General papers, 1902-1916

Component identifier:

Subseries 15_4

Content Summary:

Notes, notebooks, memoranda, reports, certificates, press clippings, printed speeches and other printed material relating to general matters. Among these papers are Deakin's notes for speeches and other jottings concerning such subjects as tariffs, the 1906 and 1910 elections, the death of C.C. Kingston, old age pensions, customs, States' debts, and 'The Fusion'. There are Deakin's Cabinet notebooks for May 1902-June 1906, June 1906-November 1908 and June 1909-April 1910, which carry cryptic subject headings listing matters to be discussed in Cabinet. There are also papers relating to Australian assistance for the Colonial Office and Senate procedure, Thursday Island, the 'closure', the areas of responsibility of various government departments, bills passed between 1901 and 1908, and a report by Sir Charles Lucas on his visit to Australia, New Zealand and Fiji in 1909, together with certificates relating to Deakin's appointment as Prime Minister and impressions from the Commonwealth Seal.

This subseries contains Items 15/1742 - 15/2080.

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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