Guide to the Papers of Sir Henry and Lady Penelope Gullett, 1887-1961

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Summary

Collection number:
MS 3078
Creator:
Gullett, Henry Baynton Somer (Jo), Sir Henry and Penelope Gullet, and Hackforth-Jones, P., Mrs.
Extent:
0.21 metres and (5 ms boxes + 3 archives boxes + 10 folders)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Sir Henry and Penelope Gullet, National Library of Australia, [class/series/file/item number]'.
Availability:
Available
Access conditions:
Available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:
MS 3078 contains letters written by Sir Henry to his wife Penelope from Europe during the First World War, and Paris during the Peace Conference. There is a small amount of family correspondence including letters from Gullett's children, in particular from Jo and Sue Gullett. Other letters and telegrams congratulate Gullett on his knighthood in 1933, and his appointment to the ministry in 1939. Correspondents include parliamentarians, diplomats and acquaintances in the Armed Forces, and in particular Joseph A. Lyons, Sir Robert Menzies, John Latham, Sir Henry Chauvel, Professor A.E.V. Richardson, Sir Cyril Brudenell White, Lord Gowrie, Sir Archdale Parkhill and Charles Hawker.Some notes from Gullett's early school days, ca. 1889, texts of parliamentary speeches and ministerial statements, newspaper cuttings, personal documents such as passports, letters to Lady Gullett, including one from Sir F. Gavan Duffy, and a large series on the Imperial Economic Conference in Ottawa are also contained in the collection (10 boxes).
Biographical / Historical:
Henry Somer Gullett, 1878-1940

Henry SomerGullett was born on 26 March 1878 in Harston, Victoria, the son of Charles William Gullett, a farmer, and his wife Rose Mary. He was educated at various Victorian state schools. His father died when he was 12 and he left school to help his mother on the land after which he spent some time on the land.

In 1900 he joined the staff of the Sydney Morning Herald and in 1908 he went to London as correspondent for two other Sydney papers, the Daily Telegraph and The Sun. He also combined freelance journalism with a special study of migration to Australia, published under the title The opportunity in Australia in 1913.

In 1915 Gullett was appointed Australian official war correspondent with the British and French armies on the Western Front. The following year he enlisted in the Australian Field Artillery, receiving his commission in 1917. Shortly afterwards he was transferred to the War Records Section in Palestine and in 1918 appointed official A.I.F. correspondent in that area. He jointly edited Australia in Palestine (1919) and wrote UnguardedAustralia: a plea for immigration (1919) and The Australian Imperial Force in Sinai and Palestine, 1914-1918, (1923), volume 7 of the Official historyof Australia in the War.

After the War Gullett briefly held the position of Director of the Australian War Museum and in 1920 he was appointed Director of the Australian Immigration Bureau. He resigned in 1922 over disagreements with W.M. Hughes and returned to journalism with the Melbourne Herald.

In 1925 Gullett won the Victorian seat of Henty in the House of Representatives as a Nationalist (later United Australia Party) candidate. He held the seat until his death.

The party and ministerial positions he held were:

Deputy Leader of Opposition, 1929-1930

Minister of Trade and Customs, 1928-1929, 1932-1933

Minister without Portfolio, 1934-1937

Minister for External Affairs and Minister for Information, 1939-1940

Gullett represented Australia at the Ottawa Conference in 1932 and shortly after his return he was created a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (January 1933). From 1937 to 1940 he was Vice-President of the Executive Council.

On 13 August 1940 Gullett and two other Cabinet ministers were killed in an air crash near Canberra. He was survived by Lady Gullett, whom he had married in 1912, and their children Henry Baynton SomerGullett and Susan Gullett (later Mrs P. Hackforth-Jones).

Reference, Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 9, pp.137-39

Penelope Elizabeth Gullett, 1890-1960

Penelope Elizabeth Gullett was born on 4 June 1890 at Coonamble, New South Wales, the daughter of Henry Frater and his wife Barbara (who later become known as the writer Barbara Baynton).

She married Henry Somer (later Sir Henry) Gullett. They had two children: Henry Baynton Somer (Jo) and Susan (later Mrs P. Hackforth-Jones).

After the death of her husband in 1940, Lady Gullett increasingly devoted herself to working for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. She died in 1960.

Reference, Obituary, Sydney Morning Herald, 12 December 1960.

Immediate Source of Acquisition:

The main part of the collection was lent for copying by H.B.S. (Jo) Gullett of Lambrigg, Tharwa, A.C.T. in March 1972. It comprised correspondence and papers relating to his maternal grandmother, Lady Headley, and his father, mother and himself. In July 1974 Mrs P. Hackforth-Jones of Paddington, Sydney (Mr Gullett's sister) added to the collection photocopies of letters written by W.M. Hughes to his father and mother. A final consignment of papers relating to the Imperial Economic Conference (series 7) was purchased by the Library from a book dealer in June 1987.

Further papers were received in 2013.

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:
Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn768591).
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 Henry and Penelope Gullet, National Library of Australia, [class/series/file/item number]'.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact:
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