Guide to the Papers of Lord Gowrie, 1835-1987

Summary

Collection number:

MS 2852

Creator:

Hore-Ruthven, Sir Alexander Gore Arkwright, 1st Earl of and Hore-Ruthven, Malise

Extent:

13.35 metres and (62 ms boxes + 5 medium folio boxes + 1 large folio box + 1 small phase box + 1 outsized phase box)

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Lord Gowrie, National Library of Australia, MS 2852, [series and file/item number]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Part available for research; part not available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The collection constitutes a rich record of Gowrie's life, from a boy at Eton and young officer of the British Empire, to a 'mature man of affairs' who held several appointments of vice-regal office in Australia. The papers are varied in format and include official and private correspondence, cables, genealogical and biographical papers, legal and financial records, speeches, broadcasts, photographs, newspaper cuttings and memorabilia. Aspects of the life and work of Gowrie's wife, Zara, and their son, Patrick Hore-Ruthven, are also detailed in the papers.

Importantly, the successive phases of Gowrie's distinguished public career in Australia are recorded: as Governor of South Australia (1928-34), Governor of New South Wales (1935-36), and Governor-General of Australia (1936-44). Thus, the collection represents an almost unbroken period of vice-regal service in Australia, during times of great transition, including the Depression and World War II. Gowrie's popularity with Australians is reflected in extensive correspondence, and his friendship with Prime Minister John Curtin is also partially recorded in the papers.

Amongst the fellow governors, politicians, military leaders, monarchs and other prominent individuals, from both Australia and overseas, whose letters can be found in the collection are Lord Kitchener, Joseph and Enid Lyons, Lord Baden Powell, Sir George Murray, Lord Bruce, Stanley Baldwin, Sir John Latham, Sir Keith Officer, F.M. Forde, R.G. Menzies, W.M. Hughes, General Douglas MacArthur, Eamon de Valera, Maie Casey, Sir Donald Bradman, Sir Lloyd Dumas, Sir Earle Page, Sir Robert Garran, Sir Winston Churchill, Lord Montgomery, Ben Chifley, Daisy Bates, Lloyd Rees, Lord Dudley, Joan Hammond, Sir Keith Hancock, May Gibbs, Lady Stonehaven, Ivy Brookes, Lord Slim, Paul Sorensen, Mab Grimwade, Emily Dutton and Sir Philip Game.

Also well-documented are Gowrie's years as a soldier when he fought in the Egyptian Army in the Sudan, and held positions of high-command in World War I. Some of the military correspondence was written shortly after, or even in the midst of battles, and several items record his observations at Gallipoli where he witnessed the attack at Lone Pine, and at Suvla Bay.

Gowrie's life spanned the latter decades of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, and the collection reflects the prevailing importance of Empire, especially in papers relating to the Empire Day Movement of which he was president. There are also papers relating to the vice-regal couple's social service interests and charitable involvements such as the Boy Scout and Girl Guide Movements, the Australian Red Cross, and early childhood care centres.

A biographical account of Gowrie's life, Gowrie VC by John Blanch, was posthumously published in Melbourne in 1998. Typescript drafts of the title form part of the genealogical component of the collection.

Biographical Note:

Date	Event
1872	Alexander Gore Arkwright Hore-Ruthven born 6 July, Windsor, England, second son of Walter Hore-Ruthven, eighth Baron Ruthven, and Lady Caroline Gore, daughter of the fourth Earl of Arran
1879	Zara Eileen Pollok born 20 January, Ireland, daughter of John Pollok, Lismany, Galway
c. 1882-83	Weekly boarder, Westward-Ho Junior School, Devon
c. 1884-85	Boarder, Winton House school, Winchester
1885-87	Educated, Eton College; withdrawn due to eyesight problem
1887-91	Office work at James Finlay and Co. (merchants),Glasgow
1892	Tea planting, Assam, India; succumbed to malaria and returned to England with parents via China, Japan, Canada and America
1898-99	Joined 3rd (Militia) Battalion, The Highland Light Infantry; served with Egyptian Army in the Sudan campaigns, where he was present at the Battle of Gedaref and other operations resulting in the final defeat of the Khalifa; awarded Victoria Cross (1898)
1899	Commissioned to Cameron Highlanders; captain (1900)
1905-08	Military Secretary and Aide-de-Camp to Lord Dudley, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and his successor, Lord Aberdeen
1908	Married Zara Eileen Pollok, 1 June; promoted to captain in 1st (King's) Dragoon Guards
1908	Married Zara Eileen Pollok, 1 June; promoted to captain in 1st (King's) Dragoon Guards
1908-1910	Military Secretary to Lord Dudley, Governor-General of Australia (Alexander Hore-Ruthven arriving in Australia, July 1908, via Canada; Zara arrived September 1908 with Lady Dudley)
1909-1910	Served on staff of Lord Kitchener during Australian defence investigations
1910-1914	Military service, India
1913	Birth of only surviving son, Patrick, 30 August, Quetta
1913-14	Quetta Staff College
1914 (Sept.)	Sailed from Karachi, India, to France in <em>City of Poona</em>
1914 (Nov.)	Zara arrived in United Kingdom
1914-15	Brigade Major in France during WWI; severely wounded at Gallipoli as GSO II in Welsh Guards and returned to England
1916-1917	GSO I to 62nd Division
1917 (Jul.)	Returned to France
1917	Second son Alistair born 2 August (died 4 August)
1916-18	GSO I to Welsh Guards Division, September-December
1916-19	Brigadier-General on general staff of 7th Army Corps; appointed to DSO with bar, CB and CMG, five times mentioned in dispatches
1918	Commander of 29th Infantry Brigade
1918-19	Commanded 28th Highland Brigade, France and Germany
1920-24	Commander of Welsh Guards
1924-28	Commander of 1st Infantry Brigade, Aldershot
1926-27	Senior Steward, National Hunt Committee
1928	Appointed KCMG; retired from Army
1928-34	Governor of South Australia
1930 (Jan.)	Death of Aide-de-Camp, Hugh 'Puck' Grosvenor, Port Phillip Bay
1930 (Dec.)	Zara departed for England, arriving 14 January 1931
1931	Patrick Hore-Ruthven entered Cambridge
1931 (Aug.)	Zara returned to Adelaide
1935	Created a Baron (Lord Gowrie), GCMG
1935-36	Governor of New South Wales
1936-44	Governor-General of Australia
1937	Privy Counsellor; Zara in United Kingdom, January-May
1938	Toured Bali and Java at the invitation of the Government of the Netherlands East Indies; private visit to India to see Patrick
1939	Patrick Hore-Ruthven married Pamela Fletcher in London, 5 January
1942	Zara admitted to hospital with pneumonia; Patrick Hore-Ruthven killed in action in Libya, 24 December, unknown to parents
1943 (Feb.)	Cable received with news of Patrick's death
1943	Undertook four week tour of inspection of Allied Defence Forces in Northern Australia and New Guinea, May-June
1944	Departed from Australia, September
1945	Created an Earl
1945-53	Deputy Constable and Lieutenant-Governor of Windsor Castle
1948	Elected President of Marylebone Cricket Club
1955	Death of Lord Gowrie, 2 May, Gloucestershire
1965	Death of Lady Gowrie, 19 July

