Guide to the Papers of Sir Brudenell White, 1731-1998 (bulk 1900-1940)

Summary

Collection number:

MS 5172

Creator:

White, Cyril Brudenell Bingham, Sir

Extent:

16.23 metres and (105 ms boxes + 1 archives box + 1 small folio box)

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Sir Brudenell White, National Library of Australia, MS 5172, [series and/or file number]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Permission required for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

This collection documents White's life and career including his early life, his military career which he commenced in 1896, and his life after he retired from military service in 1923. Included are diaries; drafts of lectures, articles and reports by White, mostly on military subjects; financial records; newspaper cuttings; photographs; published works, mainly on military topics; and ephemera, including from royal visits in which White played a key role. There is also a group of papers accumulated by Lady White and a group of more recent papers comprising files created by White's daughter, Rosemary, Lady Derham, while undertaking research for her biography of her father, which was published in 1998.

A strength of this collection is the large component of correspondence, which provides an insight into both the public and private life of Sir Brudenell. During the course of his career, White developed friendships with many prominent military figures and their letters, often spanning a number of years, are contained in the collection. There is also an extensive run of letters between Sir Brudenell and Lady White, many written during the period 1914-1919 when they were separated as a result of White's service during WW1, and with other members of White's family.

Principal correspondents include Dr C.E.W. Bean, Sir William Birdwood, Major-General W.T. Bridges, General R.A. Carruthers, Lord Casey, Lord Cavan, Sir Harry Chauvel, Sir W.R. Creswell, Sir H.V. Cox, General Charles Dobell, Sir John Gellibrand, Sir Alexander Godley, Sir Talbot Hobbs, Sir Neville Howse, Sir Edward Hutton, Sir Archibald Montgomery-Massingberd, Sir John Monash, Sir Keith Murdoch, Governor-General Munro Ferguson, Major E.H. Reynolds, Sir Charles Rosenthal, Sir A. Skeen and the Duke of York.

Provenance:

The papers were acquired in several instalments from the family of Sir Brudenell White. The first large instalment was received in 1976 from White's daughter, Rosemary, Lady Derham. This was followed by small additions to the collection in 1979, 1982, 1984 and 1989. In 1999 Lady Derham added the remaining papers she held to the collection. A further small addition was received in 2003 from White's grandson, Mark Derham.

Arrangement:

Instalments of White's papers received from 1976 to 1989 were listed by box and folder number as they were received. In 1999 and 2003 substantial further instalments of papers were acquired. In 2012 all the instalments were amalgamated and a new, more substantial guide to the collection created. A concordance of the old folder/box numbers with new folder/box numbers is available on request.

In order to enhance access to this large collection, papers were grouped into series by the Library. Although the general arrangement of the papers has been imposed by the Library, all the files created by Sir Brudenell White, Lady White and Lady Derham have been kept intact. File titles and descriptions created by the Library are based on the contents of the files.

Lady Derham, worked extensively with her father's papers while researching her biography of him and rearranged a significant proportion of the original archive, especially correspondence. There is evidence of this work throughout the collection in the form of files, post-it notes and research notes. Files Lady Derham created containing original papers from the archive can be found in the relevant series. Files of later papers she accumulated as part of her research have been grouped in a separate series.

Papers accumulated by Lady White for the most part can be found in a separate series of her papers. However, there is some overlap with other series, particularly correspondence.

Conditions Governing Access:

Access conditions may apply to this collection, please refer to the collection's catalogue record for further information (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1096442).

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Sir Brudenell White, National Library of Australia, MS 5172, [series and/or file number]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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