University of Melbourne, 1893-1963

Component identifier:

Series 12

Content Summary:

Latham matriculated in 1893 and enrolled at the University of Melbourne. He graduated as a Bachelor of Arts in 1897 and as a Master of Arts in 1899. After teaching at Hamilton for two years Latham returned to the University to study law and graduated as a Bachelor of Laws in 1902. He was a tutor in philosophy at Ormond College from 1903-1907, a part-time lecturer in philosophy from 1907-1910, and a part-time lecturer in the Law of Contracts and Personal Property from 1910-1920. Latham was a member of the Council of the University from 1922-1949, Deputy Chancellor from 1935-1939 and Chancellor from 1939-1941. This large series has three major components: Items 1-620 date from the period when Latham was a student and lecturer; Items 621-2360 date mainly from the period when he was a member of the Council; and Items 2120-2360 consist of publications, invitations and newscuttings.

Items 1-620 consist of exam papers and newscuttings; leaflets, letters, photographs, and notes on university societies; Latham's notes for debates; letters, notes and cuttings on Ormond College; notes, newscuttings and publications concerning Victoria's first Rhodes Scholarship in 1904; letters, leaflets and newscuttings concerning the proposal in 1910 to establish a Faculty of Divinity; notes on logic; notes and exam papers on law; general publications; and letters concerning the University before World War I.

Items 621-2119 comprise an extensive correspondence, Council papers and minutes, newspaper cuttings and extracts from publications. The subject matter of the papers includes the proposal to establish a university in Canberra (1927); University finances (1928); the activities of the Extension Board; the functions of the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor (1935-1937); the report of R. E. Priestley on his survey of overseas universities (1936); the work of the anthropologist Donald Thompson in Arnhem Land; the conflict and debate leading up to the appointment of J. G. Medley as Vice-Chancellor in 1937; the public statement by University staff on the censorship of newspapers (1940); the University and the war effort (1940); proposed changes in the Law curriculum (1944); the Ormond College Appeal (1952); and the University Building Fund (1959). The principal correspondents are Sir James Barrett, Sir John Medley and Sir George Paton.

Immediate source of acquisition:

The bulk of the collection was presented to the National Library by Sir John Latham in December 1963, a few months before his death. In November 1974 the Library purchased some further papers from a secondhand book dealer. They comprised family letters and photographs, some diaries and papers relating to the High Court. These papers have been amalgamated into the original collection.

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