulburn River Valley. Before leaving England he had already successfully published The Resident Song Birds of Great Britain (1835). In Port Phillip he continued his ornithological studies.
    The collection was published in John Cotton's Birds of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales 1843–1849 by A. McEvey, with biographical introduction by Maie Casey. (Collins, 1974.)
  • Flanagan, George Downing — Papers, including diaries and letters written while on active service abroad during the first World War. 5 cms. Pres. by Mrs. G. D. Flanagan.
    George Downing Flanagan worked as a clerk in the Electricity Supply Department of the Melbourne Town Hall before enlisting late in 1916. He served with the 4th Australian Division. Signal Company, in France and Belgium.
  • Gould, John — Drawings from the Ralph N. Ellis Collection, Department of Special Collections. Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas. Microfilm. (6 reels.) Purchase.
    John Gould (1804–1881), spent two years observing the bird life of Australia from 1838–1840. Out of this visit emerged his most famous work. The Birds of Australia, He also made several studies of bird life in Europe and Asia and his publications included forty-one large volumes with some 300 plates. The
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    Ralph N. Ellis Collection represents the most substantial collection of Gould's sketches and lithographs in existence — over 2,350 items.
  • Heinze, Sir Bernard Thomas — Papers c. 1915–1975, including correspondence, notebooks, photographs, press cuttings. 4.5 metres. Pres. by Sir Bernard Heinze. Restricted.
    Sir Bernard Heinze studied music in Paris, Berlin and London before joining the staff of the University of Melbourne Conservatorium in 1924. He was Ormond Professor of Music at the University from 1925–1956. He was also conductor of the University Symphony Orchestra 1924–1932, and of the Victorian Symphony Orchestra 1933–1956. From 1956–1966 he was Director of the New South Wales Conservatorium of Music.
    The papers reflect all aspects of Sir Bernard's long and distinguished career, particularly his years at Melbourne University and the New South Wales Conservatorium, his period as conductor of the Victorian Symphony Orchestra, and his association with the Australian Broadcasting Commission.
  • Hetherington, John —Papers, including personal correspondence, research notes and correspondence, and typescript manuscripts of published works. 1.25 metres. Pres. by Mrs. John Hetherington.
    John Aikman Hetherington (1907–1974), journalist and author, worked for newspapers in England and Australia and served a distinguished role as a war correspondent in Europe during World War II. From 1954 he was Feature Writer for the Age. He published a series of books including several studies of the lives of famous Austraians.
    The collection includes the typescript manuscript of his biographical study of Norman Lindsay. Amongst the correspondence are a substantial number of letters from Norman Lindsay and members of the Lindsay family (part restricted).
  • Hoff, Dr. Ursula — Papers relating to her studies of the Australian artist Charles Conder, including correspondence and photographs. 10 cms. Pres. by Dr. Ursula Hoff, O.B.E.
    Dr. Hoff was Assistant Director of the National Gallery of Victoria when she retired in 1973. She had also lectured in Fine Arts at the University of Melbourne since 1950.
    The papers are the research notes and correspondence for her two published studies of Conder, Charles Conder, His Australian Years (1960) and Charles Conder (1972).
  • Janssen, Carl Wilhelm and Ernck Valdemar — Collection of papers and personal effects 1914–1915, including correspondence, diary extracts, press cuttings and photographs. 8 cms. Pres. by Mrs. H. Richards.
    Lance Corporal Carl Janssen (1887–1915) and his brother Private Ernck Janssen (1891–1915) served abroad with the first A.I.F. in Egypt and Turkey. Carl Janssen was a photographer and photoengraver before the outbreak of war. His correspondents include John Shirlow and J. G. Roberts.
  • Kentish, Nathaniel Lipscomb — Letter to Daniel Bunce 10 Oct., 1840. Purchase.
    N. L. Kentish (1797–1867), author, newspaper editor and surveyor arrived in Port Phillip in 1849. A dispute arose with George Cavenagh, editor of the Melbourne Herald, and Kentish was finally gaoled for attacking Cavenagh with a stock whip.
    The letter is written from gaol. In it Kentish discusses some of his literary efforts and asks Bunce to retrieve some manuscripts from the Police Office.
  • La Trobe, Charles Joseph — Papers, including family photographs and letter. 4 cms. Pres. by Dr. J. H. de La Trobe.
    This small collection includes several printed items containing information relating to the La Trobe family in Switzerland, the United States and Australia. The photographs include a study of an elderly C. J. La Trobe at Neuchatel in Switzerland in 1868. The letter is written by C. J. La Trobe from London in June 1836 to his uncle, Frederic La Trobe, informing him of the death of Christian La Trobe.
  • League of Women Voters of Victoria — Minute books 1945–1971. (5 vols.); minutes of the Victorian Women Citizen's Movement 1940–1945 (1 vol.); and minute books, reports and transcripts of the League of Women Voters' Model Parliament April 1947–December 1947. 5 cms. Pres. by Miss A. Walford.
    The League of Women Voters was formed in August 1945 by the merger of three earlier women's groups, one of which had been the Victorian Women Citizen's Movement. The Model Parliament was a novel experiment organised by the League to give women the necessary training to take their place in Australian public life. The workings of the Parliament are especially well revealed in the records.
