Special collections relating to Stanley Melbourne Bruce in the National Library of Australia
National Library of Australia
| Manuscript Section |
| National Library of Australia |
| Parkes, ACT 2600 |
| Phone: +61 2 6262 1250 |
| Fax: +61 2 6262 1516 |
| Email: manuscripts@nla.gov.au |
| URL: http://www.nla.gov.au/ms/ |
| Date completed: | 19 November 2002 |
This guide was created in association with the National Archives of Australia for the Australia's Prime Ministers website.
Scope and Content
The Library holds several small collections of Stanley Melbourne Bruce papers which were received from various sources. In addition there is a recording of an interview with Bruce, a video and a number of other manuscript collections which contain letters or other materials relating to Bruce. The Bruce collections are listed first in this guide, followed by the other sources, listed in alphabetical order.
Collection Number: MS 1598
Quantity: 5 folio items
Five banquet invitations to Bruce (as the High Commissioner of the Commonwealth of Australia) to dine at the Guildhall from the Lord Mayors of London: Sir Percy Walter Greenaway (1933); Sir George Broadbridge (1936); Sir Harry Augustus Twyford (1937); Sir Frank Bowater (1938, 1939).
Collection Number: MS 1732
Quantity: 0.01 metres
Printed document announcing that a royal luncheon was given to the their majesties King George VI and Queen Elizabeth by the Corporation of the City of London, at Guildhall, 19 May 1937, in celebration of their majesties' coronation. There is also a seating arrangement at Guildhall for a banquet held at Guildhall for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and a pamphlet and booklet concerning luncheon given at Guildhall for their majesties on their return from Canada and the United States of America.
Collection Number: ORAL TRC 187
Quantity: 4 tape reels and a transcript
Interviews recorded by Cecil Edwards while researching his book Bruce of Melbourne.
Collection Number: MS 8901
Quantity: 0.01 metres
Letter from Bruce to Sir Charles Wakefield, 24 December 1926. Sir Charles Wakefield's firm, C.C. Wakefield and Co, dealt in lubricating oil ('Castrol'). He was interested in fostering imperial strength and friendship and financed Sir Alan Cobham's return flight to Australian in 1926.
Collection Number: MS 983
Quantity: 0.15 metres + 1 folio item
This collection of newspaper cuttings includes articles relating to Bruce's period as Treasurer in 1921-1923.
Collection Number: MS 1710
Quantity: 4 folio items
Papers relating to a ceremony in which a grove of oak trees was planted in Windsor Great Park. Includes an invitation, circular giving details of dress and the ceremony, procedure at the planting at the Coronation Grove of oaks and a plan showing the grove of oaks planted by King George VI, 1937.
Collection Number: MS 1977
Quantity: 0.01 metres
This collection includes a printed booklet of Bruce's toast to the Duke of York at a dinner in London in 1926.
Collection Number: MS 4744
Quantity: 2.1 metres
Charles Lydiard Abbott held the Federal seat of Gwydir from 1925 to 1929, and also was Minister for Home Affairs, 1928-1929. In 1931 he was re-elected, and remained until 1937. The collection includes letters, reports, manuscript notes and printed items relating to C.L.A. Abbott's years as a Member of Parliament. Abbott's correspondence including letters from Sir Robert Garran and S.M. Bruce. A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: MS 4636
Quantity: 0.02 metres
Frank Anstey was MHR for Bourke (ALP) and Scullin's Minister for Health and Repatriation, 1929-1931. The papers include an article 'The Viceroy', a profile of Lord Bruce.
Collection Number: Mfm M2497
Quantity: 1 microfilm reel
Stanley Baldwin was British Prime Minister in 1923-1924, 1924-1929 and 1935-1937. These records comprise microfilm copies of selections of Baldwin's papers relating to Australia and New Zealand. They include correspondence on Australian defence; the economic mission to Australia (1927-1929); letters from Australian Prime Ministers (including Bruce) about dominion affairs (1925-1937); letters about trade (1930-1935); and general correspondence files (1923-1937). Microfilm copy of original papers held by Cambridge University Library, England. A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: Mfm M2924-2970
Quantity: 47 microfilm reels
Accounts, correspondence, memoranda and other papers relating to various Bank departments including Accounts, Administration, Cashier's, Exchange Control, Economic Intelligence, Governor's and Secretary's (Overseas). Major correspondents include S.M. Bruce. Microfilm copy of original records held in the Archive Department, Bank of England, London. A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: MS 5241
Quantity: 2.38 metres (17 boxes)
Baracchi was one of the founders of the Communist Party of Australia. The papers include letters from Bruce. A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: Mfm M1126-1129
Quantity: 4 microfilm reels
Canadian-born newspaper owner and British Minister for Aircraft Production (1940-1941) and Supply (1941-1942). Selections from the general correspondence, 1910-1964 refer to press and politics in Australia and New Zealand and imperial trade. Correspondents include J.H. Scullin and Lord Bruce. Microfilm copy of originals held in the House of Lords Record Office, London. A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: MS 1924
Quantity: 25.6 metres
Ivy was Deakin's daughter. The papers in this collection date from 1869 to 1970 and include correspondence, notes, diaries, minute books, photographs and cuttings covering every phase of the careers of Herbert and Ivy Brookes. There are around 120 letters written by or to Bruce. Items of interest include notes made by Brookes of an interview with Bruce in 1924, correspondence with Bruce relating to the Tariff Board (1922-1928) and copies of official communications to Bruce while Brookes was Commissioner-General USA, 1929. A card index to correspondence and a descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: MS 3034
Quantity: 1 volume (folio)
Alfred Buchanan's 'The Prime Ministers of Australia' is an unpublished manuscript comprising biographies of all Prime Ministers from Edmund Barton to Robert Gordon Menzies.
Collection Number: MS 6150
Quantity: 10.38 metres (73 boxes)
Minister in the Lyons Government (1933-1939). The diaries of R.G. Casey, later Lord Casey, include references to Bruce. A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: MS 3800
Quantity: 16 metres
Economist, university administrator and diplomat. The collection includes diaries, research notes, cuttings, correspondence, and material on the economic and political affairs in Australia (1920-1965). The papers concerning the 1928-1929 Tariff Inquiry (boxes 58-59) contain correspondence with S.M. Bruce. A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: MS 5243
Quantity: 20.8 metres (140 boxes + 2 folios)
Crisp was an academic, biographer of Ben Chifley and author of numerous publications on federation and Australian politics. The bulk of the collection consists of subject files on a wide range of topics compiled mainly from newspaper cuttings and journal articles. There are files on all Australian prime ministers from Sir Edmund Barton to Malcolm Fraser. The Bruce file is dated 1924-1961. A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: MS 8390
Quantity: 0.18 metres
Author of Lord Bruce of Melbourne (1989). The papers include photocopies and research material relating to Stanley Melbourne Bruce.
Collection Number: MS 5129
Quantity: 0.16 metres (6 folders)
Warren Denning was a journalist and author. The collection includes drafts of some of his writing on the ALP and biographical subjects, including Sir Earle Page, J. H. Scullin, J. A. Lyons, Lord Bruce and Sir Robert Menzies.
Collection Number: MS 4849
Quantity: 1.25 metres
Lloyd Dumas was a journalist, managing editor (1929-1938) and managing director (1938-1961) of the Adelaide Advertiser. His papers include correspondence and news cuttings dealing with political subjects (1929-1948), including correspondence with S.M. Bruce (1932), J.A. Lyons and J.B. Chifley. A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: MS 4637
Quantity: 0.48 metres (3 boxes) + 7 folio items
The collection includes approximately 150 letters between Stanley Melbourne Bruce and Cecil Edwards, his biographer, including reference to the United Australia Party and J.A. Lyons.
Collection Number: MS 423
Quantity: 5.04 metres (34 boxes)
Politician, diplomat and scholar. Includes correspondence with S.M. Bruce (1925-1926; 1944-1946), J.J. Curtin and R.G. Menzies. A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: MS 1006
Quantity: 5.04 metres + 1 folio item
Ulrich Ellis was political secretary to the federal Country Party Leader Earle Page (1928-1936) and an author. The papers include Ellis's writings and records of his career as a journalist in Canberra (1926-1939) and as political secretary, with reference to political figures. There are notes on Ellis's book, A History of the Australian Country Party (1963), a file on the formation of the United Australia Party and files on the Bruce-Page Government, 1924-1927. A descriptive list is available. Other Ellis Papers are available at MS 748 and MS 821.
