Select List of Accessions to the Australian Manuscript Collection, 1976

• Australian Federal Delegation to
  • England, 1900.
  • Autograph album containing signatures of the delegates, British parliamentarians and others associated with the delegation.
  • 1 v. original ms.
  • Purchase.
  • At the request of Joseph Chamberlain, Secretary of State for the Colonies, a delegation representing the federating colonies of Australia, was sent to England to be present during passage of the Constitution Bill through the imperial parliament. The delegation comprised: Edmund Barton (N.S.W.), Alfred Deakin (Vic.); Charles Kingston (S.A.); James Dickson (Qld.); Sir Philip Fysh (Tas.). Inserted in the album are a number of letters addressed to Edmund Barton, mostly of a minor personal nature, some incidental to the business of the delegation.
• Badger, Colin Robert.

  • Papers relating to the Arts in Australia, c. 1948–1973.
  • 30 cm. original ms., typescript, printed.
  • Pres. by Mr. C. R. Badger.
  • C. R. Badger was Director of University Extension, University of Melbourne, 1939–1947, then Director of Adult Education in Victoria 1947–1971. The collection includes files of correspondence, journal articles, press cuttings, brochures and reports of various bodies concerned with the administration of the Arts in Australia, notably the Australian Council for the Arts and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust. Also included is a typescript copy of Badger's ‘Government patronage of the arts in Australia, 1945–1973.’
• Bruce, Mary Grant and Bruce, George Evans.

  • Papers, including correspondence, notebooks, literary manuscripts, photographs.
  • 70 cm. original ms.
  • Pres. by Mr. Jonathon E. Bruce. Mary Grant Bruce (1878–1958) notable children's author and journalist, was born at Sale in Gippsland. Her wide popularity as a writer of juvenile fiction was based primarily on her “Billabong” books, a series of novels set on a cattle station. Her husband, George Evans Bruce, was an Anglo-Indian army officer, and also a prolific writer. The collection includes manuscripts of some of Mary Grant Bruce's earlier Australian short stories; articles and short stories by George Bruce, some of which are unpublished; correspondence of both Mary Grant Bruce and George Bruce; and some excellent photographs of early Gippsland.
• Buesst, Marie.

  • Collection of literary manuscripts and other papers.
  • 65 cm. original ms., photographs.
  • Pres. by Mr. Tristan N. B. Buesst.
  • The collection comprises principally manuscripts of several children's stories by Marie Buesst, including several drafts of The Craigs of Collins Street, published in 1971, and related correspondence. In addition, there are several albums containing ephemeral material, some relating to the Buesst and Mackinnon families and to Australian art, and papers relating to the Bunny and Wulsten families.
• Farrell, William

  • Papers of a railway employee of the 1880s.
  • 6 cm. original ms.
  • Pres. by Mrs. B. Gallaway.
  • William Farrell was a Victorian Railways employee who actively campaigned for improvement of conditions of work and status of Railways employees, once resigning over an issue. His fierce letters of protest to the Railways Department and correspondence concerning his reinstatement after resignation make this a unique collection of railway material. Also in the collection are letters written to Farrell by his eight-year-old daughter while he was stationed in Mildura. Writing for her mother, who could not write, she describes their daily life and events in Melbourne, including working conditions, domestic expenses, “baby farming,” and Melbourne reactions to the relief of Mafeking.
• Gollin & Company Ltd.

  • Records.
  • 20 m. original ms.
  • Pres. by Gollin & Co. Ltd. through Mr. K. C. Gale, Managing Director.
  • Restricted.
  • In 1845 Mr. B. Gollin established himself as a commercial broker in Adelaide. A partnership formed between his sons and nephews in 1884 continued to operate and expand the business until 1901 when Gollin & Co. became a proprietary company, which in turn was converted to a public company in 1951. Headquarters of the company were transferred to Melbourne soon after the branch there was opened in 1888. A Sydney branch was opened in 1896, and the company was operated from there for several years before going into liquidation in 1976. The extensive collection of records deposited in the La Trobe Library fully documents the development of the company and contains a representative selection of basic business records, covering the whole period of the company's operation.
• Gordon Family.

  • Correspondence, 1869–1924.
  • 2 cm. original ms.
  • Pres. by Mrs. H. Morrieson.
  • The Gordon family were some of the earliest pioneers of the Numurkah district, which was not closely settled until the 1870s. The letters are of Donald Gordon, Mrs. Annie Gordon

    

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    and Minnie Gordon. Donald Gordon's letters give a particularly interesting account of the difficulties and sheer hard work involved in establishing a small farm in a newly settled district.
• Gordon Homes for Boys and Girls

  • Records, 1887–1953. Including boys' registers, letterbooks, minute books and financial records. 1.5 m. original ms.
  • Pres. by Mr. R. J. Flavell, Administrator, Gordon Homes.
  • Restricted.
  • The Gordon Homes were founded in 1889 by William Mark Forster as a memorial to General Gordon. The Gordon Institute as it was then called began as a boys' club, only later providing residential accommodation, and relatively recently extending its care and facilities to girls. The records are a comprehensive collection covering the first 65 years of the organization.
• Greathead, Joseph.

  • Journal of the Collingwood Flat District for the City of Melbourne Missionary Society, 2 Oct. 1854–29 June 1856.
  • 1 v. original ms.
  • Purchase.
  • The Melbourne City Mission was founded in August 1854 by a group of clergy and laymen of the Protestant Churches “to extend the knowledge of the Gospel among the inhabitants of Melbourne and its vicinity, without any reference to denominational distinctions.” One of the first missionaries to be appointed was Joseph Greathead. The journal gives a detailed account of Greathead's work in one of the poorest areas of Melbourne. The duties of the Missionary as laid down by the Society were to visit from house to house to read Scripture, converse on religious subjects, distribute tracts, encourage observation of the Sabbath and attendance at public worship, and aid in obtaining Scriptural education for children. Statistical and other reports made by Greathead to the committee of the Society are included in the journal.
• Henty, James & Co.

  • Journal of J.H. & Co., 1889–1896.
  • 1 v. bound. original ms.
  • Pres. by Rev. John Keane.
  • A search of Melbourne directories of the period revealed that “J.H. & Co.” is almost certainly James Henty and Company, merchants, of 356 Collins Street. This discovery makes the journal of special interest as the Library has among its extensive Henty records the papers of Francis Henty and his family. Francis Henty was the principal of James Henty & Co. until his death in 1889. The journal contains frequent entries of transactions involving Henty family interests.
• Higinbotham, George.

  • Letter to James Service, 15 July 1880.
  • 11 pp. original ms.
  • Pres. by Mrs. G. D. Dow.
  • Original manuscripts of George Higinbotham (1826–1892) are particularly rare, as he left instructions for all his private papers to be destroyed at his death. During James Service's brief term as Premier of Victoria in 1880, he offered Higinbotham a justiceship of the Supreme Court. This letter provides a detailed account of Higinbotham's reservations concerning the offer and in particular his opposition to interference by the British government in Victoria's domestic judicial and political affairs. Higinbotham eventually accepted the position of Supreme Court judge and in 1886 became Chief Justice.
• Lees, John

  • Letters of a miner on the Victorian goldfields to his family in England, 1852–1863.
  • 28 letters. original ms.
  • Purchase.
  • John Lees twice came from England to the Victorian goldfields. His first prospecting venture was highly successful — on 31 January 1853 he and his partners at Ballarat found the “Canadian Nugget,” the largest found up to that time. His journey to the goldfields on this occasion and his early experiences there are described in detail in two letters to his father written in 1852. After a few years in England, he returned to Victoria, where he prospected on various goldfields, but with little success. In a series of long letters to his wife, written between his second arrival in Australia in August 1856 and his final return to England in 1863 he tells of his difficulties and his dread of returning home empty-handed. The picture of life on the goldfields described in vivid detail by Lees makes this collection of letters a useful source for the study of this period of Victorian history.
• Mathews, Charles Race Thorson

  • Papers, mostly relating to Labor organizations, 1951–68.
  • 1.4 m. original ms. and printed.
  • Pres. Mr. C. Race Mathews.
  • This collection represents Race Mathews' involvement in various Labor organizations prior to his election to the House of Representatives in 1972. Most of the papers are records of the Victorian Fabian Society (constitution, membership lists, minutes, correspondence) of which Mathews was secretary 1960–70. Also included is material relating to the Victorian branch of the Australian Labor Party and other Labor organizations, together with a small selection of more recent personal papers.
• Melba, Dame Nellie

  • Collection of photographs and newspaper cuttings relating to Dame Nellie Melba, c. 1892–1907.
    

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  • 12 cm. original photographs.
  • Pres. by Miss H. M. Patterson.
  • Most of the photographs are portraits of Melba, many in the costumes of famous roles; and of people closely associated with Melba's musical career, including Joseph Joachim, Pietro Mascagni and Mathilde Marchesi.
• Moloney, Patrick

  • Letters to Patrick Moloney, 1861–1904.
  • 12 letters. original ms.
  • Purchase.
  • Patrick Moloney (1843–1904) came to Port Phillip from Ireland as a child. He was one of the first two graduates of the Melbourne University Medical School in 1867. While at the University he also began his successful writing career, winning the Vice-Chancellor's Prize for an English essay in 1866. He was a writer principally of verse, often publishing his work anonymously or under a pseudonym. He was a friend of several of the “literary lions” of the late nineteenth century — letters and manuscript poems of George Gordon McCrae, Henry Kendall, Marcus Clarke and Adam Lindsay Gordon are included in the collection.
• Nicholson, Germain

  • Papers, including correspondence, accounts and pamphlets, 1840–1888.
  • 4 m. original ms. and printed.
  • Pres. Mr. T. H. McMicking.
  • Germain Nicholson (1814–1888) arrived in Port Phillip in 1842 and immediately established himself as an importing grocer and provision merchant in Melbourne. A highly successful businessman, he was a founding director of the Bank of Victoria and the Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway Co. Nicholson was also a philanthropist who both contributed to charitable organizations and offered shelter in his warehouses to immigrants on their way to the goldfields.
• Officer, Suetonius Henry

  • Diary, 1856–1864.
  • 1 v. original ms.
  • Pres. by Mrs. M. L. Bailey.
  • The Officer family held several pastoral runs in the Wimmera district of Victoria from the 1840s. Suetonius Officer (1830–1883) and his brother Charles (1827–1904) in 1854 took over the management of Mount Talbot run, where most of this diary was written. The entry for 10 March 1862 says “Left Mount Talbot for good after a residence of more than ten years …” Suetonius then moved to the Riverina where he acquired land which he irrigated for orchards, maize and lucerne. Entries in the diary for the years 1856–57 and 1863–64 give a fairly complete account of daily activities, but the intervening period has only intermittent entries. The diary is a valuable addition to the Officer family material already held by the Library.
• Riley, James

  • Papers relating mainly to Gippsland exploration.
  • 15 items, original ms.
  • Pres. by Miss E. V. Riley.
  • James Riley emigrated to New South Wales in 1838 and became closely associated with the Macarthur family at Parramatta. In 1840 he accompanied James Macarthur on an expedition led by Count Strzelecki overland from Yass via the Omeo Plains to Gippsland. He later settled in the Western District. The papers include four letters by James Riley to his mother and stepfather in England 1838–1840, two giving the plans for Strzelecki's expedition; five original drawings, possibly by Strzelecki, of Mount Kosciusko and the Omeo Plains; two maps by Strzelecki made during the 1840 Gippsland expedition, and a copy of a map of the ranges between Omeo and Woods Point by Angus McMillan.
• Roberts, Harry Victor

  • Letter (to his brother?) by H. V. Roberts while on active service in South Africa, July 1901.
  • 4 pp. original ms.
  • Pres. by Mr. C. R. Roberts.
  • Harry Victor Roberts, son of a Walhalla storekeeper, enlisted twice for service in the Boer War, the second time in order to provide a steady income for his family who were suffering financial difficulties. In this letter he advises “Chas” not to enlist, although a new recruiting campaign is about to begin. He gives a detailed account of several successful skirmishes with the Boers, scant rations, contact and rivalry with other squadrons. The scarcity of original material relating to Australian participation in the Boer War makes this letter and the accompanying photograph of Roberts in uniform and his two discharge certificates particularly valuable.
• Rosedale Mechanics Institute

  • Records, 1863–1967.
  • 56 cm. original ms.
  • Pres. by Rosedale Mechanics Institute.
  • For many years Mechanics Institutes, with their lending libraries, classes and lectures, halls and meeting rooms, were the centre of social and cultural activity in country towns throughout Australia. One of the longest established is at Rosedale in Gippsland. The records include constitution and rules; minute books; correspondence and letterbooks; financial records; and library loans registers.
• Springthorpe, Dr. John William

  • Diaries, 1883–1931
  • 14 v. original ms.
  • Pres. by Dr. Guy Springthorpe.
  • Dr. John W. Springthorpe (1855–1933) was admitted a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1881, the first Australian medical graduate to win this qualification. He later

    

