Guide to the Papers of Kenneth Binns
MS 9822
National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record
Created: ©2004.
Collection Summary
- Creator
- Binns, Kenneth, 1882-1969
- Title
- Papers of Kenneth Binns
- Date Range
- 1909-1992
- Collection Number
- MS 9822
- Extent
- 0.56 metres (4 boxes)
- Language of Materials
- English
- Repository
- National Library of Australia
Introduction
Scope and Content
The collection consists of miscellaneous papers of Kenneth Binns, mostly written or acquired after he retired as the Commonwealth Parliamentary Librarian and National Librarian in 1947. They include letters, notes, official documents, newspaper cuttings, photographs and a few publications. In addition, there are papers of Joan Binns relating to the life of her father and the history of the National Library, in particular letters of Andrew Osborn and drafts of an unpublished biography of Kenneth Binns by Osborn.
Access
The collection is available for reference.
Copying and Publishing
Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.
Preferred Citation
Items from this collection should becited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Kenneth Binns, National Library of Australia, MS 9822, [box and/or file number]'.
Provenance
The papers (Boxes 1-3) were donated to the Library by Mrs Alison Sanchez, the daughter of Kenneth Binns, in 2004. Further material (Box 4) was added 2005.
Related Material
The files of the National Library are the principal source for information on the official career of Binns.
A two page typescript by Binns on Arthur Wadsworth, with annoations by Norman Lynravn, is held at MS 2798. A copy of the 1912 catalogue of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Library annotated by Binns is held at MS 9483.
Another copy of the biography by Andrew Osborn is held at MS 7731. It was acquired from Osborn's family following his death in 1997.
An oral history interview recorded with Binns by Hazel De Berg in 1967 is held in the Oral History Section at DeB 212-214.
Arrangement
The papers had mostly been kept in folders by Joan Binns. Most of the files have been left intact and have been arranged in chronological order, with the papers of Joan Binns and the biography by Andrew Osborn at the end.
Biographical Note
Kenneth Binns was born on 28 November 1882 at Dunfermline, Scotland, the son of the Reverend Fred Binns, a Congregational minister. The family migrated to Australia in 1890 and Binns was educated at Cleveland Street Public School and Sydney Grammar School. In 1900 he joined the staff of the Fisher Library at the University of Sydney and attended classes as a non-matriculated student.
In 1911 Binns joined the staff of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Library in Melbourne as a cataloguer. In 1919 he became head of the Australian section and took an active role in acquisition work, including the purchase of the journal of James Cook in 1923. As assistant librarian he organised the transfer of the Library to Canberra in 1926-27. Binns succeeded Arthur Wadsworth as Commonwealth Parliamentary Librarian in 1928. During his tenure he was handicapped by financial and wartime restrictions, but he acquired some major collections, such as the Matthews Collection and the first instalment of the Ferguson Collection, established library services in Canberra and the territories, accepted responsibility for the archives of the Commonwealth Government, and established a liaison office in London. He retired in 1947.Binns did much to promote the cultural and educational life of Canberra. He was a member of the National Film Board (1945-48), the Commonwealth Literary Fund advisory committee (1939-53) and the Commonwealth Literature Censorship Board (1937-64). He was awarded the CBE in 1964.
Binns married Amy Higgins in 1909 and they had two daughters and a son. He died in Canberra on 27 July 1969.
Biographical Reference(s)
Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 7, pp. 292-293.
Peter Cochrane, ed. Remarkable occurrences; the National Library of Australia's first 100 years 1901-2001, Canberra, 2001.