Objects, ephemera and miscellaneous papers, 1885-1952

Component identifier:

Series 50

Content Summary:

This series consists of objects belonging to Hughes, ephemera, maps and miscellaneous printed material. The objects include various commemorative medals, railway passes, a silver cigarette case, despatch cases and Hughes' false teeth. There are also three examples of his hearing aids: a 1912 acousticon, a 1928 acousticon and a vactuphone. Many of the maps relate to World War II while items of ephemera include tickets to various official functions and conferences attended by Hughes.

Also included are miscellaneous papers which do not naturally fit into any of the previous series. There are notes for a film to commemorate Hughes' 50 years continuous parliamentary service, clothing ration cards from the war years, miscellaneous press statements, lists of engagements, envelopes, unidentified notes on cotton and oil in Australia, eye exercises, lists of names, some identification cards and a large address book.

Five folders (56-60) containing typescript drafts of part of L. H. Fitzhardinge's biography of Hughes are also located in this series. The folders are possibly drafts for the second volume and are labelled sections II-IV.

Immediate source of acquisition:

The W. M. Hughes Papers were presented to the National Library of Australia by Dame Mary Hughes in 1953. The collection was received in two consignments. One consisted of papers taken from the Perpetual Trustee Company comprising material from Hughes' Lindfield home and from his office rooms at the Commonwealth Offices, Sydney; the other came directly from Lindfield. Lists of the contents of both consignments are held in the Library's Manuscript Branch. With the agreement of the executors and the Library, much of the collection, was for a time, held at the Australian National University by Fitzhardinge. He was permitted sole access to the collection while writing the biography Hughes commissioned in 1951. Fitzhardinge's own papers documenting the writing of the biography are also held by the Library (MS 5400). The papers transferred to the Library in 1953 are by no means the total collection of Hughes' personal papers, although it is impossible to say what proportion has survived. (see Fitzhardinge, p.936).

Names:

Hughes, W. M. (1862-1952)

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