Guide to the Papers of Sir Isaac Isaacs, 1883-1969

Summary

Collection number:

MS 2755

Creator:

Sir Isaac Isaacs

Extent:

1.3 metres

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Sir Isaac Isaacs, National Library of Australia, MS 2755, [series/file/item number]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for reference. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The collection is small but includes family correspondence, articles and addresses, papers concerning Jewish affairs between 1942 and 1944, notebooks written whilst a student, script-books, newspaper cuttings, photographs, a Government House visitor's book, regalia, certificates and illuminated addresses. The papers document Isaacs' career as a State and federal politician, judge and as Governor-General of Australia.

Biographical Note:

Isaac Isaacs was born in Melbourne on 6 August 1855. His parents Alfred and Rebecca Isaacs had arrived in Victoria from England the previous year. Isaacs attended school in Yackandandah and Beechworth, where his parents lived between 1859 and 1886. He became a pupil-teacher in Beechworth before joining the Prothonotary's Office, Law Department, Melbourne, in 1875 when he commenced part-time study at the University of Melbourne. He graduated as a Bachelor of Laws in 1880 and a Master of Laws in 1883. In 1882 Isaacs was called to the Bar; he took silk in 1899 and practised until 1906.

From 1892 until 1901 he represented Bogong in the Victorian Legislative Assembly and was Attorney-General in the Conservative Ministry of J.B. Patterson. He was Attorney-General in the Liberal Ministries of Sir George Turner (1894-1899, 1900-1901) and in Alexander Peacock's Government (February-June 1901).

Isaacs was a member of the Victorian delegation at the Federal Convention in 1897-1898, and entered the first Commonwealth Parliament as the Member for the Victorian electorate of Indi. He was Attorney-General in the second Deakin Ministry between July 1905 and October 1906, when he was appointed to the High Court. In 1921 he became a Privy Councillor, and in 1924 was a member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. After acting as Chief Justice of Australia during 1925 and 1927, he was appointed to the position in 1930. The following year, on the recommendation of Prime Minister J.H. Scullin, he was appointed the first Australian-born Governor-General.

Immediately after retirement in January 1937, the Isaacs visited Europe before settling in the Melbourne suburb of South Yarra.

In 1928 Isaacs was created a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (K.C.M.G.) and in 1932 a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (G.C.MG.). In 1938 he received the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath (G.C.B.) in the Coronation Honours List. He married Deborah Jacobs of Melbourne in 1888 and their two daughters were Marjorie (Mrs David Cohen) and Nancy (Mrs Sefton Cullen).

Sir Isaac Isaacs died in Melbourne on 12 February 1948. Lady Isaacs lived in Bowral until her death in 1960.

Provenance:

The papers of Sir Isaac Isaacs received by the National Library in three parts. The major portion was deposited by Lady Isaacs in 1950. In 1968, after the death of Isaacs' daughter Mrs Marjorie Cohen, a second group of papers was received from her son Thomas B. Cohen. A further collection, used by Sir Zelman Cowen for his biography Isaac Isaacs, was deposited in April 1970.

Related

Related Documentation:

1. Supplementary finding aid (Type: pdf, Size: 295.51 KB)

   Appendix I - Correspondence Index

Existence and Location of Originals:

Xerox copies of letters written in 1903 and 1913 from Sir Edmund Barton to Sir Samuel Griffith are included; the originals are contained in the Griffith Papers (ML MSS 363), Mitchell Library, Sydney.

Indexed terms

Names:

Sir Isaac Isaacs

Conditions Governing Access:

Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2060534).

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 Isaac Isaacs, National Library of Australia, MS 2755, [series/file/item number]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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