Country Party of New South Wales, 1919-1962

Component identifier:

Series 2

Content Summary:

The beginnings of the Country Party of New South Wales can be traced to the establishment in 1875 of the Free Selector's Association, a movement formed to represent the common interests of farmers in the State. After undergoing further consolidations and changes of title, the name of Progressive Party was adopted in 1919, with a charter to represent a broad base of small farmers, large graziers as well as metropolitan members. Corresponding to several changes in Party organisation and alliance, it was renamed the Country Party of New South Wales in 1925, United Country Party of New South Wales in 1931, assuming the title of the Australian Country Party (New South Wales) in 1943. Between 1922-1925 and 1932-1958 Colonel Bruxner led the Party under its various guises, exerting a dominant influence over policy and activities. This series includes the typed minutes of meetings convened in the Party's formative years. References to other aspects of the State level of the Party are made in Series 4, Series 6 and Series 10.

Immediate source of acquisition:

In February 1986 the National Library of Australia received, as a donation, papers used by Don Aitkin in his research on the Country Party of New South Wales. The material had been made available to Aitkin whilst a doctoral student and post-doctoral fellow at the Australian National University in Canberra, during the 1960s, providing some of the background to his PhD thesis and its published revision The Country Party in New South Wales : a study of organisation and survival.

Names:

Aitkin, Don, 1937-

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