Immediate Source of Acquisition:

The papers were donated to the National Library in seven instalments: by Gowrie's grandson, the Honourable Malise Hore-Ruthven, in 1970, 1981 (two instalments), 1983, 1986 and 1993, and; in 1999 by Barbara Blanch, widow of Gowrie's biographer, John Blanch.

In addition, in 1969 the Library received a collection of books acquired by Lord Gowrie, which had been housed at Australia House since 1955. Most of the volumes were presentation copies inscribed by the authors. Those books not already held were added to the Library's general book collection, whilst duplicate titles were offered to other libraries through the Clearing Centre.

Arrangement:

The Gowrie Papers were originally sorted in two main groupings in 1980 and 1984. Separate listings were made for each body of papers, incorporating different series numberings, and two microfilm editions produced. In late 2000, Library staff began amalgamating the two sequences, resulting in this new arrangement and descriptive list in 2001. The internal arrangement of most files was not disturbed, except in a few instances where papers had been incorrectly placed in folders. Readers should note that as official and family correspondence was often kept interfiled by the Gowries, letters from either category can be found dispersed across the various series.

Box List:

Box	Series	File
1	1	1-9
2	1	10-13
2	2	1
3	3	1
4	3	2-8
5	3	9-11
5	4	1-3
Folio box 1	4	4
6	5	1
7	5	2-8
8	5	9-15
9	5	16-22
10	5	23-30
11	6	1-8
12	6	9-16
13	6	17-24
14	6	25-29
14	7.1	1-3
15	7.1	4-10
16	7.1	11-17
17	7.1	18-25
18	7.1	26
18	7.2	1-2
18	7.3	1-5
19	7.3	6-13
20	7.3	14-21
21	7.3	22-24
21	7.4	1-5
22	7.4	6-7
22	7.5	1-5
22	7.6	1
23	7.6	2-8
23	7.7	1
24	7.7	2
24	7.8	1-2
24	7.9	1-4
25	7.1	1
25	7.11	1
25	7.12	1-6
26	7.12	7-10
27	8	1-8
28	8	9-15
29	8	16-17
29	9	1-3
29	10	1-2
30	10	3-6
30	11	1-4
31	11	5-11
32	11	12-18
33	11	19-25
34	11	26-30
34	12	1-2
35	12	3-10
36	12	11-16
36	13	1
36	14	1
37	14	2-3
37	15	1-6
38	15	7-12
39	15	13-18
40	15	19-25
41	16	1-8
42	16	9-16
43	16	17-19
43	17	1
Folio Box 1	17	2
43	17	3-5
44	17	6-12
45	17	13-19
46	17	20-27
47	17	28-31
47	18	1-4
48	18	5
48	19	1-8
49	19	9-11
50	19	12-14
51	19	15-16
52	19	17
Folio Box 2	19	18
Folio Box 3	19	19-20
Folio Box 4	19	21-22
Folio Box 5	19	23
Folio Box 6	19	24-27
52	20	1-5
53	20	6-13
54	20	14-20
55	20	21-23
56	20	24
57	20	25
58	20	26-27
Folio Box 7	20	28
Folio Box 8	20	29
59	20	30-31
60	21	1-4
61	21	5-6

Indexed terms

Names:

Hore-Ruthven, Malise

Conditions Governing Access:

The collection is partly available for reference and partly closed. Files 1, 11, 12 and 15 in Series 6 and Folder 17 in Series 8 are subject to Royal Copyright and access restrictions, and remain closed for 60 years from the date of creation; all other papers are available for reference.

Conditions Governing Use:

Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Lord Gowrie, National Library of Australia, MS 2852, [series and file/item number]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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