Guide to the Papers of Sir Robert Menzies, 1905-1978

Summary

Collection number:

MS 4936

Extent:

151.86 metres and (567 ms boxes + 17 archives boxes + 5 small folio boxes + 18 medium folio boxes + 6 large folio boxes + 76 phase boxes + 1 framed item in map drawer + 23 map folios + 2 pieces + 8 sound/av carriers)

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Sir Robert Menzies, National Library of Australia, MS 4936, [series/file/item number]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Part available for research, part Open With Exception (Series 1, Box 35; Series 36, Folder 7 (Box 541). Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

This extensive collection of personal papers includes inter alia:

Inward and outward correspondence sorted chronologically and by name, 1935-1978. Principal correspondents include Eric Harrison, Lord Casey, Harold Macmillan, Leo Amery, Clive Baillieu, Owen Dixon, Alfred Stirling, Jack Fingleton, Fred Alexander, Walter Crocker, Lionel Lindsay, Alexander Douglas Home, Will Ashton, Anthony Eden, Jack Cato, Winston Churchill, Alexander Downer, Alan Herbert, James McGregor, Hubert Opperman, Leon Trout, Ralph Richardson, Frank Richardson, Justice Felix Frankfurter and Colonel F.H. Wright.

Press cuttings, speeches, statements and broadcasts, 1917-1976.

Diaries, 1935-1963, including those kept on overseas trips and office appointment diaries.

Research material and drafts of writings.

Personal medical, legal and financial records.

Family papers, including those of his wife Dame Pattie Menzies.

Liberal Party correspondence and printed material, 1944-1974.

Family and official photographs.

Papers relating to specific topics including the Communist Party, the 1956 Suez Crisis, defence, cricket, elections, Rhodesia and South Africa, banking, economics and the Churchill Memorial Trust.

Papers relating to Menzies' appointment as Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, 1965-1971.

Arrangement:

It was the task of Menzies' private secretary to arrange the papers in a way that they could be retrieved on demand. Incoming mail was usually given a heading and sometimes a summary or a suggested reply. The correspondence has been maintained according to this arrangement, which is outlined in the descriptions for Series 1 and 2.

One of his secretaries, Hazel Craig, herself added some papers to the collection at the time it was transferred to the Library.

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Politics and government

Conditions Governing Use:

All reasonable efforts have been made to identify copyright owners of this material. If you have any further information regarding any of these items, please contact us.

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Sir Robert Menzies, National Library of Australia, MS 4936, [series/file/item number]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

Contact us