Guide to the Papers of Kenneth Binns

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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the life of her father and the history of the National Library, in particular letters of Andrew Osborn and drafts of an unpublished biography of Kenneth Binns by Osborn.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Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions.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 Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.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.

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.

Item Descriptions

Class MS 9822. Original Consignment

Fisher Library, University of Sydney, 1909-1963 (File 1) - box 1

Library move to Canberra, 1925-1927 (File 2) - box 1

Hardy Wilson, 1926 (File 3) - box 1

Letters of George McCrae, John Masefield and Sir Isaac Isaacs, 1926-1937 (File 4) - box 1

New Guinea visit: photographs, 1936 (File 5) - box 1

Canberra organisations, 1942-1965 (File 6) - box 1

Overseas trip, 1945-1946 (File 7) - box 1

Mobile Library Service, c.1947 (File 8) - box 1

Retirement, 1947-1949 (File 9) - box 1

National Library building, 1949 (File 10) - box 1

Correspondence with Andrew Osborn, 1957-1961 (File 11) - box 2

Literature Censorship Board, 1959-1963 (File 12) - box 2

Australian Council of Educational Research, 1960-1969 (File 13) - box 2

History of the National Library, 1960-1966 (File 14) - box 2

State Library of Tasmania, 1961 (File 15) - box 2

Commonwealth Archives (File 16) - box 2

Award of C.B.E., 1964 (File 17) - box 2

Library Association of Australia, 1964 (File 18) - box 2

Sir Henry Parkes' autographs, 1966 (File 19) - box 2

Photographs (File 20) - box 2

Biographical notes (File 21) - box 3

Biographical articles and obituaries, 1948-1979 (File 22) - box 3

Early Canberra recollections of Joan Binns, 1976 (File 23) - box 3

Letters of Andrew Osborn to Joan Binns, 1984-1992 (File 24) - box 3

Drafts of biography of Kenneth Binns by Andrew Osborn (File 25-28) - box 3

Australian Institute of Librarians. Proceedings, 1940-1942 (File 29) - box 3

Canadian Library Association. Bulletin, March 1948 (File 30-31) - box 3

Albin Eiger. Paris, an essay. Hobart, Wattle Grove Press, nd (File 32) - box 3

Family letters; Papers of Joan Binns relating to the Australian National University, 1952, 1935-1961 (File 33) - box 4

Correspondence relating to K.J. Binns (son), chiefly , including congratulations on his birth, 1930s (File 34) - box 4

Press cuttings and other items (File 35) - box 4

Photographs, programs, brochures (File 36) - box 4

Invitations, maps (File 37) - box 4

Publications, brochures, especially on Canberra (File 38-39 and loose) - box 4

Certificates (rolled) (File [unnumbered]) - box 4 (?)


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