  • McMillan, Angus — Journal of a cruise from Greenock to New Holland 12 Sept. 1837–30 Oct. 1837; journal of the leader of the Alpine Expedition [Gippsland] March-April 1864. Photocopy and microfilm. Originals in possession of Mrs. R. Ormandy.
    Angus McMillan (1810–1865) arrived in Australia in January 1838. The first journal is his record of that voyage. In 1864, after a long career as an explorer and pioneer pastoralist in Gippsland he was offered the leadership of the Victorian government's Alpine Expedition to open tracks in the mining area of Omeo, Dargo and Matlock. The second journal records the early part of that expedition.
  • Maher, Percival John Godfrey — Papers, including letters, photographs and some official documents 1917–1924. 4 cms. Pres. by Mr. Leslie van der Sluys.
    Percival Maher enlisted in the army in December 1916 and embarked from Melbourne on 19 February 1917. In August 1917 he was appointed a lieutenant.
    The letters in the collection were written en route to Europe and during active service in Belgium and France and on leave in Ireland and London.
  • Melbourne Film Festival — Business records and correspondence 1958–1971. 3 metres. Pres. by the Melbourne Film Festival Committee.
    The Melbourne Film Festival is an organisation formed by the member bodies of the Federation of Victorian Film Societies. The first Festival was staged in 1952.
    This substantial collection complements records for the period 1955–1964, which came into the La Trobe Library several years ago.
  • Melbourne Film Society — Business papers, including correspondence, account books and membership registers. 20 cms. Pres. by the Melbourne Film Society.
    The Melbourne Film Society was formed in 1944 with Mr. Clive Turnbull as Convenor. The papers in the collection mainly represent the period after the reorganisation in the early 1950's. and especially after Mr. Erwin Rado became Secretary in 1955.
  • Melbourne Repertory Theatre — Records, including day book, playscripts, programmes, press cuttings and photographs. 15 cms. Purchase.
    The Melbourne Repertory Theatre 1945–1949, staged its productions at a theatre in Middle Park. The founder and director was Mr. Sydney Turnbull. The records include the script of “Hal's Belles: A Comedy in Three Acts”, by Ray Lawler.
  • Moore, Henry Byron — Papers c. 1860–1930, including correspondence, photographs and press cuttings. 1.25 metres. Pres. by the estate of Mr. Gordon Byron Moore through Mrs. J. Meredith.
    Henry Byron Moore (1839–1925) came to Victoria in 1852 and began work in the Victorian Lands Department, later becoming Assistant Surveyor General. During his life he was also to work as a sharebroker, engineer, artist and children's author. He is acknowledged as being responsible for the establishment of the Melbourne Telephone Exchange, and for the formation of the Melbourne Electric Light Company. He also originated the idea of a mercantile exchange. From 1880 until his death he was Secretary of the Victoria Racing Club. The papers give a remarkable picture of the full breadth of the 73 year career of Henry Byron Moore in Victoria. There are letter-books from the period of the 1860's and 1870's. Later correspondence includes letters from Victorian governors and parliamentarians.
  • Munro, D.—Journals and cash books 1851–1858. (4 vols.) Purchase.
    Munro was a young costing clerk, apparently well educated. The journals include observations on the Yarra Bend Lunatic Asylum and on an election meeting for the Legislative Council elections of 1851.
  • Portland Benefit Land and Building Society — Accounts book 9 Nov., 1849–10 Jan., 1850. (1 vol.) Purchase.
    The Society was established in October, 1849. and was the first such institution in Portland. The account book lists subscribers and shareholders, and records income from the date of the Society's foundation.
  • Price, Rev. Charles and descendants—Papers 1833–1946, including correspondence, notebooks, sermons and press cuttings. 15 cms. Pres. by Miss Irene Figgio.
    Rev. Charles Price (1807–1891) arrived in Hobart Town in 1832 and served the Congregational Church in New South Wales and Tasmania for the next fifty years. His son, the Rev. C. S. Y. Price (1836–1941) pursued a similar career. He arrived in Victoria in 1860 and served the Church at Balwyn, Emerald Hill, Geelong and at Newcastle, New South Wales.
  • Serle, W. H. — Letters written to his brother, Percival Serle 9 Dec. 1915–17 Jan. 1919. Pres. by Dr. A. G. Serle.
    Sergeant W. H. Serle wrote these letters to his brother in Australia while on war service in Egypt, France and Belgium, and while in hospital and on leave in England. One letter dated 20 May 1918 seeks to explain why soldiers have voted against conscription.
  • Syme, David and family — Papers 1856–1967, including correspondence and notebooks. 1.5 metres. Pres. by David Syme & Co.
    These papers form a record of the development of one of Victoria's major newspapers. The correspondence (1862–1905) and letter-books (1871–1907) of David Syme are the basis of the collection. The Syme papers were described in some detail in the last issue of the Journal.
  • Zelman. Alberto — Papers, including music manuscripts, photographs and biographical notes. 20 cms. Purchase.
    Alberto Zelman (1847–1927), conductor and violinist, was born in Melbourne, the son of an Italian-born opera conductor. He became the principal teacher in violin at the Melbourne University and Albert Street Conservatoriums. and was the founding conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 1906.