Barwick: contracts and business papers, 1981-93

Component identifier:

Series 1

Content Summary:

Sir Garfield Barwick (1903-1997) grew up and was educated in Sydney and was called to the Bar in 1927. By the early 1940s he was recognised as one of the leading barristers in Australia and he appeared in a succession of major High Court and Privy Council cases until his election to the House of Representatives in 1958. He was Attorney-General in 1958-63 and Minister for External Affairs in 1961-64. In 1964 he was appointed Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, a position he occupied until 1981.

David Marr had worked in the Sydney legal firm of Allen, Allen and Hemsley, a firm that had often briefed Barwick in his years at the Bar. In 1977 Marr began to collect material for a biography of Barwick. In the following year he interviewed Barwick, but the Chief Justice later indicated his opposition to the project and provided no further help. Barwick was first published in 1980 by Allen and Unwin. A new edition by the same publisher appeared in 1992.

The correspondence in Files 4-10 was added to the collection on 23 November 2000. The correspondents include Sir Garfield Barwick, Justice Rae Else-Mitchell, R.R. Downing, Sir Lionel Murphy, Geoffrey Griffith and C.W. Pincus. Copies of some of Marr's letters are also included.

Immediate source of acquisition:

The collection was purchased by the National Library from David Marr in 1999. Further papers were donated to the Library in November 1999 (Series 30, Item 11), November 2000 (Series 1, Files 4-10) and January 2001 (Series 27, Item 41).

Names:

Marr, David, Mr.

Contents

Access and use