Guide to the Papers of Sir Charles Marr, 1912-1959

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Summary

Collection number:
MS 3874
Creator:
Marr, Charles William Clanan, Sir, 1880-1960
Extent:
0.96 metres and (6 boxes + 4 folio boxes)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Sir Charles Marr, National Library of Australia, MS 3874, [series and/or item number]'.
Availability:
Available
Access conditions:
Available for reference. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:
The collection includes general correspondence, papers relating to Marr's service in Mesopotamia during World War I and Papua New Guinea, electoral papers, photographs, cuttings and printed material.
Biographical Note:

Charles William Marr was born at Petersham, New South Wales on 23 March 1880, the son of James C. Marr. He was educated at Newington College and Sydney Technical College. Between 1901 and 1914, he worked as an electrical engineer with the Postmaster-General's Department and supervised the construction of Australia's first wireless station, at Pennant Hills.

In 1915 Marr was appointed to the Australian and New Zealand Wireless Squadron in Mesopotamia. He reached the rank of Major. He was awarded the Military Cross in 1917, the Distinguished Service Order in 1918 and the Volunteer Officers' Decoration in 1923.

Marr entered Parliament in 1919 and held the New South Wales seat of Parkes for the Nationalists until 1929. His other positions include Government Whip and Parliamentary Secretary for the Nationalists (1921-1925), member of the managing committee for the tour of the Prince of Wales (1920), Vice-President of a similar committee for the 1927 tour of the Duke and Duchess of York, Honorary Minister (1925-1929), Minister for Home and Territories (1927-1928) and leader of the Australian Delegation of the League of Nations General Assembly of Geneva (1929).

Although defeated in the 1929 Federal Election, Marr regained the seat of Parkes in a by-election in February 1931. In the first Lyons ministry, he was for a brief time Minister for Health, for Repatriation, and in charge of Territories. In 1933 he attended the inauguration of the Legislation Council of the Territory of New Guinea, and in the following year directed the tour of the Duke of Gloucester. For this and other public services he was awarded the K.C.V.O. in December 1934. Marr's latter parliamentary work included the Deputy Chairmanship of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Broadcasting between 1940 and 1943. He lost his seat to Leslie Haylen in the 1943 General Election.

Marr was associated with a number of business enterprises. At various times he was Chairman of Mineral Developments Ltd, Tatua Gold Development Ltd, and Amalgamated Coffee Plantations (N.G.) Ltd, and Director of New Zealand Forest Products Ltd, Papua Apinaipi Petroleum Company Ltd, W.R. Carpenter and Company Ltd, and Hadfields Steel Works.

Marr died in Sydney on 20 October 1960 and was accorded a State Funeral. He was survived by his wife, who died in 1967, and two sons and two daughters.

Bibliographic Reference(s)

  • Keast Burke. With horse and morse in Mesopotamia: the story of Anzacs in Asia. Sydney, 1927
  • Who's who in australia
  • Obituaries in Bathurst National Advocate, 21 October, 1960 and Canberra Times, 24 October, 1960
Provenance:

The collection was donated to the Library by Mr Colin C. Marr in 1973

Arrangement:

The collection has been arranged into eight series by Library staff.

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:
The collection is available for reference.
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 Sir Charles Marr, National Library of Australia, MS 3874, [series and/or item number]'.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact:
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