Guide to the Papers of Harold Arthur Fraser, 1881-1986

Summary

Collection number:

MS 6567

Creator:

H. A. Fraser

Extent:

6.4 metres and (40 boxes + 1 folio + 1 elephant item)

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Harold Arthur Fraser, National Library of Australia, MS 6567, [box number and series and/or file number]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The papers of agriculturalist and soil conservationist H. A. Fraser were donated to the Library by Mr Fraser in 1987.

H. A. Fraser’s own papers date from his student days to post retirement. These are supplemented by a large component of family papers, dating back to 1881, which document both his and his wife’s relations. Most notable in this component are the extensive papers of Mr Fraser’s father, the Reverend Canon A. J. A. Fraser (Series 3).

The collection is rich in correspondence. There are also files on all aspects of H. A. Fraser’s career and affiliations, including his church work. The papers contain important historical information on agricultural establishments such as Wagga Experiment Farm, Temora Experiment Farm and Hawkesbury Agriculture College, as well as the Soil Conservation Research Station at Cowra.

A quantity (four cartons) of publications were culled from the papers, for disposal or incorporation in the Library’s printed collection as appropriate. The titles related mainly to agriculture and religion.

Biographical Note:

Date	Event
1911	Harold Arthur Fraser was born at Killara, NSW. Early childhood was spent at Jamberoo and Leura. His father was A. J. A. Fraser, who became Dean of Armidale
1924	Entered Hurlstone Agricultural High School
1928	Spent one year as a student at Wagga Experiment Farm
1931	Entered Hawkesbury Agricultural College, graduating as Dux in 1932, with first class honours and seven award
1933-34	Overseer for George Gow on ‘Hughenden’, Barellan, New South Wales
1934	Appointed Experimentalist in Field Branch of Department of Agriculture, operating at Wollongbar and at Grafton Experiment Farms
1935	Appointed Experimentalist, Temora Experiment Farm; conducted cereal research. After studying Statistics Methods, introduced this procedure on all experimental farms in New South Wales
1936	Appointed Experimentalist at Wagga Experiment Farm. Lecturer in Agronomy and Supervisor of skeleton weed reward trails for the Department of Agriculture
1937	Appointed District Agricultural Instructor for Northwest Riverina and Mirrool Irrigation area, Griffith. From 1937 to 1939 supervised establishment of vegetable growing settlements at Menindee, as well as other activities in the district
1939	Appointed first Professional Officer of the Soil Conservation Service of the Department of Mines
1940	Appointed Project Manager and District Soil Conservationist for area bounded by Bathurst, Dubbo, Condobolin, Griffith, Cootamundra, Corowa and Burrowa. Established first Soil Conservation Station at Cowra. Selected and planned a second Soil Conservation Station at Wellington. Directed Erosion Survey of New South Wales for the above mentioned area and field mapped one third of the Eastern and Central Division
1940	Married Dorothy Claire Roberts, descendant of the Roberts family, well-know at Cobbity (they went on to have three sons, Christopher, Robert and Alexander)
1942-45	Served in RAAF as Meteorological Officer
1945	Appointed District Soil Conservationist at Wagga and Director of the Soil Conservation Research Station, Wagga
1947	Appointed Chief Works Extension Officer, Soil Conservation Service, Department of Conservation Headquarters, Sydney
1950-57	Deputy Chief of Soil Conservation Service
1957-69	Retired from the Public Service and established private farming and consulting enterprises, including Torokina Turkeys
1969-75	Re-joined the Department of Agriculture, retiring in 1975. Was appointed as first Irrigation Agronomist at Wagga Agricultural College and also lectured at Yanco Agricultural College. Also designed educational complexes

Indexed terms

Names:

H. A. Fraser

Conditions Governing Access:

Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn170925).

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 Harold Arthur Fraser, National Library of Australia, MS 6567, [box number and series and/or file number]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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