8. Official Despatches to Secretaries of State, 1917-1920

Containers:

Box 3

Component identifier:

Series

Content Summary:

Marked 'Secret', 'Personal and Secret', 'Personal and Confidential' or after May 1919 'Secret P', these official despatches cover January 1917 - August 1920. The despatches are drafted by Novar's staff. Some despatches are filed elsewhere in the collection while others included in this series has portions erased of pages missing. Details about politics duplicate much of the information given in Items 524-1294. Enclosures are included. Subjects include: Federal and State finances; Australian economy in general; Federal politics; WM Hughes and WM Holman; recruiting and 1917 Conscription referendum; conduct go the War; shipping; role of GG in relation to Executive Council and other Constitutional matters; industrial matters and arbitration; communications channels between Stage and Federal Governments and British Government; security; German colonies in Pacific; Japanese-Australia relations; trade; and honours system.

Comprises Items 1762-2332.

Immediate source of acquisition:

The papers were received in 1961 from Mr A.B.L. Munro Ferguson and the Trustees of the late Viscount Novar. Thirty photographs copied from the Novar albums in the possession of Mr Munro Ferguson were added to the collection in 1985. Subsequent additions include five illuminated manuscripts purchased from a dealer in 1990 and transcripts of extracts from Novar's diaries donated by Professor John Poynter in 1997. Six volumes of diaries, on long-term loan from Mr Ronald Munro Ferguson (great nephew of Lord Novar), were added to the collection on 12 January 2004. The diaries were kept by Lord Novar while he was Governor General of Australia between 1915 and 1920.

Access and use