Guide to the Loke Wan Tho Map Collection, 1975-1978

Summary

Collection number:

MFC 32

Creator:

Loke Wan Tho, Dato and Ann Talbot Smith

Extent:

64 items and in 3 map folders

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of map item], Loke Wan Tho Map Collection, National Library of Australia, [item number]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for reference. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The Loke Wan Tho Map Collection consists primarily of maps collected by Loke Wan Tho in his international travels. The collection includes road maps, sheet maps, pictorial guides, maps of National Parks, hydrographic charts, aeronautical maps and manuscript maps, and a small collection of pamphlets that includes boat and ferry timetables. Maps cover areas of the United States of America, Asia, Australasia and Europe.

Biographical / Historical:

{"geogname":"Kuala Lumpur","persname":"Loke Yew","content":["Dato Loke Wan Tho (1915–1964) was the son of","\u003cspan class='persname'\u003eLoke Yew\u003c/span\u003e, one of Malaya's first millionaires and philanthropists. He was born in","\u003cspan class='geogname'\u003eKuala Lumpur\u003c/span\u003e and educated at the Victorian Institution, Chillon College at Montreaux, Switzerland, King's College, Cambridge, and the London School of Economics."]}

{"corpname":["Cathay Company","Straits Times","Malayan Airways","Singapore Telephone Board","National Library of Singapore Board"],"content":["In 1946 he became Chairman of the","\u003cspan class='corpname'\u003eCathay Company\u003c/span\u003e, which at the time owned two cinemas in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Within 15 years the company had built up a chain of 60 cinemas, as well as two studios and four hotels. He was chairman of about 30 other companies concerned with banking, trading, insurance, rubber, tin, shipping, and film production and distribution, as well as chairing such bodies as the","\u003cspan class='corpname'\u003eStraits Times\u003c/span\u003e,","\u003cspan class='corpname'\u003eMalayan Airways\u003c/span\u003e, the","\u003cspan class='corpname'\u003eSingapore Telephone Board\u003c/span\u003e and the","\u003cspan class='corpname'\u003eNational Library of Singapore Board\u003c/span\u003e."]}

{"subject":"ornithology","persname":["Loke Wan Tho","Salim Ali","Malcolm MacDonald"],"corpname":"Bombary Natural History Society","content":["\u003cspan class='persname'\u003eLoke Wan Tho\u003c/span\u003e was a man of wide interests and extraordinary energy. In 1942 he met","\u003cspan class='persname'\u003eSalim Ali\u003c/span\u003e, the curator of the","\u003cspan class='corpname'\u003eBombary Natural History Society\u003c/span\u003e Museum, and developed a passion for","\u003cspan class='subject'\u003eornithology\u003c/span\u003e. Often in the company of Ali and the British proconsul","\u003cspan class='persname'\u003eMalcolm MacDonald\u003c/span\u003e, he travelled to India, Kashmir, Sarawak, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, Finland and other countries and states photographing birds and archaeological monuments. Many of his photographs were reproduced in MacDonald's book Angkor: with one hundred and twelve photographs (1958)."]}

{"persname":["Jock Marshall","Eric Worrell","Russell Drysdale","Mavis Chew"],"content":["In 1961 Wan Tho visited Australia, staying with Professor","\u003cspan class='persname'\u003eJock Marshall\u003c/span\u003e and camping in the Murray Mallee region with","\u003cspan class='persname'\u003eEric Worrell\u003c/span\u003e,","\u003cspan class='persname'\u003eRussell Drysdale\u003c/span\u003e and others. His book A Company of Birds was published in 1957. He was the leading art collector in Malaysia, with a collection extending from pre-Han pottery to modern paintings. Loke Wan Tho and his third wife","\u003cspan class='persname'\u003eMavis Chew\u003c/span\u003e were killed in a plane crash in Taiwan in 1964."]}

Immediate Source of Acquisition:

{"persname":"Ann Talbot Smith","content":["Acquired by the National Library of Australia from","\u003cspan class='persname'\u003eAnn Talbot Smith\u003c/span\u003e/The Estate of Loke Wan Tho, 1978."]}

Indexed terms

Names:

Ann Talbot Smith

Conditions Governing Access:

Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1765449).

Conditions Governing Use:

Some of the items within this collection, including some that have been made available as digitised images, are still in copyright. Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the owner of the original material.

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of map item], Loke Wan Tho Map Collection, National Library of Australia, [item number]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

Contact us