Guide to the Papers of Sir Josiah Symon, 1820-1959 (bulk 1860s-1930s)

Summary

Collection number:

MS 1736

Creator:

Symon, Josiah Henry, Sir, 1846-1934

Extent:

14.22 metres and (53 archive boxes + 4 medium folio boxes + 2 large folio boxes + 3 small folio boxes + 1 archive box in folio run)

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Sir Josiah Symon, National Library of Australia, MS 1736, [series and/or file number]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

Correspondence, memoranda, notes, speeches, press cuttings, ephemera and publications covering every phase of Symon's life: his legal practice, political career in South Australia and his involvement in the Federal Conventions and Federation. The papers also reflect his literary, educational, social and philanthropic interests and his association with the Universities of Sydney and Adelaide and the South Australian State Library.

Correspondents include Richard Baker, Edmund Barton, J. Langdon Bonython, James Boucaut, Lord Bruce, Joseph Chamberlain, J. C. Clemons, Joseph Cook, William Cullen, Alfred Deakin, Hugh Denison, John Downer, Andrew Fisher, John Forrest, Simon Fraser, Henry L. Galway, Robert Garran, Thomas Glassey, David Gordon, John Gordon, Lord Gowrie, Albert J. Gould, Samuel Griffith, Henry Gilbert, Ernest Holme, W. M. Hughes, William Irvine, Isaac Isaacs, C. C. Kingston, John Latham, Sidney Lee, Charles Lucas, P. J. Lynch, Mungo MacCallum, Edward Mitchell, George Murray, J. C. Neild, Alice Northcote, Lord Novar, R. E. O'Connor, George Pearce, George Pitt, Grenfell Price, E. Pulsford, H. R. Purnell, George Reid, William Sowden and Samuel Way.

Much of Symon's correspondence is contained in letterbooks. Press cuttings have often been placed in commonplace books.

Biographical Note:

Josiah Henry Symon, son of James and Elizabeth Symon, was born in Wick, Scotland, on 27 September, 1846. He received his early education at Stirling High School and at Moray Training College, Edinburgh.

After emigrating to South Australia in 1866 Symon commenced employment at his cousin's law practice in Mt Gambier, and completed his studies in the employment of Way and Brook, in Adelaide, being called to the Bar in 1871. Upon the death of Brook he joined S. J. Way in partnership, eventually purchasing the business in 1876 when Samuel Way was elevated to the Bench. Symon was widely accepted as the leader of the Adelaide Bar until his retirement in 1923.

In March 1881 he was appointed Attorney-General in South Australia's short-lived Morgan Government. He was elected as the member for Sturt in the House of Assembly a few weeks later and retained that position until 1887, when he unsuccessfully contested the constituency of Victoria.

On 8 December, 1881, Symon married Mary Eleanor Cowle. They had five sons and seven daughters, two of whom died in infancy.

After leaving State politics, Symon devoted himself to the growing movement for Federation, becoming President of both the South Australian Federation League and the Commonwealth League. He was elected a member of the South Australian delegation to the Australasian Federal Convention, 1897-1898, and served as Chairman of its Judiciary Committee. In recognition of his work towards Federation he received a knighthood (KCMG) in 1901.

Elected to the Senate in 1901 to represent South Australia, Symon was soon recognised as free trade leader on tariff matters. He held the portfolio of Attorney-General in the Free Trade - Protectionist Reid - McLean Coalition Government, 1904-1905. In 1909 he stood out from the arrangement under which the Protectionists and Free Traders came together to become what was known for a time as the Fusion and later as the Liberal Party. Refusing to sign the Liberal Movement manifesto he contested the 1913 Senate elections as an independent and was defeated. He then returned to his legal practice which he had maintained while in politics.

Symon is also remembered as a philanthropist. He was a member of the Council of the University of Adelaide, 1897-1901, and in 1926 gave the University £10,000 to establish the Lady Symon Building for Women students. His law library was given to the University of Adelaide Law School, and in addition he established scholarships at the University of Sydney, Scotch College, Adelaide and the High School at Stirling, Scotland. In 1927 Sir Josiah gave £1,500 to the Australian Inland Mission to build the Eleanor Symon Hospital at Innamincka, and later he helped establish the Northcote Rest Home for Mothers and Babies.

His personal library of over 10,000 volumes was bequeathed to the State Library of South Australia on condition it was kept intact as it had been at 'Manoah', his home in the Adelaide Hills.

Shakespeare the Englishman, which was published in 1929, incorporated addresses given by Sir Josiah, who was held in high regard as a Shakespearean scholar.

'Manoah', his stately home, was surrounded by grazing lands which were worked as a stock property. 'Auldana', a vineyard at Magill, was another Symon property.

Sir Josiah Symon died on 29th March, 1934, and was accorded a State funeral. His wife, five sons and five daughters survived him.