Collection Number: MS 2919
Quantity: 2.36 metres (15 boxes)
This is the main collection of Fisher papers. It includes correspondence on family and official matters (including four Bruce letters, 1927-1937). Much of this material documents Fisher's political career, especially his terms as Prime Minister and his work as High Commissioner in London. A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: Mfm M2995-3032
Quantity: 38 microfilm reels
Commercial Secretary of the Clyde Navigation Trust. The papers include cutting books, letter books and correspondence referring to his tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1928, representation of Glasgow firms in Australia and New Zealand, and marketing of Australian and New Zealand produce in Scotland. The correspondents include S.M. Bruce, Sir James Parr, Lord Stonehaven and Sir Thomas Wilford. Microfilm copy of originals held by the Strathclyde Regional Archives, Mitchell Library, Glasgow, Scotland. A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: MS 8248
Quantity: 42 cm. (19 folders, 3 boxes)
Judge, Queen's Counsel, lecturer in law and author. The collection comprises notes, manuscript, typescript drafts and the final version (with editorial alterations and directions to the printer) of Profiles of power : the prime ministers of Australia. Ferntree Gully, Vic.: Houghton Mifflin, 1990.
Collection Number: MS 2852
Quantity: 54 boxes plus folio items
Lord Gowrie (Sir Alexander Hore-Ruthven) was Governor of SA (1928-1934), Governor of NSW (1935), and succeeded Sir Isaac Isaacs as Governor-General from January 1936 to September 1944. His papers include photographs, notebooks, memoirs and correspondence. Correspondents include S.M. Bruce (1944). A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: MS 8471
Quantity: 0.07 metres
Academic and Country Party historian. The papers include notes on an oral history interview made in 1956-1957 while he was writing his history The formation of the Australia Country Parties. The interviewees include E. Page, C.L.A. Abbott, J. Latham and S.M. Bruce (interviewed 3 December 1957). A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: Mfm PRO 6010-6015
Quantity: 6 microfilm reels
Includes records of meetings between the Secretary of State for Dominions and the High Commissioner (1938-1947) and minutes from the Secretary of State to the Prime Minister referring to the attendance of Bruce at War Cabinet and the conferral of peerage on Bruce. Microfilmed by the Australian Joint Copying Project from originals held at the Public Record Office, London (DO 121/1-134). A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: MS 236
Quantity: 29 boxes
Groom was a Member of the House of Representatives, 1901-1929 and 1931-1936 and a Minister in several Governments. These papers include 36 letters to or by S.M. Bruce, 1921-1929. A card index of correspondence and a descriptive list is available. Additional material related to this collection is held at MS 1135.
Collection Number: MS 3078
Quantity: 1.35 metres (10 boxes)
Journalist and MHR for Henty (1925-1940). Gullett held several ministerial positions including Trade and Customs (1928-1929; 1932-1933) and External Affairs and Information (1939-1940). The political correspondence (item 3/1-2) contains a letter from Bruce (1926). Item 4/17 is a telegram from Bruce relating to Oxford University entrance examinations (1933). A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: MS 1511
Quantity: 0.01 metres
Excerpt from unpublished memoirs of Clifford Harding Browne, Melbourne July 1965. Includes an account of a meeting which Bruce had in Adelaide with the representatives of the Chambers of Commerce of all States, about mid 1927, to take them into his confidence about the plan he was formulating for improving relations between the Commonwealth and the States. The upshot was the Financial Agreement of 12 Dec. 1927.
Collection Number: MS 8882
Quantity: 7.76 metres (42 boxes + 1 carton) + 3 folio boxes
Journalist. The papers on Harris' work as a journalist in England (series 6) include a speech drafted for Lord Bruce, March 1949 relating to British meat supplies. A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: MS 4848
Quantity: 1.25 metres
Charles Hawker was a South Australian pastoralist, MHR for Wakefield, United Australia Party parliamentarian and a member of the Lyons Cabinet. The papers consist of correspondence, speeches, parliamentary papers, cuttings, and photographs. They cover such subjects as Aborigines, defence, and the Ottawa Agreements. There is S.M. Bruce correspondence in series 3 including a letter from Bruce informing Hawker of his appointment to the Commonwealth Board of Trade (31 January 1928) and a letter of 20 November 1930 from Bruce thanking Hawker for offering to relinquish his parliamentary seat of Wakefield for Bruce. A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: MS 3155
Quantity: 3.36 metres (24 boxes) + 1 folio item
Diplomat and public servant. Includes correspondence with Bruce (Box 1/10) relating to Heydon's biography of Sir George Pearce. A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: MS 554
Quantity: 0.01 metres (1 folder)
Member for Echuca (1919-1934) and Federal Minister for Works and Railways (1924-1928). Includes a copy of a letter to Bruce 1928, relating to the retirement of the Hill, founder of the United Country Party, Victoria.
