Department of External Affairs, 1953-59

Component identifier:

Series 12

Content Summary:

From January 1953 to June 1959 Plimsoll was based in Canberra as an Assistant Secretary in the Department of External Affairs. This small series contains some documents on the organisation of the Department, a photograph of R.G. Casey and the heads of Australian diplomatic missions in Europe in 1957, photographs of Plimsoll in Vietnam in March 1956 and a few letters and invitations. There are also itineraries, programs and photographs of the visit by the Prime Minister, R.G. Menzies, and Dame Pattie Menzies, accompanied by Plimsoll, to Japan, Thailand, the Philippines and New Guinea in April 1957.

Immediate source of acquisition:

Sir James Plimsoll, who died on 8 May 1987, bequeathed his papers and books to the National Library. Following intervention by the Department of Foreign Affairs, the executors were informed that some of the papers were Commonwealth records and others were records of the Tasmanian Government. Consequently, the papers were transferred to the Australian Archives for detailed examination. It was finally determined that 149 boxes would come to the National Library, four boxes would be sent to the Tasmanian State Archives, and the remaining boxes would be retained by the Australian Archives. The papers were received by the National Library in March 1990.

Names:

Sir James Plimsoll

Contents

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