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    became Indoor Physician at Melbourne Hospital, then lecturer in therapeutics, dietetics and hygiene at Melbourne University (1887), where he was also the first dean of the faculty of dentistry. During World War I he served as a senior medical officer in Egypt, France and England, where he was specially interested in war neuroses and shell-shock cases. He was closely associated with several medical organizations in Australia and wrote many papers on a wide range of subjects for Australian and British medical journals. His diaries contain his analysis and opinions on current medical and social issues, as well as an account of his own activities.
• Smith, Bernhard

  • Papers, including correspondence, diaries, notebooks, sketchbooks, photographs.
  • 22 cm. original ms. and printed.
  • Pres. Mr. D. Bernhard Smith.
  • Restricted.
  • Bernhard Smith (1820–1885), sculptor and painter, was a member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and significantly influenced the work of D. G. Rossetti and T. Woolner. He emigrated to Victoria in 1852 with Woolner and Edward La Trobe Bateman, and subsequently held various responsible positions in the Victorian civil service. He corresponded with his English friends and continued to paint, though he was not interested in Australian subjects and remained isolated from colonial artistic trends.
• Society Of Friends (Quakers)

  • Records of the Melbourne Meeting, including minute books and reports; correspondence; financial records; membership lists; and marriage records, 1846–1924.
  • 64 cm. original ms. and printed.
  • Pres. by Mr. Barry Pittock, Clerk of the Melbourne Meeting of the Society of Friends.
  • This valuable collection provides a comprehensive record of the Society of Friends in Melbourne, from the foundation of the Melbourne Meeting in 1846 to about 1905, with a smaller amount of material relating to the early decades of this century. Items of interest include lists of emigrant Members from Britain in the 1850s and 1860s, and documents relating to the Society's land dealings in Melbourne.
• Taylor, Rev. Theophilus

  • Diaries 1846–1854 and miscellaneous papers, including Chapters on the class meetings by Theophilus Taylor, published 1858.
  • 8 items. original ms. and printed.
  • Pres. by Miss E. Wood-Ellem.
  • Rev. Theophilus Taylor (1792–1859) was the first Wesleyan minister at Ballarat. At the age of 16 he became actively interested in Christianity and determined to devote his life to God's work. In 1853 he was appointed to Australia, arriving at Port Phillip in February 1854. After his arrival he was posted to the Ballarat Circuit where he remained until 1856 when he was appointed superintendent of Brighton where he continued to live for most of the rest of his life. His diaries include an account of embarkation as a missionary to Australia, descriptions of events in Ballarat and of his work as a clergyman.
• Try Boys' Society

  • Records, including annual reports, membership records, minute books, letterbooks, ledgers and other financial records, list of employers and lads employed, and a set of the Try Excelsior News, 1886–1961.
  • 2.3 m. original ms. and printed.
  • Pres. by William Forster Try Boys' Society. Founded in 1883 by William Mark Forster, for the benefit of boys in his home district of Toorak and South Yarra, the objects of the Society were “the promotion of the religious and secular education, the moral and physical improvement, and the amusement of the youth resident within the district.” Later closely associated with the Gordon Institute and the City Newsboys' Society, of which Forster was also a founder, the Try Society continued to serve primarily the boys of Toorak and South Yarra. The collection is a comprehensive record of the work of the Society, and together with the records of the Gordon Homes, also recently presented to the Library, provides additional insight into the philanthropic work of W. M. Forster.
• Vogt, George Leonard

  • Papers, including correspondence, manuscript articles, memoirs and notes, 1923–1935.
  • 10 cm. original ms. and printed.
  • Pres. by Hon. S. Merrifield.
  • G. L. Vogt (18??–1937) was active in the Labor movement in Australia for many years. He was editor of The Internationaliist in the early 1870s and of the People's Daily in 1904. The manuscript articles which make up the principal part of the collection reflect this dominant interest. Also included are papers on the history of Australia and of northern Gippsland. Vogt was editor of the Bairnsdale Courier in the 1870s.
• Wanliss Family

  • Papers, including correspondence, documents, school textbooks, pamphlets, photographs and newspaper cuttings, 1700–1950.
  • 1 m. original ms. and printed.
  • Pres. by Dr. M. B. Wanliss.
  • The collection includes papers of Thomas D. Wanliss (1828–1923) who came to Australia from Scotland in 1850 and settled in Ballarat. He was associated with the founding of the

    

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    Ballarat Star newspaper and of Ballarat College, and with the formative years of many other community and business organizations in Ballarat. The papers provide a fine personal record of two generations of a pioneer family. The books include a number of rare nineteenth-century school textbooks.