Guide to the Papers of Andrew Bonar Law (as filmed by the AJCP), 1905-1923

Summary

Collection number:

M1123

Creator:

Bonar Law, Andrew and Davidson, John Colin Campbell

Extent:

61 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 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for reference.

Background

Content Summary:

Correspondence with politicians and others on matters including: tariff reform; Imperial defence; representation of the Dominions in London; Irish Home Rule; and the 1915 Dardanelles Campaign. Correspondents include A. Deakin, Sir George Reid, W.M. Hughes, H.H. Asquith, Lord Milner and Sir Walter Long.

Papers 1915-16 of J.C.C. Davidson, private secretary to Law, mostly comprising letters of Sir Ronald Munro-Ferguson dealing with: political situation in Australia; Dardanelles Campaign; federal-State relations; former German colonies in the Pacific; public finance; and the 1916 conscription referendum.

Biographical / Historical:

Andrew Bonar Law (1858-1923) Born in Kingston, New Brunswick, Canada, migrated to Britain in 1870, educated at Glasgow High School. Businessman. Conservative M.P. 1900-1923. Parliamentary Secretary to Board of Trade 1902-1905. Leader of Conservative-Unionist Party in House of Commons 1911-1921. Secretary of State for the Colonies 1915-1916, Chancellor of the Exchequer 1916-1919, Lord Privy Seal 1919-1921. Resigned from the Lloyd George Coalition Government in March 1921 on account of ill-health. Appointed Prime Minister and elected Leader of the Conservative Party in October 1922. Resigned in May 1923 due to ill-health and died five months later.

Reference: R. Blake. The unknown Prime Minister; the life and times of Andrew Bonar Law, 1858-1923. (London, Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1955)

John Colin Campbell Davidson (1889-1970) 1st Viscount Davidson (created 1937). Born in Aberdeen, educated at Westminster School and Cambridge. Barrister. Private Secretary to Lord Crewe 1910, Private Secretary to Louis Harcourt 1910-15, Private Secretary to A. Bonar Law 1915-20. Conservative M.P. 1920-23, 1924-37. Parliamentary Private Secretary to A. Bonar Law 1920-21, 1922-23, Parliamentary Private Secretary to Stanley Baldwin 1921-22. Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, 1923, 1931-37, Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty, 1924-27. Chairman of the Conservative Party 1927-30.

Reference: Robert Rhodes James, ed. Memoirs of a Conservative; J.C.C. Davidsons memoirs and papers, 1910-1937. (London, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1969)

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-vn2248304] as well as other institutions holding AJCP microfilm.

Existence and Location of Originals:

Parliamentary Archives. Formerly House of Lords Record Office, Houses of Parliament, London, England. For more information see the Parliamentary Archives catalogue (https://www.portcullis.parliament.uk/calmview/).

Bonar Law's papers are held in two collections in the House of Lords Record Office: the Bonar Law Papers (Reference No: BL) and the Davidson Papers (Reference No: DAV). Both collections were formerly in the Beaverbrook Library and were transferred to the House of Lords Record Office in 1975.

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 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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