Governor of Tasmania, 1982-87

 
Component identifier:
Series 21
Content Summary:

In November 1981 it was announced that Plimsoll would succeed Sir Stanley Burbury as Governor of Tasmania. He had visited Tasmania on a number of occasions, but he had no personal or family links with it. He returned from Japan in September 1982 and was sworn in as Governor in Franklin Square, Hobart, on 1 October 1982. In October 1986 Queen Elizabeth agreed to the extension of his term for a further three years.

This is by far the largest series within the Plimsoll Papers and comprises both personal and semi-official papers documenting Plimsoll's work as the Governor and his cultural, literary and historical interests. The major part of the series consists of two sequences of files maintained by Plimsoll's secretary. The subject files (files 1-80) contain letters, notes for speeches, cuttings, minutes, agenda papers, newsletters and other material. The following date files (files 81-97) mostly contain letters, but occasionally they have printed attachments or photographs. In addition to these files, there was a large quantity of unfiled letters, mainly dating from 1984-87. They have been sorted roughly into years (files 98-122).

The correspondence is very extensive and ranges from personal letters from old friends, former diplomatic colleagues and other governors, correspondence on current political affairs, correspondence with academics and others on historical and biographical subjects, letters from people who had stayed or dined at Government House, and letters from a wide range of Tasmanian organisations, families and individuals. Many of the letters are purely personal, but because they were filed with semi-official letters they have been retained in their original files rather than being placed in Series 1. Some of the letters were addressed to Plimsoll's secretary, David Pitchford. There are copies of some of Plimsoll's own letters.

Among the more prolific or important correspondents are Max Angus, Jan Arriens, Colonel R.P. Beesley, Allan Behm, Sir John Bunting, Jim Burns, Clyde Cameron, Edmund Capon, Philip Chandler, Sir Charles Court, Sir Zelman Cowen, Sir Walter Crocker, Professor David Cubbin, Sir Neil Currie, Sir Harold Cuthbertson, Sir Roden Cutler, Rawdon Dalrymple, Don Dobison, Ruth Dobson, Alexander Downer, Lady Downer, Dorothy Downes, Sir Edward Dunlop, Nick Evers, Graham Feakes, W.N. Fisher, Sir Harry Gibbs, Hugh Gilchrist, Lady Gore-Booth, Bruce Grant, Robin Gray, Sir Guy Green, Ron Green, D.R. Gregg, Stuart Harris, Sir David Hay, J.V. R. Hearder, Heather Henderson, Peter Henderson, R.A. Herr, Sir William Heseltine, Michael Hodgman, Ross Hohnen, Brigadier Garth Hughes, Sir Gordon Jackson, Sir John Kerr, Justice Michael Kirby, Hendrik Kolenberg, Richard Krygier, Sir Peter Lawler, Professor Alec Lazenby, Sir John Leahy, Marie Louise Loridan, Max Loveday, Davis McCaughey, Patrick McCaughey, Gavan McCormack, Lady Macintyre, Dame Pattie Menzies, James Mollison, Sir Brian Murray, Justice Kemeri Murray, Ken Myer, Bishop Phillip Newell, Marion O'Dea, John Oldham, Brian Page, A.R. Parsons, Ted Pocock, Lady Price, Warren Reed, Professor Gordon Reid, Alan Rix, Professor Michael Roe, J.R. Rowland, Sir James Rowland, Sir Ninian Stephen, Harold Stewart, Sir Arthur Tange, G.N. Upton, Nancy Bird Walton, Ken Ward, Sir Alan Watt, Brenton Whitford, Richard Woolcott.

The remainder of the series contains the wide variety of papers that can be found in some of the diplomatic series, including invitations, guest lists, speeches, photographs, exhibition catalogues, programs and publications. The miscellaneous papers include a paper by David Pitchford, dated 18 September 1985, on the legal and administrative arrangements necessary in Tasmania following the passage of legislation to remove legislative links with the United Kingdom. The photographs were mostly taken by guests at Government House, but there are also some good quality portraits. There is a photograph of Plimsoll with premier Robin Gray and his Cabinet. The programs cover sports events, military parades and agricultural shows, as well as a variety of cultural events, and provide a good record of Plimsoll's activities as Governor.

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.

Contents

Access and use

Parent Restrictions:
Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1769030).
Parent Terms of Access:
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.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact: