Guide to the Papers of Rohan Rivett, 1850-1998
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Collection context
Summary
- Collection number:
- MS 8049; MS Acc10.040; MS Acc10.061; MS Acc11.142
- Creator:
- Rohan Rivett and Rivett (widow), Nancy
- Extent:
- (45 MS Boxes + 8 Large Folio-Boxes + 2 security binders)
- Language:
- English
- Preferred citation:
- Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Rohan Rivett, National Library of Australia, MS 8049, [class number, box number and series and/or file number]'.
- Availability:
- Available
- Access conditions:
- Part available for research; part requires permission for research. Not for loan.
Background
- Content Summary:
- It comprises correspondence, manuscripts, typescripts, diaries, photographs and cuttings of Rohan Rivett, Sir David Rivett (father), Nancy Rivett (wife) and Rhyll Rivett (daughter).
- Biographical Note:
-
Rohan Deakin Rivett was born in Melbourne on 16 January 1917, the son of David and Stella Rivett. He was educated at Wesley College, the University of Melbourne and Balliol College, Oxford. He was briefly a cadet reporter and then enlisted in the 2nd AIF in June 1940. After the fall of Singapore he was a prisoner of war in Japanese camps for three years. The diaries and notes that he kept formed the basis of his book Behind bamboo , published in 1946.
After the War Rivett worked for the Melbourne Herald and was a correspondent in China in 1947 and in Britain in 1949-51. He married Nancy Summers in 1947. In 1951 he became Editor-in-Chief of the Adelaide News. In 1959 he campaigned against the death sentence of Rupert Stuart, an Aborigine who had been convicted of murder. Following a Royal Commission, the sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. In 1960 Rivett and the News were charged with seditious libel and malicious libel, but were acquitted. A few weeks later Rivett was dismissed by the proprietor, Rupert Murdoch.
In 1961 Rivett was appointed Director of the International Press Institute at Zurich. He returned to Australia in 1963 and for the rest of his life was a freelance journalist and broadcaster. He had a passion for cricket and reported on a number of Test series. He was the author of several books, including Behind bamboo; an inside story of the Japanese prison camps (1946), The listener in Test cricket book (1948), Australian citizen; Herbert Brookes 1867-1963 (1965), and David Rivett; fighter for Australian science (1972). Rivett died in Melbourne on 6 October 1977.
Albert Cherbury David Rivett (1885-1961) was the son of Rev. Albert Rivett, a Congregational minister. He was educated at Wesley College, the University of Melbourne, and Lincoln College, Oxford. In 1911 he married Stella Deakin, the second daughter of Alfred Deakin. In the same year he was appointed lecturer in Chemistry at the University of Melbourne, becoming Associate Professor in 1920 and Professor in 1924. In 1927 he became the first Chief Executive Officer of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and from 1946 to 1949 he was Chairman of CSIR. He was knighted in 1935.
- Provenance:
-
The collection was presented to the National Library by Mrs Nancy Rivett in 1989. Further papers were donated in 1998.
Indexed terms
- Names:
- Rivett (widow), Nancy
Access and use
- Conditions Governing Access:
- Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2701557).
- 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 Rohan Rivett, National Library of Australia, MS 8049, [class number, box number and series and/or file number]'.
- Location of this collection:
-
Parkes PlaceCanberra ACT 2600, Australia
- Contact: