Guide to the Papers of B. R. Whiting, 1939-1996

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Summary

Collection number:
MS 8715
Creator:
B. R. Whiting
Extent:
1.88 metres and (14 boxes)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of B. R. Whiting, National Library of Australia, MS 8715, [box number and series and/or file number]'.
Availability:
Available
Access conditions:
Available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The collection comprises diaries, correspondence, drafts, typescripts, cuttings, photographs, catalogues of art exhibitions, yachting logs and other printed material.

The correspondents include members of the Whiting and Fraser families (including Ernest Whiting, John Whiting, J. Neville Fraser and Malcolm Fraser), Bridget Bolland, Christopher Fry, Jon Stallworthy, Henry Moore, George Macbeth, Peter Finch, Robert Motherwell, Stanley Moss, John Huston, Mark Rothko, Gladys Collins and Geoffrey Fairbairn.

Biographical Note:

Writer and diarist. Whiting was born in Melbourne in 1923. He joined the Australian Army in 1940 and saw active service in Burma during the Second World War. He was appointed an ADC to Lord Mountbatten and later R.G. Casey in India. After the War he pursued a brief postwar career as a beekeeper in Victoria and South Australia. Whiting married the sculptor and painter Lorraine Fraser (sister of Malcolm Fraser) in 1948. They lived in England between 1952 and 1955 and in 1955 they moved to Italy. Whiting shared a keen interest in skiing and yachting with his wife.

Whiting's play 'Empress with teapot' was produced at the Royal Court Theatre, London in 1961. His book The poems of B.R. Whiting was published posthumously in 1991.

Whiting died in 1988.

Reference: Encyclopedia of Australian Art, vol. 2, p. 713.

Provenance:

The papers were donated, under the Taxation Incentives for the Arts Scheme, by B.R. Whiting's widow, Lorri Whiting, in 1994 and 1995.

Indexed terms

Names:
B. R. Whiting

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:
Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2108705).
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Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions.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 Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.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 B. R. Whiting, National Library of Australia, MS 8715, [box number and series and/or file number]'.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact:
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