Governor-General of Australia, 1928-48
- Component identifier:
- Series 5
- Content Summary:
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On 22 January 1936, Gowrie assumed office as Governor-General, where he became immensely popular with the Australian public, and valued counsellor to Cabinet Ministers during World War II. His tenure coincided with a number of national international upheavals, such as the abdication of Edward VIII, outbreak of World War II and threat of Japanese invasion, and instabilities of the Menzies and Fadden governments. Gowrie became a close friend of John Curtin, in particular, and the Governor-General and Prime Minister conferred on frequent occasions. During this period Lady Gowrie was also appreciated for her extensive work for charity and the war effort. Australia's affection for the couple is evident in the letters they received when their only surviving child, Patrick, was killed in action in 1942, and on their departure from Australia on 10 September 1944. Gowrie was created an Earl on retirement from vice-regal duties, returning to England and the office of Deputy Constable and Lieutenant Governor of Windsor Castle.
The papers in this series have been arranged in four main groupings according to function or activity. The largest group, the sequence of general correspondence, contains material pertaining to the office of Governor-General, including copies of some outgoing letters. Joseph and Enid Lyons, John Curtin, Lord Baden Powell, Sir George Murray, S.M. Bruce, Stanley Baldwin, Sir John Latham, Sir Keith Officer, F.M. Forde, R.G. Menzies, Sir Ernest Clark, Sir Leslie Wilson and W.M. Hughes, amongst others, are represented in the correspondence. Files 11, 13, 14, 16 and 18, which were borrowed by John Blanch for his biography Gowrie, VC, contain content listings at the beginning of each folder.
Also included are two files of military communications, comprising secret cables on the progress of the War, and correspondence on war matters, such as copies of communications from General Douglas MacArthur. A sequence of farewells and good wishes received by the Gowries as they were preparing to leave Australia, form the next grouping, together with letters of congratulation on Lord Gowrie's Earldom. The series ends with a number of files of miscellaneous printed souvenirs and pamphlets which were collected by the Gowries during their term of office.
- 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.
- Names:
- Hore-Ruthven, Malise
Contents
Access and use
- Parent Restrictions:
- 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.
- Parent Terms of Access:
- 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.
- Location of this collection:
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Parkes PlaceCanberra ACT 2600, Australia
- Contact: