Federation delegate, 1884-1944 (bulk 1887-1900)

Component identifier:

Series 11

Content Summary:

Deakin was a member of the Federal Council of Australasia in 1889, 1895, 1897 and 1899. He was a delegate to the Australasian Federation Conference of 1890, the National Australasian Convention of 1891 and the Federal Convention of 1897-1898. He was also the Victorian delegate to London in 1900 to secure the passage of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Bill through the Imperial Parliament.

This series contains correspondence, invitations, notes for speeches, a Federation badge, a briefcase, press clippings, pamphlets, printed material and other papers relating to such subjects as the Australian Natives' Association, the debates of the Federal Council of Australasia 1889, 1895 and 1899, the Federal Conventions of 1890, 1891 and 1897-1898, a complimentary banquet held in Deakin's honour, 1899, the various enabling bills of the colonies, 1898-1899, the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Bill and the Act to Constitute the Commonwealth of Australia, 1900. The series also includes Deakin's manuscript 'The inner history of the federal cause', which was written between 1898 and 1900.

This series contains Items 11/1 - 11/1426. The bulk of the items in this series have been digitised, and are available online through this finding aid. Please note that where printed items were duplicated within the series, the duplicates have not been digitised.

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

Contents

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