Guide to the Papers of Lawrence Hargrave (as filmed by the AJCP), 1822-1915

Summary

Collection number:

M367-M372

Creator:

Hargrave, Lawrence

Extent:

6 items

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February-23 September 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-987654321)

Availability:

Available

Background

Content Summary:

Six volumes of Hargrave's 'Journals' titled: Flying Machine Work 1892-1895; Flying Machine Work, 1895-1909; Geographical and Atronomical Work, 1865-1891; Flying Machines, 1909-1915; Mechanical and Aeronautical Work, 1872-1892 and Flying Machine Work, 1890-1892.

Within each volume the papers are filed chronologically, with the exception of the geographical-astronomical volume which is divided into thematic sections. Altogether, it is a remarkably comprehensive collection, with a complete record of Hargrave's study and work on aviation from 1870 until his death in 1915.

The volumes include: Notebooks with indexes, containing letters, diagrams, calculations, photographs, cuttings, and articles, mainly on Hargraves's aeronautical work; Correspondence 1866-91, cuttings and notes, re journeys undertaken by Hargrave, including one as a member of the New Guinea Expedition, formed to prospect for gold. Includes dealings with the N.S.W. branch of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia; Cuttings, notes, calculations and correspondence 1878-83 re astronomy, including Hargrave's work at the Sydney Observatory, and correspondence with H.C. Russell.

Biographical / Historical:

Lawrence Hargrave (1850-1915) was born in London and educated at Queen Elizabeth's School in Kirkby Lonsdale, Westmoreland. In 1865 he sailed to Sydney to join his father, who was a judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. In 1867 he was apprenticed to the engineering workshops of the Australasian Steam Navigation Company, where he worked for five years. Between 1872 and 1877 he took part in a number of exploring expeditions to New Guinea, including the Neva expedition led by the Italian naturalist Luigi D'Albertis. He was elected a member of the Royal Society of New South Wales in 1877. From 1879 to 1883 he worked as an observer at the Sydney Observatory under H.C. Russell, the Government Astronomer.

Justice Hargrave died in 1885. On account of his shrewd property investments, Lawrence Hargrave was able to give up paid employment and take on the role of a gentleman-inventor. He developed a passionate interest in the possibility of flight and his first paper on the construction of flying-machines was presented to the Royal Society of New South Wales in 1884. He constructed several types of engines and in 1889 built the compressed air engine powered by three rotating cylinders. In the 1890s his experiments led to the invention of the box kite, which he believed had greater stability and lift than monoplanes. He continued his aviation experiments for many years, designing engines and working on the curvature of supporting surfaces, but his work was overtaken by the success of the flights carried out by the Wright brothers from December 1903 onwards. (Hargrave had a long correspondence with the Chicago engineer Octave Chanute, who was closely associated with the Wrights.) Nevertheless, Hargrave took a strong interest in aviation developments until the end of his life.

In his later years Hargrave campaigned against the patenting system and also formulated his Lope de Vega theory, believing that two Spanish ships had discovered Sydney Harbour at the end of the sixteenth century.

Related

Existence and Location of Copies:

The original AJCP microfilm of the records filmed from this collection is available at the National Library of Australia [https://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2107036] as well as other institutions holding AJCP microfilm.

Existence and Location of Originals:

Powerhouse Museum, Harris Street, Sydney

For further information see Lawrence Hargrave at the Museum of Applied Arts Sciences Archives (https://ma.as/140447).

Conditions Governing Access:

Available for access.

Conditions Governing Use:

Many of the records digitised as part of the AJCP 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:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February-23 September 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-987654321)

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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