Guide to the Papers of Henry Bournes Higgins

MS 1057

National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record

Collection Summary

Creator: H. B. Higgins
Title: Papers of Henry Bournes Higgins
Date Range: 1840-1976
Collection Number: MS 1057
Extent: 2.70 metres (11 ms boxes + 3 archive boxes + 2 medium phase boxes + 1 small folio box + 1 folio packet + 2 packets)
Language of Materials: English
Repository: Special Collections (Manuscripts)

Introduction

Scope and Contents

The greater part of the H. B. Higgins correspondence concerns his work as first president of the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Court (1906-22), and the politics of the period as they affected his position and authority; among his correspondents are the leading politicians and legal figures of the day. There is also correspondence relating to Higgins' support for Irish Home Rule (1911-21), and some personal correspondence notably with his niece Nettie Palmer (nee Higgins). In addition there are notebooks of Higgins' speeches, legal extracts, private journals including an account of Henry's voyage to Australia in 1870, and a family tour of India and Europe in 1886, and volumes of press cuttings.

The Higgins Family correspondence dates from 1841 and comprises mainly letters between Henry's parents John and Annie Higgins. John Higgins, a Wesleyan minister, travelled on circuit in Northern Ireland and continued Victoria in 1870. The latter portion of the family correspondence includes letters of Nettie Higgins (Palmer) to her mother, 1894 to 1910, and letters of Mervyn Higgins (Son of H. B. Higgins) to his parents, written from Oxford, London, Melbourne and Egypt over the period 1900 to 1916.

Conditions Governing Access

Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn540859).

Conditions Governing Use

Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions.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 Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.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 be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Henry Higgins, National Library of Australia, MS 1057, [series and/or file number]'.

A collection of photographs of members of the Higgins Family is held in the Library's Pictures Collection, together with a sketch of polling day at North Melbourne, 1901.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in seven series beginning with H. B. Higgins correspondence (Series 1) and the Higgins Family correspondence (Series 2) both arranged in separate chronological order.

Other Finding Aids

An index to correspondents in Series 1 is available, refer to Appendix 1 (see 'Related Documentation').

Separated Materials

For a list of published materials that were in the collection, refer to Appendix 2 (see 'Related Documentation').

Biographical Note

Chronology

Date	Event
1851	June 3 Date of birth, County Down, Ireland
1870	Migrated to Victoria with his family
1875	Graduated LL. B., M.A., from University of Melbourne; called to the Victorian Bar in 1876
1876	Was admitted to the English Bar
1894	Entered politics as M. L. A. for Geelong. In the Federal Convention of 1897-98 Higgins was a member of the judiciary committee, and he sided with the Labour party in its attempts to reject the Federation Bill.
1901	Represented North Melbourne in the first CommonwealthParliament; in the second Parliament, he was appointedAttorney-General in J. C. Watson's Labour ministry of 1904.
1906	Became Justice of the High Court, with the special dutyof presiding over theFederal Court of Conciliation andArbitration, in which capacity he established the principleson which Federal arbitration awards should be based.
1922	Higgins resigned from the Presidency of the Court but retained his seat on the High Court Bench.
1929	Died at Dromana, Victoria.

Item Descriptions

Series 1. H. B. Higgins Correspondence, 1854-1929

An index to correspondents is available; refer to Appendix 1 (see 'Related Documentation').

(a)1854-1900. Correspondence with family and friends (some in Ireland) concerning schooling and, after 1870, education and professional activities; letters from A. B. Piddington, John Quick, W. A. Holman, John Redmond and others concerning Federation and other matters, including Irish Home Rule (Item 1-75)

(b)1901-05. Correspondence, mainly of a political and legal nature, with W. Baldwin Spencer, T. Tunnecliffe, G.S. Kingston, David Syme and others, concerning Higgins' selection to and work in the first two Federal ministries (Item 76-119)

(c)1906-22. Correspondence, mainly of a political and legal nature, with many people including W. H. Irvine, Archbishops Carr and Moran, B. R. Wise, Littleton Groom, S. W. Griffith and R. R. Garran; letters from the editor of Harvard Law Review concerning Higgins' contributions; correspondence with Sir Charles Powers 1917-23 (Higgins' successor as President of the Federal Court of Conciliation and Arbitration); letters from John Redmond, the United Irish League, etc. concerning Irish Home Rule; family correspondence with Nettie Palmer (nee Higgins) and others (Item 120-481)

(d)1923-29. Correspondence with J. G. Latham, E. D. Simon, N. A. Watt, F. Gavan Duffy and others concerning legal matters and other interests; correspondence with the Irish Statesman relating to Higgins' interest in furthering studies of Irish literature; condolence letters to Mrs. Higgins on the death of H. B. Higgins; undated letters (Item 482-740)

Series 2. Higgins Family Correspondence, 1841-1923

An index to correspondents is available; refer to Appendix 1 (see 'Related Documentation').

(a)1841-69. Letters mainly between John Higgins (father of H.B. Higgins) and his wife Annie ("Nanny") concerning John's training and work as a Wesleyan minister travelling on circuit in Northern Ireland; letters from relations concerning family and business affairs; letters from young Henry and his brothers at boarding school (Item 741-2389)

(b)1870-93. Correspondence between John Higgins, his wife and children after their migration to Victoria in 1870, concerning principally the education and employment of the children, business affairs, and John Higgins' work as a Wesleyan minister on country circuits in Victoria and Western Australia (Item 2390-2521)

(c)1894-1920. Letters of Nettie Higgins (Palmer), niece of H. B. Higgins, to her mother, covering the period of her schooling and University training, and her first trip to Europe (1894-1910). There are also letters of Mervyn Higgins, son of H. B. Higgins, to his parents, from England while in Oxford (1914-16) and on active service in France and Egypt, where he was killed in action at the end of 1916 (Item 2522-3015)

Series 3. Notebooks and Journals of H. B. Higgins

Notebooks of speeches; miscellaneous notebooks containing legal material, literary extracts, etc.; journals, 1869-70 and 1873-78, giving details of Higgins' voyage to Australia with his family and of his training and early experience in the legal profession; diary of a family tour to India and Europe, 1886; two Commonplace Books with miscellaneous quotations.

Series 4. Press Cuttings of H. B. Higgins, 1892-1929

Cutting books 1892-94, 1897 and 1920-21, and other newspaper cuttings including one file of obituary notices and one of biographical material.

Series 5. Miscellaneous papers of or relating to H. B. Higgins

Copies of Henry's school and university examination papers, 1870; copy of his B. A. degree awarded by the University of Melbourne, 1875; crayon sketch of details of polling day at North Melbourne election, 1901. (Held in Pictorial Section of the Library).

Series 6. Miscellaneous papers of Higgins Family

Copy of Higgins family tree; Journal kept by John Higgins Jnr. on board the Lincolnshire during his voyage to Australia, 1870; plaque in honour of Mervyn Bournes Higgins (son of H. B. Higgins); diary for 1933 kept by Miss Ina Higgins.

Series 7. Published Material - Annotated

Articles by H. B. Higgins (File 1)

A New Province of Law and Order. An article published in the Harvard Law Review. Nov. 1915. 24pp.

The Melbourne University Review. Dec. 24, 1885. pp. 183-98."The Muses in Australia"

Addresses by H. B. Higgins (File 2)

The Duties of Patriotism. 23 July, 1902. 13pp.

The Future of Greek Language and Letters. 17 Oct. 1922. 16pp.

Essays and Addresses on The Australian Commonwealth Bull Bound volume published 1900. pp. 168 (2 copies)

The Convention Bill of 1898. 18th April, 1898. 24pp.

Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration - Judgements (File 3)

Judgment, 10 May, 1910. Dispute between Federated Marme Stewards Assocn. and shipping companies.

Judgement, 6 Oct. 1911. Dispute between Australian Workers Union and Pastoralists Federal Council.

Miscellaneous (File 4)

The Morpeth Review. Vol.2 Number 19. March, 1932. pp.55-8, "Henry Bournes Higgins" by W. K. Hancock.

Melbourne University Verse. Melbourne 1920 (presentation copy)

The Lone Hand. March 1909. Appreciation of Mr. Justice Higgins, p.490.

Draft of a Bill to Constitute the Commonwealth of Australia.(inscribed "Adelaide Bill")

Debates of the Australasian Federal Convention, 1897 Vols. 1-24

Container List

Series	Item(s)	Box
1	1-530	1
1	531-740	2
2	741-1007	2
2	1008-1638	3
2	1639-2409	4
2	2410-3015	5-6
2	Folders of letters; 2 vols of typescripts	5-6
3	-	6-8
4	-	8-9 and Folio 4
5	-	10, 14 and Folio 6
6	-	10-11, 14 and Folio 5
7	-	11-13 and Folios 1-3

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