Australasian Federal Convention, 1897-1898

Component identifier:

Subseries 11_15

Content Summary:

Publications, reports and other documents circulated for delegates, together with drafts of the constitution. The first session of the Australasian Federal Convention was held in Adelaide from 22 March to 23 April 1897. 40 elected representatives prepared a draft constitution based on a draft adopted by the 1891 session of the National Australasian Convention. A second session of the Convention was held in Sydney, 2 September to 24 September 1897, and the third and final session was held in Melbourne, 20 January to 17 March 1898. On 16 March 1898 the Convention adopted 'A Draft of a Bill to Constitute the Commonwealth of Australia', to be submitted for consideration by Australian voters at a referendum.

This subseries contains Items 11/292, 11/1370a - 11/1416.

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

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