The Port Line Ltd Records consist of the company's administrative and operational papers. Port Line was a subsidiary of the Cunard Steamship Company, and the Port Line series forms part of the larger Cunard Steamship Co Ltd archive, which comprises most of the surviving business records produced by Cunard since it became a limited company in 1878.
1.89 metres(3 archive boxes + 6 ms box + 1 medium folio box)
Abstract Or Scope
Papers relate to Rofe's work in upper-atmosphere research and in the application of space techniques to meterology and earth service. They consist of unclassified correspondence, telegrams and memoranda from within the Department of Supply and with outside research organisations. There are also photographs taken at his retirement from Salisbury, papers relating to his work with COSPAR and ICUMA and files and reports on his various overseas trips. A second installment of papers relate to Rofe's services in the R.A.A.F. during World War II and his work at W.R.E. Salisbury and the Australian Antarctic Division, Melbourne. They include an Allied Geography of the South West Pacific area 1943; correspondence, typescript and published articles by Rofe and others, and notebooks relating to upper atmosphere research; newspaper clippings and photographs of the launching of WRESAT I and photographs of his retirement in 1970. The papers relating to the Antarctic Division include roneoed newsletters, a typescript article entitled 'Nine days alone on the Gotley Glacier,' newspaper clippings and photographs and slides of a trip to the Antarctic in 1970. Collection also contains letters of condolence including letters from Sir Kenneth Anderson, P. M. Twiss, J. H. Dolphin, and P. Duff; photographs taken at overseas conferences, of Carnarvon, W.A., family photographs, an M.B.E. medal and other miscellaneous items. Many of the photographs in this second consignment were annotated by Mrs. Rofe. Additionally there are approximately 2000 letters written by Bryan Rofe and his wife Patricia (nee Whitford) during World War II, that describe the events taking place in their daily lives. Bryan Rofe served in the RAAF Meteorological Service and was posted to Timor as a RAAF Flying Officer. In 1942, Rofe was placed in command of a group of 29 Australian servicemen who, for 58 days, evaded the Japanese invasion of Timor before being picked up from a beach at night by the submarine USS Searaven. Rofe's grandson Tom Trumble, wrote the book 'Rescue at 2100 Hours: the untold story of the most daring escape of the Pacific war' based on information found in these letters along with diaries of Rofe and other servicemen and wartime records. The collection also includes a photo of the US submarine USS Searaven signed by the officers and crew of the submarine; a 1943 portrait photograph of Bryan Rofe as a Squadron Leader in the RAAF; telegrams, poems, photographs and drawings.
The collection comprises records of the National Florence Nightingale Committee and its related associations, which were originally housed at the Committee's offices in the Nurses Memorial Centre, Melbourne. The Committee was dissolved in 1993, and its archive was transferred to the new Canberra headquarters of the Royal College of Nursing, which was designated the organisation's official trustee.
Correspondence 1889-1934. Subjects include: samples of Australian and New Zealand minerals; Australian meteorites; sales of collections of Australian minerals; and collecting expeditions.
The earlier papers are largely comprised of draft and typescript manuscripts of 'Time on Fire', 'A Taste of Salt Water', 'Shabbytown Calendar', 'Begin with Walking' and many uncollected poems, together with correspondence with Charles Blackman and writers such as R.A. Simpson, Craig Powell, Chris Wallace-Crabbe, Peter Skrzynecki, Douglas Stewart, James McAuley, Richard Tipping, John Tranter and Robert Adamson. Also included is a group of correspondence with Gwen Harwood and Rodney Hall, which incorporates drafts of the latter's 'The Law of Karma', 'Heaven in a Way' and 'Romulus and Remus, a progression of poems'. The 1998 addition relates principally to Shapcott's directorship of the National Book Council and includes correspondence and notes documenting his role in the Council's activities. Also represented is Shapcott's participation as a judge in many Australian poetry and literary competitions and delegate at overseas festivals, as well as a number of photographs of the poet and his family.