Guide to the Papers of Rae Else-Mitchell, 1914-1995

Summary

Collection number:

MS 3673 et al

Creator:

Rae Else-Mitchell and Gilfillan, W. G. R

Extent:

(220 boxes, 11 cartons, 1 folio box, 1 map folio, 1 oversize packet of rolled items, 1 small carton)

Language:

English and English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Rae Else-Mitchell, National Library of Australia [class number, box number and series and/or file number]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Permission required for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

Although there are some personal papers extending back to Else-Mitchell's childhood and early career, the great bulk of the papers held in the National Library date from the period 1974-94, when he was living in Canberra. The largest series relates to the Commonwealth Grants Commission, of which he was Chairman for 15 years, and there are also files on other agencies of the Commonwealth Government, such as the Commonwealth Legal Aid Council and the National Library. There are substantial series on the Royal Australian Institute of Public Administration, the Australian Institute of Urban Studies, the Canberra College of Advanced Education and the Royal Australian Historical Society and the collection as a whole provides a comprehensive record of Else-Mitchell's work for a great diversity of official, legal, professional, educational and cultural institutions. The papers include correspondence, diaries, reports, speeches, articles, manuscripts, cuttings, photographs, printed ephemera and publications.

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MS 3673 comprises correspondence, diaries, reports, speeches, articles, manuscripts, cuttings, photographs, printed ephemera and publications. There are some early personal papers and files on Supreme Court hearings, but the bulk of the papers date from 1974-1994, when Rae Else-Mitchell was living in Canberra. A large proportion of the papers relate to organisations in which Else-Mitchell was an office-holder. They include the Commonwealth Grants Commission, Commonwealth Legal Aid Council, National Library of Australia, Royal Australian Institute of Public Administration, Australian Institute of Urban Studies, Canberra College of Advanced Education, Royal Australian Historical Society and the ACT Library Service. Correspondents include Russell Matthews, Cliff Walsh, Marsden Horden, Ken Cable, Hazel King, Geoffrey Sawer, S.S. Richardson and Russell Doust (213 boxes, 1 fol. box, 1 map folio).

Biographical Note:

Rae Else- Mitchell was born in Sydney on 20 September 1914. He was educated at Middle Park Central School, Melbourne High School and the University of Sydney, where he graduated as a Bachelor of Laws in 1936. He was called to the New South Wales Bar in 1939 and the Victorian Bar in 1954. In 1943-45 he was Secretary of the Commonwealth Rationing Commission. He was editor of the Australian Law Journal in 1946-58 and a lecturer in Constitutional Law at the University of Sydney in 1951-58. He was made a Queen's Counsel in 1955.

Else-Mitchell was appointed a Judge of the New South Wales Supreme Court on 8 September 1958. In 1962 he was appointed a Judge of the Land and Valuation Court. He was Chairman of the New South Wales Royal Commission into Local Government Land Valuation and Rating Systems in 1965-67 and Chairman of the Commonwealth Royal Commission on Land Tenures in 1973-75. In October 1974 he retired from the Supreme Court and moved to Canberra to take up the position of Chairman of the Commonwealth Grants Commission. He held this position until July 1989.

Throughout his life Else-Mitchell has held office in an extraordinary number of public, legal, historical, educational, cultural and community organisations. At various times he has been President or Chairman of the Library Council of New South Wales, the Royal Australian Historical Society, the Federation of Australian Historical Societies, the Royal Australian Institute of Public Administration, the Australian Institute of Urban Studies, the New South Wales Medico-Legal Society, St Vincent's Hospital Board and the ACT Library Service. He was the first Deputy Chancellor of Macquarie University and a member of the Councils of the Canberra College of Advanced Eucation, the National Library of Australia, the National Trust of Australia, the Centre for Research on Federal Financial Relations at the Australian National University and the Australian Bicentennial Authority.

Else-Mitchell was the author of Hire purchase law (1941), edited Essays on the Australian Constitution (1952) and Canberra; a people's capital? (1988) and has written numerous articles on Australian history, law, public administration, planning, public finance and land valuation.

Else-Mitchell was awarded the C.M.G. in 1977. He received a Doctorate of Letters from Sydney University in 1984 and a Doctorate of Letters from Macquarie University in 1987.

Provenance:

Justice Else-Mitchell first placed papers in the National Library in 1981. He had earlier donated a considerable quantity of papers to the Mitchell Library in Sydney but decided that the later papers documenting his involvement in a range of national organisations should be in the National Library.

Further papers were received in 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1991 and 1995.

The 1989 and 1991 instalments were donated under the Taxation Incentives for the Arts Scheme.

Conditions Governing Access:

Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1353885).

Conditions Governing Use:

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.

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Rae Else-Mitchell, National Library of Australia [class number, box number and series and/or file number]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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