Collection Number: MS 2098
Quantity: 0.05 metres
Ted Holloway was the Labor Party candidate who defeated Bruce in the seat of Flinders in the 1929 election. His papers include an unpublished typescript autobiography entitled 'From Labour Council to Privy Council' in which he credits his victory solely on Bruce's shortcomings: 'He had pulled his safe seat from under himself by the willfulness and overbearing class bias of his policies. I was fully conscious that the Flinders vote was a vote against Bruce and for Labour: E.J. Holloway just happened to have been the man endorsed by Labour'.
Collection Number: MS 1538
Quantity: 50.35 metres (235 boxes) + 23 folio items
William ('Billy') Morris Hughes' papers include 17 letters by or to Bruce (1920-1923; 1926-1927) as well as papers relating to the 1929 election, the Maritime Industries Bill, and Hughes' attendance (in place of Bruce) at the 13th General Assembly of the League of Nations (1932). A card index of correspondence and a descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: MS 52
Quantity: 0.9 metres
Atlee Hunt was one of the first senior federal public servants. He was Edmund Barton's private secretary (1901) and became the Secretary of the Department of External Affairs (1901-1917) and Secretary to the Department of Home and Territories (1917-1921). The collection includes five letters by or to Bruce (1927). A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: Mfm M2241-2253
Quantity: 13 microfilm reels
Author of works on the British Empire. Jebb visited Australia and New Zealand in 1899-1900 and 1905-1906. The correspondence files (1885-1953) include correspondence with Alfred Deakin, S.M. Bruce, and R.G. Menzies. Microfilm copy of originals held by the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, London. A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: MS 745
Quantity: 0.02 metres
Walter Kingsmill, a Senator for WA, was President of the Senate (1929-1932). The papers, found among records of the Public Accounts Committee, include his correspondence with Bruce.
Collection Number: MS 1984
Quantity: 3 letters
Three letters from Kipling to N.R. Morris (later Lord Nuffield), two of which inform him of Kipling's discussions with Bruce about the export of British manufactured cars to Australia and Australian requirements.
Collection Number: MS 277
Quantity: 0.16 metres (11 folders)
Kirwan was a Western Australian politician. His papers relate to the Federation movement, especially on the Western Australian goldfields, and early federal politics, including one letter (31 August 1927) from Bruce. A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: MS 1009
Quantity: 18.4 metres
Latham was appointed Attorney-General in the Bruce-Page Government in 1925 and was later Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for External Affairs, Minister for Industry and Chief Justice of the High Court. The collection contains extensive correspondence with Bruce, dating from 1920 until 1963. Series which contain Bruce correspondence include general correspondence, League of Nations, the elections of 1925 and 1929, industrial arbitration, public finance and the United Australia Party. A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: MS 4851
Quantity: 1.5 metres (6 boxes + 2 folios)
MHR for Wilmot (1929-1939) and Prime Minister (1932-1939). The collection includes correspondence with W.M. Hughes, S.M. Bruce (1932-1939), J.H. Scullin, R.G. Menzies, and E.C.G. Page. A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: MS 6890
Quantity: 0.56 metres (4 boxes)
Representative of the Australian Dried Fruits Association in London (1922-1932), Member of the Empire Marketing Board, London (1926-1932) and later economic advisor to the Australian Government in London. The papers include letters by Bruce dating from 1930 to 1931 referring to the 1930 Imperial Conference, the quota system for wheat and the Scullin Government (series 3/2-3). A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: MS 4936
Quantity: 80.92 metres (578 boxes)
Robert Gordon (later Sir Robert) Menzies was a United Australia Party member. From 1934 he was MHR for Kooyong and Attorney-General and Minister for Industry in the Lyons Government,later becoming Deputy leader and Prime Minister. His extensive collection includes correspondence sorted chronologically by name including 14 letters to Bruce (1939-1967) and 23 letters by Bruce (1931-1967), cuttings and speeches (1917-1976), diaries (1935-1963), and Liberal Party correspondence (1944-1974). A descriptive list (139 pages) is available.