Bibliographic Reference(s)

• Sir Josiah Symon, Australian Dictionary of Biography online, http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A120174b.htm

Provenance:

The papers were received by the Library between 1966 and 1968 from Sir Josiah Symon's literary executor and daughter, Miss L. K. (Kilmeny) Symon.

In December 1980 Sir Josiah's Commonwealth railway life pass was donated to the Library by the State Library of South Australia on behalf of a donor who was living in the house previously owned by Kilmeny Symon and had found the pass in a crack in the flooring.

Arrangement:

The Library has arranged the Symon Papers into 32 series, each of which has been described in this finding aid.

During the 2008 revision of the finding aid a small instalment received in 1980 was added to Series 21.

Container List:

Series	Files	Items	Box
1	1-8	1-565	1
1	9-14	566-884	2
1	15-19	885-921	3
1	20-26	922-1074	4
1	27-33	1075-1472	5
1	34-40	1473-1684	6
1	41	1685	7
1	42	1686	Folio box 10
1	43-48	1687-1916	7
1	49-56	1917-2276a	8
1	57-64	2277-2683	9
1	65-73	2684-3449	10
1	74-83	3450-4369	11
1	84-93	4370-5005	12
1	94-102	5006-5633	13
2	1	1-56	13
2	2-6	57-77	14
3	1	1	14
3	2	2	Folio Box 1
3	3	3	Folio Box 2
3	4	4	15
3	5	5	Folio Box 3
3	6-8	6-8	15
3	9-12	9-12	16
3	13-14	13-14	17
3	15	15	18
3	16	16	Folio Box 8
3	17	17	Folio Box 4
3	18	18	Folio Box 5
3	19-20	19-20	18
3	20a-21	20a-21	19
3	22-23	22-23	Folio Box 6
3	24	24	19
3	25-26	25-26	Folio Box 7
3	27	27	19
3	28-36	Items unnumbered	20
3	37-46	Items unnumbered	21
3	47-49	Items unnumbered	22
3	50	Items unnumbered	Folio Box 5
3	51-57	Items unnumbered	22
3	58-60	Items unnumbered	23
3	61	Items unnumbered	Folio Box 1
3	62	Items unnumbered	Folio Box 9
4	1-5	1-28	23
4	6-12	29-63	24
4	13-14	64-95	25
4	15	96-98	Folio Box 9
4	16-21	99-204	25
4	22-32	205-494	26
4	33-42	495-734	27
4	43	735	Folio Box 9
5	1-10	1-489	28
5	11-20	490-943	29
5	21-29	943-1336	30
5	30-39	1337-2020	31
5	40-49	2021-2942	32
5	50-59	2943-3522	33
6	1-4	1-190	34
7	1-3	1-99	34
8	1-3	1-130	34
8	4-10	131-511	35
9	1-3	1-223	35
9	4-14	224-612	36
9	15-25	613-809	37
9	26-30	810-923	38
10	1-4	1-189	38
10	5-14	190-649	39
10	15-25	650-795	40
10	26-29	796-917	41
11	1-7	1-416	41
11	8-16	417-996	42
12	1-2	1-102	42
12	3-11	103-510	43
12	11a	Items unnumbered	Folio Box 9
12	12	Items unnumbered	43
12	13-15	Items unnumbered	44
13	1-3	1-122	44
14	1-3	1-126	44
14	4-7	127-268	45
14	8	269	Folio Box 4
15	1	1-117	45
16	1-5	1-171	45
17	1-8	1-429	46
18	1	1-36	46
19	1	1-2,4-6,9,11,13-23,25	46
19	1	3,7-8,10,12,24,26-29	HW Map Drawer 25
20	1	1-2	46
20	2-4	3-154	47
20	2-4	155	Folio Box 9
21	1-7	1-312	47
21	8	Items unnumbered	Folio Box 9
22	1-2	1-76	48
23	1-2	1-50	48
24	1	1-172	48
25	1-2	1-179	48
26	1	1-141	48
27	1-3	1-67	49
28	1	1-88	49
29	1-6	1-312	49
29	7-12	313-851	50
30	1-4	1-314	50
30	5-6	315-393	51
31	1-7	1-530	51
31	8-17	531-1135	52
31	18-19	1136-1206	52
32	1	1-116	53

Related

Related Documentation:

1. Supplementary finding aid (Type: pdf, Size: 568.94 KB)

Other Finding Aids:

A name index to correspondence has also been produced; refer to the attached document (under the Related Documentation tab).

Existence and Location of Copies:

Commonplace book No 14 covering political and general matters, 1904-1905 is available on microfilm (mfm G 28374).

Conditions Governing Access:

Available for research. Not for loan.

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 Josiah Symon, National Library of Australia, MS 1736, [series and/or file number]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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