Guide to the Papers of Geoffrey Loftus-Hills, 1921-1999

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Summary

Collection number:
MS 9918
Creator:
Loftus-Hills, G., 1910-1999
Extent:
0.45 metres and (3 boxes)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Geoffrey Loftus-Hills, National Library of Australia, MS 9918, [item/file number]'.
Availability:
Available
Access conditions:
Available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:
The bulk of the collection comprises publications and correspondence relating mainly to the dairy industry and the Dairy Research Division of the CSIRO. There are also letters from Loftus Hills to his family while he was overseas visiting dairy factories in 1934-1935. Later material shows his political, social and humanitarian interests, and includes papers concerning the United Nations Association of Australia, the Australia Party, and the Australian Democrats.
Biographical Note:

Geoffrey Loftus-Hills was born in Launceston on 24 July 1910. He attended State High School in Launceston, and Xavier College in Melbourne. He then went to the University of Melbourne, graduated in 1930 with First Class Honours in Agricultural Science, and won the H.G Turner Research Scholarship in 1931. He used this to spend a year studying dairy manufacture in Victora.

He worked at the Victorian Department of Agriculture as a dairy chemist from 1931 until 1937. During this time, he received the Australian Dairy Council Special Grant for overseas research, and visited dairy facilities in England, Europe, America and Russia during 1934 and 1935. From 1937 until 1940 he worked for various private dairy companies, and at the end of 1940 joined the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (later CSIRO). He was officer in charge of the Dairy Research Section from 5 May 1947 until 1 July 1962, after which he was appointed Chief of the new Division of Dairy Research. He stayed in this position until his retirement on 22 January 1971. In 1954 he received the Gold Medal of the Australian Society of Dairy Technology for outstanding service to the dairy industry over the previous 10 years.

Loftus Hills sat on various boards and societies, including the Australian Dairy Products Standards Organisation and Australian Dairy Produce Board. He was a representative to International Dairy Congresses held in 1949, 1956, 1959, 1962 and 1966, and helped to organise the XVIII Congress held in Australia in 1970.

After his retirement in 1971, Loftus-Hills and his second wife Lois were involved in many organisations outside the dairy industry, among them the Australia Party, the United Nations Association of Australia, and the Australian Club of Rome. He assisted in the formation of the Australian Democrats and was instrumental in Don Chipp becoming leader of the new party in 1977. He and Lois spent much of their time working for these organisations and for their local community. They kept a high profile through writing articles and letters on both local and global concerns, as well as publishing brochures and leaflets on their own printing press.

Loftus Hills died in Melbourne on 16 July 1999, aged 88.

Provenance:

The papers were donated to the Library on 10 December 2004 by Lois Loftus-Hills. A further package was received in May 2005.

Arrangement:

The collection has been left largely in original order. The later parcel of papers has been integrated into the collection.

Indexed terms

Names:
Loftus-Hills, G., 1910-1999

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 Geoffrey Loftus-Hills, National Library of Australia, MS 9918, [item/file number]'.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact:
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