Guide to the Papers of Sir Roland Wilson, 1917-1999

Summary

Collection number:

MS 1155

Creator:

Wilson, Roland, Sir and Sir Roland Wilson Foundation

Extent:

4.95 metres and (33 MS boxes)

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

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

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The papers relate to the career and personal life of economist, statistician and senior Commonwealth public servant, Sir Roland Wilson KBE CBE. The papers include correspondence; academic notes; addresses and speech notes; as well as files retained by Wilson on a number of aspects of Australian Commonwealth economic policy development. Correspondents include early statisticians and economists, such as J. B. (James Bristock) Brigden and L. F. (Lyndhurst Falkiner) Giblin, aviators such as Sir Hudson Fysh, and federal ministers and prime ministers such as R. G. Menzies and Harold Holt. Some material relates to issues surrounding the governance and management of the Commonwealth Bank and Qantas when Wilson was member and Chairman of the boards of those enterprises.

All aspects of Sir Roland's public service life are covered by the collection. More material relates to his personal life and academic studies than that to his time as Commonwealth Statistician, or founding Secretary of the Department of Labour and National Service.

Biographical Note:

1904: Roland Wilson born 7 April, at Ulverstone, Tasmania. Wilson was called 'Roly' by his father Thomas Wilson.

1925: Rhodes Scholar for Tasmania.

1926: Received a Bachelor of Commerce from University of Tasmania.

1926: Beit Prizeman (Oxon) for 'Social and economic experiments in Queensland'

1928-1930: Commonwealth Fund Fellow. Wilson used the scholarship to extend his academic studies at the University of Chicago (PhD).

1929: Received a Doctorate of Philosophy at Oxford for a thesis on the import of capital.

1930: Married Valeska Thompson (b. 7 August 1904, New Mexico, USA).

1930: Lecturer in Economics and Director of Tutorial classes in the University of Tasmania until 1932 and Workers Education Association lecturer at the University of Tasmania.

1931: Publication of academic research as volume

1932: Joined Commonwealth Public Service in the Department of the Treasury in the Economic Statistician's Branch as Assistant Commonwealth Statistician.

1936-1940: Became Commonwealth Statistician and Economic Adviser to the Treasury.

1940-1946: Established and directed the Department of Labour and National Service.

1941: Appointed Commander of the British Empire (CBE).

1942-1945: During the war, Wilson constructed an electric car in order to drive during petrol rationing.

1946-1951: Returned to the post as Commonwealth Statistician and Economic Adviser to the Treasury.

1948-1949: Chairman of the Economic and Employment Commission of the United Nations.

1951-1966: Secretary of the Treasury.

1955: Created a Knight Bachelor (Kt) for outstanding public service.

1965: Created a Knight Commander of the British Empire (KBE).

1966: Retired from the Commonwealth Public Service and became Chairman of Qantas until 1973; Chairman of Qantas Wentworth Hotel Ltd until 1975; and Chairman of Commonwealth Banking Corporation until 1975.

1971: June 2, Valeska, Wilson's wife was killed (aged 64) in a motor accident on the highway near San Augustin de las Juntas, Oaxaca, Mexico and was interred in the Municipal Cemetery, Oaxaca, Mexico.

1975: Married Joyce.

1975: Retired from the Commonwealth Bank Board, 14 January.

1996: Sir Roland Wilson died in Canberra 25 October.

1996: Died 25 October, survived by wife, Joyce. No children.

Bibliographic Reference(s)

• Who's Who in Australia
• Person notes for person CP 556, Sir Roland Wilson KBE, CBE on RecordSearch database at http://www.naa.gov.au.
• Sir Roland Wilson : a biographical essay, Selwyn Cornish, Canberra, Australian National University, c2002.
• Obituary Sir Roland Wilson, 'Outstanding public servant of his generation', Informing a nation: the evolution of the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1905-2005, Canberra, Australian Bureau of Statistics, c2005.
• Giblin's platoon: the trials and triumph of the economist in Australian public life, William Oliver Coleman, Selwyn Cornish, Alfred Hagger, Canberra, ACT ANU E Press, c2006.

Collection Retrieval Advice:

Please note: each consignment in this collection has a separate box number sequence (i.e. there are multiple Box 1's). Please cite the relevant Class number as well as the Box number when requesting retrieval of material from the collection.

There is a detailed Container List for the original consignment, MS 1155 (see 'Container List' table).

Immediate Source of Acquisition:

Two items, J. B. Brigden letter (now at Series 8 File 7) and a bound photocopy of Wilson's Beit prize winning essay 'Social and economic experiments in Queensland' (now in Series 6) have been held by the Library since before 1996. The remainder of MS 1155 was donated to the Library by the Sir Roland Wilson Foundation, Australian National University, in 2006. Further papers were added in two separate consignments in 2014.

Arrangement:

The collection, although mostly held in labelled files, was somewhat disordered on receipt from the Sir Roland Wilson Foundation. There were signs of several previous filing arrangements which proved too sporadic to re-establish. The collection also shows evidence of re-arrangement, possibly after Sir Roland retired from the Commonwealth Public Service and during his time as Chairman of the Boards of QANTAS and the Commonwealth Bank. There is also evidence of some culling and re-arrangement as evidenced by notes (in Wilson's hand?) saying 'Examined 20/2/84'.

In 2007, the Library arranged the collection into series: correspondence; research materials; addresses and the remainder arranged in accordance with Sir Roland's career. Pre-existing labelling of subject files and internal arrangement within those files has been maintained.

Although a large number of printed publications held by Wilson were not retained with the collection, the most significant books relating to the development of his academic training in economics are retained as Series 10.

Indexed terms

Names:

Sir Roland Wilson Foundation

Conditions Governing Access:

This collection is available for research.

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 Roland Wilson, National Library of Australia, [class/series/file number]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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