Guide to the Papers of E. L. Piesse, 1855-1946
Collection context
Summary
- Collection number:
- MS 882
- Creator:
- Piesse, E.L. (Edmund Leolin), 1880-1947
- Extent:
- 1.5 metres and (10 ms boxes)
- Language:
- English
- Preferred citation:
- Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of E. L. Piesse, National Library of Australia, MS 882, [series and/or file number]'.
- Availability:
- Available
- Access conditions:
- Available for research. Not for loan.
Background
- Content Summary:
- The great majority of the papers in the collection date from the years 1918 to 1923, during which Piesse worked for the Commonwealth Government, first as Dire tor of Military Intelligence, and later as an adviser on foreign affairs. The papers include semi-official and personal memoranda, correspondence, and notes, together with publications and newspaper cuttings, relating to the White Australia policy, the League of Nations, New Guinea, and Australia's relations with Japan, South-East Asia, and the Pacific Islands. In additions there are some papers written in the years after Piesse left the Commonwealth Public Service, reflecting his continued interest in Australian defence and foreign policy
- Biographical Note:
-
Edmund Leolin Piesse was born in Hobart in July 1880, the only son of Frederick William Piesse, a member of the first Federal Parliament. He was educated at Friends' School, Hobart, and at the University of Tasmania, where he graduated as a Bachelor of Laws. He later studied mathematics at King's College, Cambridge.
In 1909, on his return to Australia, Piesse joined the Army as staff officer in the Australian Intelligence Corps and helped to prepare the first military survey map of Tasmania. He was made a Captain in 1911 and in March 1916, as a Major, he was appointed Director of Military Intelligence, with his headquarters in Melbourne. In June 1919 he transferred from the Department of Defence to the Prime Minister's Department, where he was appointed Director, and the only officer, of the newly-established Pacific Branch. The Branch was concerned with Australia's relations with the countries of the Pacific and the Far East and, as Director, Piesse collected information and made reports on both the domestic and the foreign policies of these countries. In 1919-1920 he made a lengthily tour of South-East Asia, China and Japan. In April 1921 the Pacific Branch was replaced by the Pacific Foreign Section, with a staff of six, headed by Piesse. Its main responsibilities were to report and advise on developments in Japan and in Mandated Territory of New Guinea and to study reactions to, and prepare defences of, the White Australia policy. In 1921-1922 Piesse attended the Washington Disarmament Conference as an adviser to Senator Pearce, the Minister for Defence.
In November 1923 Piesse resigned from Prime Minister's Department, having felt for some time that his knowledge and his work was not being fully utilized by the Government. He joined the Melbourne law firm Davies and Campbell, which in 1931 became Davies, Campbell and Piesse. He was a member of the Law Council of Australia and President of the Law Institute of Victoria. He edited the Institute's Journal, was conveyancing editor in Victoria of the Australian Law Journal, and contributed to the supplement to the Encyceadia of forms and precedents. He also lectured on company taxation at the University Melbourne. Piesse retained his great interest in Australia foreign policy all his life and regularly addressed meetings of Round Table Group, the Institute of International Affairs, and the Boobook Society on such subjects as White Australia, New Guinea and above all, Japan. His book Japan and the deference of Australia was published in 1935.
Piesse died Melbourne on 16 May 1947.
- Immediate Source of Acquisition:
-
The Piesse Papers were received by the National Library in 1958. They were presented by Piesse's widow, Mrs Christina Piesse, of Melbourne.
Access and use
- Conditions Governing Access:
- Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn725290).
- 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 E. L. Piesse, National Library of Australia, MS 882, [series and/or file number]'.
- Location of this collection:
-
Parkes PlaceCanberra ACT 2600, Australia
- Contact: