Australian High Commissioner in London, 1931-58

 
Component identifier:
Series 10
Content Summary:

White served as Australian High Commissioner to London from 1951 to 1956. Included in this series is a comprehensive sequence of correspondence exchanged with Prime Minister Robert Menzies during the term of the appointment, together with letters from a range of contacts such as Douglas Bader, Hubert Opperman and Sir Dallas Brooks. Also included are folders documenting White's official visits to Egypt, Greece and Turkey to attend war dedication ceremonies, and a 1952 visit to Berlin.

Other items of interest include a record of interviews with departmental heads John Crawford and Alan Watt, and External Affairs Minister Richard Casey on policy matters, together with a large amount of material concerning British migration. Additional papers document the 1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and London Post-Coronation Ministers Conference, and the 1954 Royal Tour of Australia. The series also includes a number of miscellaneous issues of the newsletters of the Australian-British Cobbers' Club and the Australian Musical Association (White was founder and president of the latter).

Series 1, 3, 18 and 19 also contain material documenting White's role as High Commissioner.

Immediate source of acquisition:
The papers were donated to the Library by White's daughters in two consignments in January 1997 and March 1998, and together constitute an impressive record of White's varied and distinguished career as a pilot, politician, diplomat and writer.
Names:
Thomas White

Contents

Access and use

Parent Restrictions:
Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1516685).
Parent Terms of Access:
Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions.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 Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact: