High Commissioner to Canada, 1953-1956

Component identifier:

Series 37

Content Summary:

Between May 1953 and mid-1956 Copland represented Australia in Ottawa as High Commissioner to Canada. Papers on this work form Series 37, while his leadership of Australian delegations to the United Nations at this time is covered in the following two series.

Series 37 brings together cuttings, speeches, subject files, and one or two documents, but it is, essentially, correspondence. The main correspondents are ministers or External Affairs men like R.G. Menzies, R.G. Casey, H. Holt, Trevor Pyman, T.H.E. Heyes, A. Tange, W.R. Crocker, E.J. McCarthy, K.O.C. Shann, Sir Percy Spender, J. Plimsoll, Patrick Shaw, and A. Watt. A number of the letters and cables involved are stamped or headed 'Personal and confidential', 'Safe Hand Only', 'Confidential', 'Secret' or 'Top Secret.' They range over many aspects of Australian-Canadian relations but as well, refer to the conditions of Copland's appointment and the arrangements of his return. The subject files mentioned above include material for speeches and cover topics like the Australian economy, Australian-Canadian trade, and Australian ballad and literature.

A number of letters in Series 1 for 1953-1956 contain references to the subject of this series.

Immediate source of acquisition:

Lady Copland presented the personal papers of Sir Douglas Copland to the National Library in September 1973. Additions to the collection were received from the Copland Family between 1977 and 1981.

Names:

Copland, D.B. (Douglas Berry), 1894-1971

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