London, 1900-1907

Component identifier:

Subseries 11_13

Content Summary:

Correspondence, invitations, notes, parliamentary papers and related documents. Deakin was the Victorian delegate to London in 1900 to secure the passage of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Bill through the Imperial Parliament.

The correspondence includes a typescript of telegrams sent to and from Barton and the Government of New South Wales, many of which were joint cables from all the delegates to their various governments. In addition, there are cables between C.C. Kingston and Frederick Holder and drafts of Deakin's cables. Much of the remainder of the correspondence refers to social events and requests for Deakin to become a member of various clubs. Other subjects mentioned are requests for interviews, the Pacific Cable, the offer of a Doctorate of Civil Law from Oxford University, the position of Western Australia and New Zealand and support from the Irish Parliamentary Party. There is also some correspondence on the Constitution Bill itself from interested people in England.

This subseries contains Items 11/366 - 11/660.

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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