Collection Number: MS 2629
Quantity: 3.2 metres
Public servant and diplomat. Officer worked in the External Affairs Branch of Prime Minister's Department, 1925-1935 and with the Department of External Affairs, 1935-1955. The papers contain over 50 letters by or to Bruce, 1939-1955. A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: MS 1633
Quantity: 42.67 metres
Dr (later Sir) Earle Page founded and led the Country Party, and became Prime Minister (briefly) upon Lyons' death. His papers include subject files of correspondence, cables, cuttings, personal documents, reports, and speeches. They cover such topics as primary industry, taxation and banking, foreign affairs, national insurance, industrial relations, social services, immigration, trade, new state movements, the formation of the Bruce-Page government, and the Country Party. The correspondence includes 12 letters from Bruce (1929-1955). A card index to correspondence and a chronological and subject list of files is available.
Collection Number: MS213, MS1827 and MS1927
Quantity: 1.5 metres (10 boxes)
George (later Sir George) Pearce was a WA Senator and Minister for Home and Territories in the Bruce-Page Government (1923-1926). Around 60 letters by or to Pearce are held in these collections, mainly dating from 1926 to 1933. A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: MS 936
Quantity: 2.24 metres (13 boxes)
John Perkins was a member of Lyons' Cabinet. The collection includes diaries (1892-1950) and other references to his political career. Series 2 (political material) includes a letter from Bruce dated 25 September 1929 outlining his ideas on the arbitration question (item 2/64a). A detailed list is available.
Collection Number: MS 882
Quantity: 1.4 metres (10 boxes)
Piesse was a lawyer and public servant. Piesse's papers include correspondence, memoranda and notes (1918-1923), mainly relating to his work in the Defence Department and the Prime Minister's Department. There are two letters to Bruce, one concerning the League of Nations Permanent Mandates Commission meeting on the administration of New Guinea and Nauru (1923), and the other a transcript of a telegram from the Japanese Consul (1923). A descriptive guide is available.
Collection Number: Mfm G 6626A
Quantity: 1 microfilm reel
Papers concerning the referendum to alter the Constitution by extending the powers of the Federal Parliament, 1926. Microfilm copy of originals held by Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales.
Collection Number: MS 2004
Quantity: 7.5 metres
Feminist, President Australian Federation of Women Voters (1921-1942). The papers include extensive correspondence, written on behalf of various women's organizations. There are 9 letters written by Bruce and 22 to him by Rischbieth, dating from around 1923-1932. A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: MS 8049
Quantity: 6 metres (43 boxes)
The collection includes extracts of correspondence between Sir David Rivett and Lord Bruce (1928, 1948-1954) assembled by Rohan Rivett while writing his biography of his father, Sir David Rivett. David Rivett was Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: MS 7871
Quantity: 0.01 metres (1 folder)
Diary notes written by Lord Simon during his visit to Australia in 1925. The notes give detailed records of his conversations with leading politicians, officials, bankers, industrialists and academics. They include Thomas Bavin, Sir Henry Braddon, Herbert Brookes, S.M. Bruce, Sir Edward Owen Cox, Frederic Eggleston, Sir George Higgins, Professor T.H. Laby and Sir Alexander Peacock.
Collection Number: MS 8604
Quantity: 9.94 metres (71 boxes)
Journalist and author. The papers include a file of research material on Bruce for Souter's book Acts of Parliament: a narrative history (1988). A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: MS 2127
Quantity: 0.32 metres
Lord Stonehaven was Governor-General for most of Bruce's term as Prime Minister. There are 11 letters written by or to Bruce, 1925-1930. One of the many references to Bruce includes a letter dated 10 May 1926 from Stonehaven to Lord Irwin (then Viceroy of India, and later, as Viscount Halifax, British Foreign Secretary) where he describes Bruce as 'an outstanding example of what can be done by a combination of an Australian Public School and a British University'. A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: MS 1736
Quantity: 10.56 metres
Sir Josiah Symon was a Federal Convention delegate, Senator and Federal Attorney-General (1904-1905). The papers in this collection cover every phase of Symon's life, including his involvement in Federation, federal conventions and the Senate, and include 18 letters to or by Bruce (1923-1932). A descriptive list is available.
Collection Number: A19066856
Quantity: One video cassette
Recorded by: Boland and Assistants (production for Regional Television). Episode one of The Prime Ministers deals with the Federation movement and the first seven prime ministers of Australia (ie Barton, Deakin, Watson, Fisher, Cook, Reid and Hughes). It covers the period from the 1880s to 1914.
This film is held by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, Melbourne.