MS 9104
Papers of Allan Aldous
- Papers 1946-1993
- 76 cm (5.5 boxes)
- Available for access
The papers were donated by Allan Aldous on 1 April 1997. They
represent a small but varied collection of his personal and professional
writing. The personal writing includes the unpublished autobiography
completed in 1987 and a long series of wartime letters written
to his wife, Jean, from London (1940-44).
The professional writing includes a selection of Radio Australia
playscripts from two series, The Storyteller and The
Australian Tradition; a series of discussion group book notes
prepared for the Council of Adult Education in Victoria, and material
relating to son et lumière presentations in Perth and Melbourne
(1966-1970).
The collection also contains letters to Aldous from a wide range
of correspondents, including Margaret Crosland, Charles Hadfield,
James Parish and Nevil Shute Norway.
Author and playwright, Aldous was born in Leederville, Perth in
1911. In 1935 he won the Perth Repertory Club's one-act play competition
with Enter the author. In England, three of his radio plays
were produced by the BBC, of which the best known is Game as
Ned Kelly (1939).
During the Second World War he served with the A.I.F. in London
and later with Army Education in New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.
Building on his experience in the Army Education Service, in the
post-war period Aldous was closely involved in the early years
of the Council of Adult Education in Victoria, giving lectures
and preparing discussion group book notes.
Aldous was a prolific writer of children's fiction. His children's
writings include the McGowan series of five novels, beginning
with McGowan climbs a mountain (1945), as well as other
novels such as Quitters can't win (1946) and Doctor
with wings (1960). As a playwright he wrote many radio plays,
particularly for Radio Australia, and produced the first, authentic
son et lumière production, 'Western gateway', for the 1966
Festival of Perth, followed by 'Cook of the Endeavour' for the
1970 Cook bicentenary celebrations.
1 Autobiographical papers
2 Letters to Jean Aldous, 1940 - 1944
3 Correspondence, 1943 - 1967
4 Radio Australia playscripts, c.1969 - 1970
5 Council of Adult Education, Victoria, 1948 - 1957
6 Son et lumière productions, 1966 - 1970
7 Unpublished manuscript, The land beyond the skyscrapers.
8 Family history
9 Personal papers, 1933 - 1988
10 Miscellaneous
SERIES 1: Autobiographical papers
SERIES 2: Letters to Jean Aldous, 1940 - 1944.
SERIES 3: Correspondence, 1943 - 1967
SERIES 4: Radio Australia playscripts, c.1969 - 1970
SERIES 5: Council of Adult Education, Victoria, 1948 - 1957
SERIES 6: Son et lumière productions, 1966 - 1970
SERIES 7: Unpublished manuscript, The land beyond the skyscrapers.
SERIES 8: Family history
SERIES 9: Personal papers, 1933 - 1988
SERIES 10: Miscellaneous
Aldous' unpublished autobiography was completed in 1987 and titled,
Jigsaw - an autobiography of sorts. The series also contains
several earlier autobiographical pieces.
Folder
1 Unpublished autobiography entitled Jigsaw - an autobiography
of sorts.
2 Earlier draft autobiography; three short autobiographical pieces
The majority of this correspondence is written in diary form to
his wife, Jean, recording Aldous' daily activities in London from
the time his wife and daughter returned to Australia in July 1940.
While in England, Aldous enlisted in the A.I.F. The correspondence
concludes in September, 1944, when Aldous returned to Australia,
prior to serving in New Guinea, India and Bougainville.
Folder
1-4 Correspondence with wife, Jean, 1940-43
5 Correspondence with wife, Jean, June 1943 - September 1944 by
airgraph.
This series of general correspondence begins around the time Aldous
left London for Australia in 1944 and continues till 1967. The
major correspondents are Margaret Crosland, Charles Hadfield and
Peter Jones.
Folder
1 Correspondence, 1943-56
with Margaret Crosland (author) 1944-48; Charles Hadfield (author)
1943-54; and Peter Jones (actor and playwright) 1944-56.
2 Correspondence 1946-67
with George Kerr, Lionel Lee, James Parish (playwright), Tom Ronan,
Leontine Sagan (producer), Nevil Shute Norway (author), George
Simpson, Ursula Winant (literary agent) and Tara Barry (actress).
3 Correspondence 1946-67
including Charles Court, Douglas Glass, Vivien Leigh and Sir Harold
White.
4 Correspondence, cards, invitations and ephemera.
The series contains many of Aldous' production scripts for two
series of plays broadcast on Radio Australia. The first series,
Storyteller, was broadcast on short wave and replayed from
transcription tapes in a number of countries. The second series,
The Australian Tradition, consisted on 27 minute dramatised
features, each dealing with some event or personality from Australia's
past. Again, these were broadcast on short wave and replayed on
16 overseas radio organisations. As Aldous recollects, in the
United States Storyteller had an estimated 3.2 million
listeners each week and The Australian Tradition had 9
million listeners.
The Storyteller, volume 1
No sense of direction
My friend, Demetrius
House on the plain
The secret world of Andy McCrae
The ghost of Lady Castelvane
Money maketh
Horns or halo?
The crime clairvoyant
The bowler hat
The limit
Where these's a will
All you need is a bit of capital
The dream house
Uncle Paddy, M.P.
Uncle Paddy and the champ
The mystery of the mysteries
When you've lived as long as I have
Chance happening
The unbridged years
The bridge
That Christmas at Saltbush Plains
Charity begins at home
Pools for the scooping
You can't tell a book by its jacket
The Storyteller, volume 2: 1969-70
Series III The live ghost
Series II The end
Alter ego
Series III Hi-jack!
The frozen truth
Murder must have a motive
His reverence, the con man
Series II (Titles and synopses)
I only do it for the money
Don't talk to me about flying saucers
Hazardous freedom
The golden girdle
Withdrawal
(Radio Australia program guide no.36)
Never speak to strangers
Deadly tongues
The moon to play with
Dirt cheap
Stop, thief!
Money is such a comfort
A matter of mind
Golf widow
The Storyteller, additional scripts Series II (Synopses)
Series II The little green men did it
The Walter Mitty in me
No compromise
If it won't go it won't go
Hit and run
Chick-chick-chick-chick-chicken
An ugly work, blackmail
The Storyteller, volume 3
Series III (Titles and synopses)
Caterina's kitchen
The monster
The delectable dream
Senior citizen
Local boy makes good
Unseasonable weather
(Titles and synopses)
1969 A sucker is a sucker
I spy with my little eye
Private self, public face
The prodigal's return
Opportunity seldom knocks loudly
It's all there in the stars
Genius can't be taught
Punishment and the crime
The spider's web
The perversity of people
Dialogue with a rebel
The siren song
Ears to see with
The Australian Tradition
(Titles and synopses)
(Correspondence re radio playscripts)
Grace Bushell of Wallcliff
Shackles off the press
A man named Flinders
His Honour the Superintendent of old Melbourne Town
Europe's loss, Australia's gain
The peripatetic philosopher
New Year at Nobbler Hall
A little loyalty goes a long way
His Honour the Superintendent of old Melbourne Town
James Blackburn
The Australian connection
Gents of the fancy
Murphy's firm
Kojonup
A thief to catch a thief
Kojonup
Radio Australia: miscellaneous material.
The series consists mostly of discussion group book notes prepared
for the Council of Adult Education in Victoria (CAE). In his autobiography,
the first CAE Director, Colin Badger, paid tribute to Aldous as
one of those helping the organisation get off the ground. The
notes were directed to people of ordinary education and the questions
were designed to be pertinent and not university examination tests.
Some of the notes were in use for more than twenty years.
Folder
1-5 CAE Discussion group book notes, 1948-57
6 CAE miscellaneous publications; includes a dedicated service
award presented to Aldous in 1993.
Aldous was involved in several 'Son et lumière' (sound
and light) presentations, the first being 'Western gateway' at
the 1966 Festival of Perth. The most significant of these was
the Captain Cook bicentennial presentation, 'Cook of the Endeavour',
held in the Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne, 6-20 April 1970. The series
includes correspondence, scripts, programs, newspaper clippings
and photographs relating to these productions.
Draft of an unpublished manuscript entitled, The land beyond
the skyscrapers (approximately 84,000 words). The book was
based on six extensive journeys to the remoter parts of Australia
and considers such subjects as the 'real' Australia, the women
of the outback, the battlers, the cattle industry, road trains,
the problem of being an Aboriginal, the Australian Inland Mission
and old and new mining towns.
This series contains several items relating to the family's history.
The first is an architectural drawing dated 28 March 1846 by Charles
Aldous, Allan Aldous' great grandfather. Aldous records that Charles
came to Australia in 1852, hoping to find gold but was not successful.
As there was little call for architects he began a carpentry business.
The second item is a photograph album recording a journey across
the Nullarbor by car in 1930 by the Aldous family and others,
including the press clipping from when the party reached Adelaide.
Also included are some cuttings and a letter from a close family friend, Dr. Eric White, a pioneer in the development of radio, television and radar, as well as a folder of miscellaneous family papers.
A miscellaneous collection of personal papers including: an article
published in The Black Swan, July 1933, the magazine of
the guild of undergraduates of the University of Western Australia;
The Playbill, June 1935 containing 'Enter the author -
a fantasy in one act' by Allan Aldous, winner of the Perth Repertory
Club's one-act play competition, 1935; Aldous' certificate of
discharge from the army, 14 March 1946; two bicentennial certificates
from the Children's Book Council of Australia; photographs and
newspaper clippings.
This collection includes a draft manuscript which Aldous edited
for Oxford University Press. The manuscript is entitled Alias
Jimmy and was written by a former employee of B.H.P. who retired
to the United States. Also included are further copies of The
Playbill, March - August 1935.
| Series | Box
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| 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 1 |
| 3 | 2 |
| 4 | 2-4 |
| 5 | 4-5 |
| 6 | 5 |
| 7 | 5 |
| 8 | 5-6 |
| 9 | 6 |
| 10 | 6 |
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