Diaries, 1884-1916

 
Component identifier:
Series 2
Content Summary:

Alfred Deakin's diaries, kept each year from 1884 to 1916, provide a succinct account of his daily activities. There is a tendency towards fuller entries in the later years. Two volumes were kept for 1887 and for 1890 (the large one for the latter year being used in part for his visit to India).

The series also contains Deakin's two 'travel diaries', being a daily account of his tour of America in 1885 and his visit in 1887 to the Colonial Conference in London. The diaries are based on letters that Deakin sent back to his family, which were transcribed and edited by his sister, Catherine Deakin.

Deakin's 'Crude index to the diaries' comprises brief diary entries for the years 1878 to 1913. It also contains several pages of reminiscences about Lord and Lady Dudley. 'The medley', one of the notebooks in Series 3, has similar abbreviated entries for the years 1876 and 1878 to 1883.

This series contains Items 2/1 - 2/39. These items have been digitised, and are available online through this finding aid.

Immediate source of acquisition:
On 3 December 1965 Ivy Brookes, the eldest daughter of Alfred Deakin, formally presented the Deakin Papers to the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menzies, for permanent preservation in the National Library. After Deakin's death in 1919 his papers remained in the possession of his widow, Pattie, until her death in 1934. They were used extensively by Herbert Brookes, and by Professor Walter Murdoch while he was working on the first biography of Deakin, published in 1923. In 1945 the Deakin Papers were examined by an officer of the National Library and it was agreed that the papers would ultimately be deposited in the Library. In 1948 Professor R.M. Crawford of the University of Melbourne became custodian of the papers on the understanding that either an extensive selection of documents or a biography would be based on them. Subsequently his colleague, Professor J.A. La Nauze, began Deakin's biography and the papers remained in his custody until the work was completed in 1965. From time to time other papers relating to Deakin were added to the original collection by Herbert and Ivy Brookes, Lady Rivett and Sir Thomas and Lady White. Professors Crawford and La Nauze also added letters or copies of Deakin letters that they had acquired from other sources.
Names:
Brookes, Ivy

Online content

Contents

Access and use

Parent Restrictions:
This collection is available for research.
Parent Terms of Access:
Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact: