Guide to the Papers of Sir John Overall, 1949-2000

Summary

Collection number:

MS 4874

Creator:

Overall, John, Sir

Extent:

2.81 metres and (6 ms boxes + 1 medium folio box + 1 elephant folio + 2 archive boxes)

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Sir John Overall, National Library of Australia, MS 4874 [class/series/file number]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The collection comprises papers, reports, publications, photographs and correspondence which document aspects of Overall's outstanding career as an architect and urban planner. Of particular interest are the items which record his significant role as the National Capital Development Commissioner, together with his long association with planning for New Parliament House, including chairmanship of the New Parliament House Design Competition. Also incuded Included are plaques and several medals, for town planning, architecture as well as Overall's KB and OBE.

Biographical Note:

Date	Event
1913	Born 15 July
1920s	Educated, Sydney Technical College
1931-1935	Robertson and Marks, Architects, Sydney
1935-1939	Stephenson and Turner, Architects, Sydney
1940-1946	Engineering Officer, Australian Infantry Force and Commanding Officer, First Australian Parachute Battalion; awarded Military Cross
1943	Married Margaret Goodman
1946	Awarded Board of Architects New South Wales Overseas Travelling Scholarship
1946-1948	Chief Architect, South Australian Housing Trust
1948-1951	Private practice, South Australia
1949	Awarded Australian Medallion, Board of Architects New South Wales
1951-1952	Deputy Chief Architect, Commonwealth Works Department
1953-1957	Chief Architect, Commonwealth Works Department
1956	Chairman, Olympic Games Fine Arts and Sculpture Committee
1958-1972	Commissioner, National Capital Development Commission
1962	Appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire
1964	Awarded Sidney Luker Memorial Medal
1967	Adviser to the New South Wales Government on the redevelopment of Central Sydney
1968	Knight Bachelor
1970	Awarded Sir James Barrett Medal; Chairman of the Advisory Committee for the Australian Exhibit Organisation, Expo' 70
1970-1971	President and Chairman, Australian Institute of Urban Studies
1971-1975	Member of Australian Academy of Science, Science and Industry Forum
1972-1973	Foundation Commissioner, National Urban and Regional Development Authority (renamed in this period the Cities Commission)
1973-1974	Adviser to the United Nations
1973-1983	Principal, John Overall and Partners; Director, Lend Lease Development Corporation, Sydney
1975-1983	Director and Chairman, Alliance Holdings
1976-1983	Director, General Property Trust
1979-1980	Chairman of Assessors, Competition for New Parliament House, Canberra
1979-1985	Member, Parliament House Construction Authority
1981	<em>Parliament House Canberra : two stage design competition : assessors' final report</em>
1982	Inaugural recipient, Royal Australian Institute of Architects Gold Medal
1984	Honorary Fellow, American Institute of Architects
1991	Published <em>Canberra : reflections</em>
1995	Published <em>Canberra : yesterday, today and tomorrow : a personal memoir</em>
2001	Died in Canberra, 2 September

Immediate Source of Acquisition:

The MS 4874 consignments were donated in three instalments: the main instalment by Overall in 1975, and two smaller additions by Tim his son, in 2001 and his daughter-in-law, Diane in 2017.

Arrangement:

The MS 4874 consignments were arranged in the six series groupings by National Library staff in 2002. For the most part, within each series the material has been retained in the order in which it was transferred to the Library.There are a further 2 Series headings for the 2017 consignment (Boxes 9-10).The Folio box and Elephant Folio from the original consignemnt were originally numbered Folio Box 1 and Map folio 2.With the integration of the 2017 consignment these containers have been renumbered to reflect integration. Folio Box 1 is now Folio Box 7 and Elephant Folio 2 is now Map folio 8

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Professions

Conditions Governing Access:

Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1109579).

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 Sir John Overall, National Library of Australia, MS 4874 [class/series/file number]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

Contact us