Guide to the British Museum (Natural History): Case and Policy Files (as filmed by the AJCP)

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M2523 - M2526

National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record

Created: 2019

Collection Summary

Creator
British Museum (Natural History)
Title
British Museum (Natural History): Case and Policy Files (as filmed by the AJCP)
Date Range
1919 - 1972
Collection Number
M2523 - M2526
Extent
60 items
Language of Materials
English
Repository
Australian Joint Copying Project
Sponsor
The Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP) online portal was created with the assistance of the Australian Public Service Modernisation Fund, 2017-2020. The National Library of Australia gratefully acknowledges the contribution of the other foundation AJCP partners, the State Library of New South Wales and The National Archives of the UK, and all other organisations which supported the work of the AJCP, the world's most extensive collaborative copying project, operating from 1948 to 1997.

Introduction

Scope and Contents

Many of the records filmed concern expeditions to Australia (including the Australian Bird Expedition of the 1960s), Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Galapagos Islands, Malaya, North Borneo, Rennell Island, Antarctica, New Zealand, and G.H. Wilkins expeditions to Australia, Solomon Islands and the Arctic. Also includes Colonial Office correspondence re Pacific fauna; correspondence with other museums; records re bequests, meteorites and the Plumage Bill.

Conditions Governing Access

Available for Access.

Conditions Governing Use

Many of the records digitised as part of the AJCP are still in copyright. Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the owner of the original material.

Preferred Citation

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Citation items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Archival History

Material selectively filmed at the British Museum (Natural History), London, as part of the Australian Joint Copying Project, 1990 (AJCP Reels: M2523-M2526). Original microfilm digitised as part of the AJCP Online Delivery Project, 2017-2020.

Existence and Location of Originals

Archives Department, Natural History Museum, London, England.

Collection Reference: DF ADM/1004. For more information see Case and policy files of the British Museum (Natural History) [https://www.nhm.ac.uk/CalmView/default.aspx].

Formerly known as British Museum (Natural History).

Existence and Location of Copies

The original AJCP microfilm of the records filmed from this collection is available at the National Library of Australia [https://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn780816]as well as other institutions holding AJCP microfilm.

Administrative History

Directors of the British Museum (Natural History)

Directors of the British Museum (Natural History)
DateEvent
1881-1884Richard Owen (1804-1892) (Superintendent)
1884-1898William Henry Flower (1831-1899)
1898-1907Edwin Ray Lankester (1847-1929)
1909-1919Lazarus Fletcher (1854-1921)
1919-1927Sidney Frederic Harmer (1862-1950)
1927-1938Charles Tate Regan
1938-1947Clive Forster Cooper (1880-1947)
1947-1950Norman Boyd Kinnear (1882-1957)
1950-1960Gavin Rylands de Beer (1899-1972)
1960-1968Terence Charles Stuart Morrison-Scott (b.1908)
1968-1976Gordon Frank Claringbull (1911-1990)
1976-Ronald Henderson Hedley (b.1928)

Finding-aid Notes

This finding aid is a revised online version of the original finding aid prepared by the Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP), published by the National Library of Australia in 2019. The original AJCP finding aids were unpublished typescripts or photocopies available from libraries that held copies of the original microfilm.

Dates used in this finding aid refer to the date range of the records selected for filming rather than to the date range of the Series or Files.

Advisory Statement

Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this Finding Aid contains material and descriptive information which may be considered culturally sensitive and may cause distress, including names and images of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people now deceased. This Finding Aid contains terms that reflect authors' views or those of the historical period, but which may not be considered appropriate today. While the information may not reflect current understanding, it is provided in an historical context.

Subjects

Aboriginal Australians; Aboriginal Australians; life and customs; Antarctica; Arctic regions; Australia; Australia: flora and fauna; Australian Museum, Sydney; Birds: Australia; Bogor, Java; Borneo; Botantic Gardens: Indonesia; Botany; Cheeseman, L.E.; Galapagos Islands; Great Britain. Colonial Office; Great Britain: laws; Gunung Benom, Malaya; Hall, Harold; Harold Hall Expedition (1960–69); Liversidge, Archibald, Prof.; Malaysia; Minerals; Natural History Museum, London; New Zealand; North Borneo; Papua New Guinea; Photographs; Potter, W.J.; Rennell Island; Rigg, Gilbert; Rowett, John; Shackleton, Sir Ernest H.; Solomon Islands; Western Australia: flora and fauna; Wilkins, Sir G. Hubert, Capt.; Wollaston, A.F.; Zoology

Bibliography

Originally cited in Australian Joint Copying Project Handbook. Part 8: Miscellaneous (M) Series. Third Edition, published 1998. Entry 57, p20.

Item Descriptions

Series DF 1004. Department of Administrative Services. Case and Policy Files

Archival History

Originally filmed on AJCP reels M2523-M2526.

Australian Broadcasting Commission, 1968 (File CP 33)

(5p.)

Correspondence re reproductions to be used in proposed television programme based on Cpt. Cook's voyages.

Australian Museum, 1931 - 1966 (File CP 34)

(49p.)

Correspondents include: Howard Hughes; FH Talbot; Mary Knott; David Ride (Western Australian Museum); JW Evans; AB Walkom; C Anderson.

Subjects include: visit of Hughes; employment of Knott; visit of Dr McMichael; position of Trustees at Australian Museum; methods of registration of specimens.

Bequests: Prof. A Liversidge, 1927 (File CP 85)

(5p.)

Correspondence with HW Liversidge (Caterham) and John Liversidge (Southbourne) re A Liversidge collection of Australian minerals, including Thunda meteoric iron and 40 gold nuggets.

Bequests: G. Rigg, 1944 - 1947 (File CP 96)

(39p.)

Correspondence with Rebecca Rigg (East Malvern) re bequest made by her brother, Gilbert Rigg, formerly chief metallurgical engineer to Broken Hill Associated Smelters Prop., of his collection of minerals and ethnological items. Includes BM (NH) report on value of Australian minerals and catalogue and discussion on the aboriginal items, and problems of exporting them.

Bequests: AF Wollaston, 1921 - 1939 (File CP 112)

(5p.)

Correspondence between BM and BM (NH) re Wollaston's collection of New Guinea ethnological specimens.

Includes 1 April and 6 April 1926 A Wollaston (London) to Harmer re his will.

Botanic Gardens, Bogor, Java, 1970 - 1971 (File CP 123)

(16p.)

Correspondence re possible financial help to be afforded the Botanic Gardens, Bogor, after hurricane damage.

Correspondents include: RM Hunt (British Embassy, Djakarta); Dr GF Claringbull (BM (NH)); Sir George Taylor (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew); Didin S Sastrapradja (National Biological Institute, Bogor).

Colonial Office, 16 April 1924 - 15 August 1933 (File CP 200/1)

Filmed Selectively.

Correspondence re list of fauna of Ellice Islands collected by Donald Kennedy (list not enclosed), 3 May 1934-22 June 1933 (Item ff.267-260)

Correspondents include: D. Kennedy (Funafuti); Charles A Swinbourne (Ocean Island); M Fletcher (Suva).

Harold Allen (C.O) to Director re Tongan tradition relating to tortoise given by Captain Cook to chiefs, 15 August 1933 (Item f.259)
CO to Director re preservation of Tongan birds and fish, 22 June 1933 (Item ff.258-257)
Correspondence re collecting insects in British Solomon Islands, 24 December 1932-21 June 1932 (Item ff.252-248)

Correspondents include: FN Ashley (Tulagi); M Fletcher (Suva).

Correspondence re Tongan tortoise believed to have been presented to King of Tonga by Capt Cook, 23 November-15 November 1932 (Item ff.247-244)
Memoranda re Tongan birds, 24 May 1932 (Item ff.232-225)
Memoranda and correspondence re candidates for Assistant curator at Raffles Museum, Singapore, 3 December-21 November 1931 (Item ff.203-196)
Memoranda and correspondence re attempt by Dutch Consul General to prohibit importation of Orang utan into Straits Settlements, 5 December-16 August 1929 (Item ff.185-180)
Memoranda and correspondence re prevention of introduction of mongoose into New Hebrides, 11 January 1927-28 September 1926 (Item ff.160-152)

Correspondents include: Eyre Hutson (Suva); GWB Smith Rewse (Vila).

JH Thomas (CO) to Officer Administering Fiji re protection of birds. (Copy), 16 April 1924 (Item ff.138-7)
Memoranda and copy of 'An Act to approve an agreement made between….Australia and William Colin MacKenzie' re MacKenzie's collection of Australian animals, 24 February 1925 (Item ff.93-89)
Correspondence re possible employment of Cyril Crossland in cultivation of pearl shells in Malaya, 5 June 1923-14 November 1922 (Item ff.35-32)

Colonial Office, 25 October 1943 - 30 December 1958 (File CP 200/2)

Filmed Selectively.

Memo re employment of Eric R Alfred from Raffles Museum, Singapore, 30 December-3 October 1958 (Item ff.153-144)

Includes: Alfred's CV and confidential report by RD Purchon, Univ. of Malaya.

Correspondence re animals to be represented on armorial bearings of British Solomon Islands, 10 October 5 September 1955 (Item ff.119-115v)
Memoranda and correspondence concerning employment of JL Harrison (of IMR Malaya) and FA Prowse (of Malacca), 26 August 1955- 9 May 1955 (Item ff.114-105)
Correspondence re proposal by AS Le Souef to establish animal and bird sanctuary in Fiji, 1 January 1948- 18 September 1947 (Item ff.74-71v)

Includes: 18 September 1947 AS Le Souef (Sydney) to HM Trade Commissioner (Sydney) re proposal. (Copy).

Proposal by AS Le Souef to establish animal and bird sanctuary in Fiji: 'Surely Mr Le Souef knows what harm introductions have done in Australia and New Zealand. He is, however, a very old man'

Correspondence with B Macdonald (Ocean Island) re specimens collected by DG Kennedy, Ellice Island, 23 March-28 January 1938 (Item ff.36-33)
Correspondence re appointment of Cpt FAB Holloway as Chief Game Warden, Malaya, 10 February- 31 January 1938 (Item ff.32-27)
Correspondence re collection of fauna on Ellice Island by DG Kennedy, 25 January 1935- 25 October 1934 (Item ff.5-1)

Correspondents include: DG Kennedy.

Colonial Universities, 19 Nov -16 Nov 1959 (File CP 201)

Filmed Selectively.

Correspondence with Neville Stephenson (Univ of Sydney) re his work in Vertebrate Zoology, 19 November-16 November 1959 (Item ff.12-11)

Collections: T Broun, 1920 - 1923 (File CP 211)

(49p.)

Correspondence re collection of New Zealand Coleoptera bequested by Major Thomas Broun of Auckland, and efforts by New Zealand government to prevent its leaving NZ.

Correspondents include: Nicholson, Gribbin, Rogerson and Nicholson (Auckland); GV Hudson (Auckland); Ministry of Internal Affairs (Wellington); New Zealand High Commission; Anne Broun (Mt Eden); Leonard Cockoyne (New Zealand Institute).

Cooperation with Colonial Governments, 7 March 1933 - 18 April 1933 (File CP 256)

Filmed Selectively.

JC Darley (Tulagi) enclosing minute from RA Lever on protection of birds of British Solomon Islands. (3p.), 7 March 1933 (Item ff.14-14 (a))
Charles Swinbourne (Ocean Island) re protection of birds and enclosing list of protected birds with English and local name. (4p.), 18 April 1933 (Item)

Darwin Centenary: South Pacific Expedition, 1956 - 1957 (File CP 270)

(35p.)

Memoranda and press cuttings re proposed expedition to retrace route of Beagle.

Includes: minutes of meeting held at Royal Society on 26 July 1956.

Expeditions - General, 26 November 1935 - 24 May 1952 (File CP 351/1)

Filmed Selectively.

BM (NH) memos and correspondence with HF Broadbent (High Wycombe), 1 August- 24 May 1952 (Item ff.154-146)

re proposed collecting expedition to Western and North Western Australia, help received from Australia.

Correspondence with Brenda Bishop (Pacific Science Council, Honolulu), 18 July 1951- 13 January 1951 (Item ff.121, 109-107, 103-97)

re Museum expeditions to the Pacific area.

Includes: memo on Pacific Scientific Expeditions Survey.

BM (NH) memos and correspondence with AH Young (Ipswich), 10 April- 19 November 1947 (Item ff.66-49)

re proposed expedition to Pacific Islands.

Memos re Great Barrier Reef Committee, 28 November- 26 November 1935 (Item ff.4-1)

Expeditions - General, 27 March 1958 - 31 December 1958 (File CP 351/2)

Filmed Selectively.

Correspondence with Dan Rolph (Sepik River, PNG) re collecting, 31 December 1958-26 November 1958 (Item ff.241, 225-223)
Correspondence with Resident Commission, New Hebrides, 26 June- 27 March 1958 (Item ff.203-197)

re request from Herr Heinrich Bregulla to send ornithologist to New Hebrides to collect Weaver Finches.

Includes: (copy) 27 March 1958 Bregulla (Berlin) to British Resident, NH, re birds in New Hebrides.

Expeditions - General, 30 June 1959 - 24 October 1968 (File CP 351/3)

Filmed Selectively.

Correspondence with Major BD McDonald Booth (Helena Valley), 8 November- 24 October 1968 (Item ff.303-301)

re leave granted to Messrs Freeman and Frith to be part of Harold Hall Expedition, collecting in Arnhemland 'very rewarding'; future plans.

BM (NH) memos and correspondence with AY Norris (Devonport), 27 June- 24 May 1966 (Item ff.270, 267-264)

re British Joint Services Expedition to Central Australia; problem re exporting specimens from Australia.

TCS Morrison Scott to Lord De L'Isle (Canberra) requesting his support for bird collecting expedition to Australia, 12 July 1961 (Item ff.112)
WA Ferguson to JE Dandy, 19 January 1961 (Item f.91)

Museum has not received letter from Dr Bratt or Brett nor heard of Australian Carstensz Expedition.

Correspondence regarding request by Heinrich Bregulla to collect birds in New Hebrides, 26 August- 10 July 1959 (Item ff.45-28)

Correspondents include: Dr J Steinbacher (Frankfurt); W Schroder (Berlin); Hans Steiner (Zurich).

Includes: BM (NH) memos on birds in New Hebrides and question of collecting.

JB McCaig (Vila) to Director, 30 June 1959 (Item ff.23-22)

re visit of Bregulla and the number and species of birds he wishes to collect.

Expeditions - General, 1 February 1969 - October 1970 (File CP 351/4)

Filmed Selectively.

Memos on Joint Marine Biological Expedition to Papua and New Guinea, 1970. (Personnel included 4 Australians), October 1970 (Item ff.56-55)
Correspondence and memos re BM(NH) expedition to Indonesia, 4 July- 1 February 1969 (Item ff.24-10, 7-1)

Correspondents include: IJM Sutherland (British Embassy, Djakarta).

Expeditions - Australian Bird Expedition, 1961 - 1965 (File CP 355/1)

(243p.)

Correspondence, reports, BM (NH) memos, press cuttings re Harold Hall expeditions to collect birds in Australia.

Correspondents include: Peter Crowcroft (Adelaide); J McNally (Melbourne); Harold Hall (Toorak); William Ricketts (Mt Dandenong); T Gellibrand (Toorak); Lord De L'Isle (Tonbridge and Canberra); Lord Cassey (E. Melbourne); David Ride (Perth); L Elmore (Hamilton); Adelaide Croucher (Brighton le Sands); Elizabeth McKenzie (Brisbane); JW Evans (Sydney); CW Brazenor (Melbourne); HA Lindsay (Highgate); William Cumming (Australia House); HT Condon (Adelaide).

Subjects include: equipment needed; funding; field work; problems re permits; opposition from conservationists (William Ricketts et al); need for good public relations; problem of holding of type material overseas; financial arrangements with Harold Hall.

Henry Bolte (Melbourne) to William Ricketts (07/08/1962): re his opposition to expedition. (Copy)

JD MacDonald memo (03/01/1962): on proposed expedition, setting out aims.

Includes;

Expeditions - Australian Bird Expedition Pt 2, 1963 - 1966 (File CP 355/2)

(20p.)

Correspondence and BM (NH) memos re Harold Hall Expeditions.

Subjects include: insurance; medical expenses; secondment of personnel.

Expeditions - Australia (West Central) Joint Services, 1966 - 1968 (File CP 356)

(189p.)

Correspondence and BM (NH) memos re Joint Services Expedition to Australia.

Correspondents include: DL Serventy (Helena Valley); W Ride (Western Australian Museum, Perth); WH Butler (North Perth); A Norris (Learmouth Park).

Subjects include: deposit of specimens; number of specimens collected; field reports; problem re collecting in aboriginal reserves; employment of Butler as guide and collector.

Includes: Final report.

Expeditions - Australian (Hall), 1967 - 1969 (File CP 357)

(12p.)

Comprises: Report on Harold Hall Australian Expeditions, 1961-1968, with map.

Expeditions - North Western Australia, 1966 - 1967 (File CP 358)

(65p.)

Correspondence with W Ride (Perth) and RJ Savage (Bristol) re expedition to search for Tertiary mammals in Western Australia.

Expeditions - Miss LE Cheesman, 1928 - 1958 (File CP 360)

(239p.)

Correspondence and BM (NH) memos re Miss LE Cheesman's expeditions to the Pacific.

Correspondents include: LE Cheesman (New Hebrides, New Caledonia, Japen (Dutch New Guinea), Cameroons); J Sidebotham (Colonial Office); Sir Stephen Gaselee (Foreign Office); Dutch Consul General; Miss Steele (passim Africa); GA Joy (Vila).

Subjects include: problems sending specimens; field trips in New Hebrides (1955); problems organising camp; award of OBE; appreciation of LEC's work collecting in the Pacific; expedition to New Caledonia (1950); proposed expedition to Dutch East Indies in 1940; field work at Japen (1938); expedition to New Hebrides, 1929-1930; arrangement to collect with Miss Steele in Cameroons; gift of spear from King Ringapat of New Hebrides to George V.

Expeditions - Galapagos Islands, 1935 - 1960 (File CP 361)

(124p.)

Correspondents include: V van Straelen (Brussels); Tracy Philipps (Brussels); Sir Stephen Gaselee (Foreign Office); H Stanford London (British Legation, Quito); Julian Huxley (London, copies).

Subjects include: Study project by Charles Darwin Foundation for GI; conservation and protection of flora and fauna; visit by HMS Apollo; visit by Vincent Astor's yacht Nourmahal, (1936).

Expeditions - Gunong Benom, Malaya, 1966 - 1967 (File CP 362)

(119p.)

Correspondents include: Lord Medway (Saxmundham and Malaya); FV Slade (London); Major Dewing (Singapore); Balwant Singh (Kuala Lipis).

Subjects include: species of mammals and birds collected; problems re Miss Grandison and Miss Slade joining expedition; equipment and supplies; licence to import firearms; number of porters necessary.

Includes: preliminary report; expedition circulars; proposal for expedition.

See Also Mammals list.

Expeditions - New Guinea, 1963 - 1965 (File CP 371)

(47p.)

Correspondence and BM (NH) memos re BM (NH) and Newcastle University Expedition to New Guinea, 1964-1965, to collect Botanical and entomological specimens.

Correspondents include: J Linsley Gressitt (Honolulu); Clive Jermy (Lae); DM Cleland (Port Moresby).

Subjects include:donation from Bishop Museum; fieldwork; finance and equipment; approval from Administrator, PNG.

Expeditions - New Guinea (Joint Museum Expedition, 1970), 1969 - 1970 (File CP 372)

(24p.)

Correspondence, circulars and memos re joint marine biological expedition to Papua New Guinea by Australian Museum, BM, and US National Museum to collect fishes and coral reef fauna.

Correspondents include: Frank Talbot (Australian Museum).

Subjects include: financial contribution; costs; plans for collecting sites.

Expeditions - North Borneo (1956) Birds, 1947 - 1963 (File CP 373)

(176p.)

Corrspondents include: EJ Corner (Cambridge); DC Martin (Royal Society); Chief Secretary's Office (Jesselton); Loke Wan Tho (Singapore).

Subjects include: equipment; presentation of birds to Government of North Borneo; species collected; payment of medical fees and other expenses; employment of Dyak skinners.

[folios 176-165 refer to Royal Society's 2nd Expedition to Borneo, 1964].

Expeditions - Royal Society Expedition to North Borneo, 1960 - 1964 (File CP 374)

(95p.)

Correspondence, memos and minutes of meetings re Royal Society Expedition to Kinabalu to collect general biological specimens in 1961.

Correspondents include: DC Martin (Royal Society); E Corner (Cambridge).

Subjects include: donation of duplicate specimens to Sabah Museum; reports on naming of collections; finance; equipment; programme; proposed nature reserve at Mt Kinabalu.

Includes: Report to Governor of North Borneo on proposed national park of Kinabalu (1961); Report by EJ Corner on visit to North Borneo, 4-19 August 1960.

Expeditions - WJ Potter New Guinea, 1919 - 1922 (File CP 376)

(26p.)

Correspondents include: Managers English, Scottish and Australian Bank Ltd. (London and Sydney); Clive Lord (Hobart); J Collins (Australia House); A Albert (Sydney); LF Potter (Police Dept., Melbourne).

Subjects include: remittances forwarded to Potter care of English, Scottish and Australian Bank Ltd., Sydney; transport of specimens.

Expeditions - Rennell Island, 1950 - 1962 (File CP 377)

(139p.)

Correspondence and memos re expeditions to Rennell Island by JD Bradley (1954) and Danish Galathea Deep Sea Expedition (1951) to ascertain affinities of the fauna.

Correspondents include: Torben Wolff (Copenhagen); R Sparck (Copenhagen); ME Turbet (Wellington); GD Hale Carpenter (Oxford).

Subjects include: joint publication of results with Copenhagen Museum; costs; illustrations; import duty on equipment; insurance; collecting programme; Miss Turbet's proposed expedition to Solomon Islands; the known natural history of Rennell Island.

Although listed, this material was not filmed by the AJCP.Printed/ published reports in envelope.

Expeditions - Rowett-Shackleton Expedition, 1921 - 1923 (File CP 381)

(25p.)

Correspondence and memos re Rowett-Shackleton expedition to Antarctic, 1921/2 (Quest).

Correspondents include: John Rowett (Frant, London); GV Douglas (Cambridge); GH Wilkins (Quest, Capetown, Rio de Janeiro, London).

Subjects include: specimens presented to BM (NH); despatch of specimens by Wilkins.

Expeditions - Solomon Islands, 1964 - 1966 (File CP 382)

(25p.)

Correspondence and memos re joint Royal Society and BM (NH) expedition to Solomon Islands to collect marine and land specimens.

Correspondents include: DC Martin (Royal Society); CF Pantin (Cambridge).

Subjects include: allocation of BM (NH) staff to work on collection; funding; interviewing of potential party members.

Expeditions - Cpt GH Wilkins Expedition to Australia, 1922 - 1923 (File CP 392/1)

(100p.)

Correspondents include: GH Wilkins (Townsville, Temple Bay); Heber Longman (Queensland Museum); Ernest Scriven (Brisbane); T Sherrin (Berrima); P Campbell (Australia House).

Subjects include: difficulties finding specimens due to drought; granting export permits; collecting in York Peninsula and coastal islands; specimens collected; expenses; employment of TA Sherrin.

Includes: 2nd report, 10 October 1923

1st report, 15 June 1923

Expeditions - Cpt GH Wilkins to Australia and Arctic, 1923 - 1959 (File CP 392/2)

(324p.)

Correspondents include: J Grierson (Hawridge); Wilkins (London, Fairbanks Alaska, New York, Thursday Island, Crocodile Island); EG Benn (London); Lura B Shreck (San Francisco); Allan A Spowers (Surveyor General, Brisbane).

Subjects include: proposed biography of GHW by Grierson; obituary (The Times, 2 December 1958); polar exploration by submarine; presentation to the Museum of rights in Undiscovered Australia; publication of Undiscovered Australia; plans for Arctic flight; films made in Australia for Church Missionary Society; collecting on Thursday Island; scarcity of fauna on trip overland, Katherine to Goyder River; collecting geological specimens, Flinders River.

Includes: SPG Carpentaria Association, Report, 1928 and 1927.

Reports by Keepers on specimens brought back by Wilkins.

6th Report, 6-26 April 1924.

5th Report, 1 January-31 March 1924.

A report on some geographical features that differ from those shown on map section 21A issued by Lands Dept., Brisbane by GHW, 1923.

4th Report, December 1923.

3rd Report, 24 November 1923.

Expeditions - Cpt GH Wilkins. Accounts for Australia, 1923 - 1924 (File CP 392/3)

(195p.)

Includes: Invoices from AP Greenfield (Brisbane); WC Jardine (Rockhampton); Hotel Bellevue (Brisbane); Fay and Gibson (Brisbane); Kodak (Sydney); and lists of expenses.

Details of supplies and equipment purchased.

Expeditions - Cpt GH Wilkins - Ethnology for Australia. (86p.), 1923 - 1925 (File CP 392/4)

The Indigenous Australians of Arnhem Land, NE Northern Territory, Australia (Item I)

Comprises

A visit [by GHW] to Groote Eylandt, Gulf of Carpentaria (Item II)

Includes: list of ethnological specimens.

The Indigenous Australians of Cape York Peninsula and the influence of the mission workers (Item III)
Folklore and other stories collected from the natives at Milingimbi, Crocodile Islands, NT. Recorded by GHW, December 1924 (Item IV)

Eg. origin of rainbow; origin of the Blackfellow; cannibalism; food tabu; methods of killing enemies.

Expeditions - Cpt GH Wilkins Expedition to Australia. Photographs, [1923-1924] (File CP 392/5)

69 photographs.

Some identified.

Includes: scenery; aborigines of Groote Eylandt, Milingimbi etc; camp; Wilkins.

Exhibitions/Exhibits Various, 1966 - 1968 (File CP 408)

2 items

Filmed selectively.

Folder: Captain Cook Bicentenary, 1966 - 1967 (Item A)

(38p.)

Includes: press notice re BM (NH) exhibition;BM (NH) memos; correspondence; press cuttings.

Correspondents include: Sir David Follett (Science Museum); JH Richards (AH and AW Reed, Wellington); BG Hamlin (Dominion Museum, Wellington).

Subjects include: proposed exhibition; publication of Parkinson's illustrations of New Zealand plants; BM (NH) publications to commemorate bicentennial.

Miscellaneous material, 1968 (File B)

Filmed Selectively.

Correspondence with British Museum, National Maritime Museum, New Zealand High Commissioner (Sir Thomas MacDonald) re Cook bicentennial exhibitions, 1968 (Item ff.43-31)

Funafuti borings, 1948 - 1952 (File CP 426)

(38p.)

Correspondence with Dr WE Wrather (Geological Survey, US Dept of Interior, Washington) re loan of borings from Funafuti for comparison with borings from Bikini Atoll.

Great Barrier Reef Committee, Australia, 1922 - 1958 (File CP 436)

(39p.)

Correspondents include: OA Jones (Brisbane); Charles Hedley (Brisbane); Sir Matthew Nathan (Brisbane)

Subjects include: facilities of Heron Island Marine Biological Research Station; setting up of Great Barrier Reef Committee and proposed fields of study of Great Barrier Reef.

Expeditions - Mount Cook, New Zealand, 1971 - 1972 (File CP 460)

(31p.)

Correspondence and BM (NH) memos re Royal Air Force Mountaineering Association expedition to New Zealand Alps collecting Hemiptera.

Correspondents include: V Armstrong (NZ Scientific Liaison Office).

Includes: Report (25p.)

Statement on aims.

Kuala Lumpur - FMS Museum, 1923 - 1927 (File CP 480)

(23p.)

Correspondence with Boden Kloss on the BM (NH)'s lack of progress in identifying and returning the Korinchi collection of insects.

Kuala Lumpur (Selangor Museum), 1947 - 1955 (File CP 481)

(63p.)

Correspondents include: Salleh bin Inoh (Dept. of Agriculture, Kuala Lumpur); RA Lever (Dept of Agriculture, KL); HT Pagden (Penang and KL); M Albakri (Kuala Lumpur).

Subjects include: presentation of Selangor Museum's entomological collections; problems re packing and shipping; report on the composition of the collection; funding and plans for new Museum in Kuala Lumpur - 'old one destroyed by American bombers aiming at nearby railway yards in March 1945'; condition of specimens which escaped the bombing.

Melbourne Museum, 1936 - 1955 (File CP 523)

(52p.)

Correspondents include: RTM Prescott; AN Burns; R Boswell; Russell Grimwade; EN Dewar; RH Wright (Agent General for Victoria Office, London).

Subjects include: visit to England of Dr H Wettenhall; identification of specimens; Centenary on 1 March 1954; visit to England of Mrs JP Mitchell; insurance cover; appointment of taxidermist and articulator.

Meteorites, 22 October 1935 - 17 April 1957 (File CP 525)

Filmed Selectively.

Report by GF Herbert Smith (Mineral Dept.) to Trustees re exhibition of Cranbourne Meteorite, 17 April 1957 (Item f.7)
G Herbert Smith to Director re special case for exhibiting Cranbourne meteorite, 3 November 1936 (Item f.6)
Report by GF Herbert Smith to Trustees on discovery of Kyancutta meteorite and presentation by R Bedford, 18 January 1936 (Item ff.5-4)
Memo re case for exhibiting Cranbourne meteorite, 9 January 1936 (Item f.3)
Report by G Herbert Smith to Trustees on condition of Cranbourne meteorite and method of preservation. (3p.), 22 October 1935 (Item ff.2-1)

New Zealand, Dominion of, 1931 - 1964 (File CP 543)

(51p.)

Correspondents include: RW Willett (NZ Geological Survey); PA Tomory (Art Gallery, Auckland); DE Hurley (DSIR); NH Taylor (DSIR); RA Falla (Dominion Museum); FW Doidge (NZ High Commissioner); AW Turner (NZ High Commission); GP Newton (Dept of Internal Affairs).

Subjects include: Visit to BM (NH) of MR Hornibrook; Cpt Cook's artists; visit to England of DE Hurley; visit to England of KE Lee; Notornis exhibit and discovery of live colony; permission for Gilbert Archey to send 6 specimens of NZ native frog Liopelma hochstetteri to BM (NH); reports on work of Valerie Norman.

Parliamentary Bills: Plumage Bill, 1920 - 1925 (File CP 561/1)

Folios 357-95 concern correspondence with HM Customs and Excise re plumage seized by Customs Officers and with Board of Trade re applications for import licences.

Filmed Selectively.

Memos, minutes of meetings, reports to Trustees and correspondence re Plumage Bill, 1920 - 1922 (Item ff.94-1)

Correspondents include: ES Montagu, MP (London);HC Braham (Chairman Plumage Committee, Textile Trade).

WJ Plowden Wardlaw (File CP 570)

Filmed Selectively.

Correspondence with JW Evans (Australian Museum) (Item ff.50-57)

Plowden-Wardlaw who intends to visit Australia for a joint project with the Museum

Plowden-Wardlaw was non persona grata with the Museum, having used its name to make illegal bird collections in British Guiana.

Queen, Her Majesty The (File CP 610)

Filmed Selectively.

Correspondence: corals presented to HM The Queen, 1955- 1954 (Item ff.32-11)

Presented by the government of Queensland and deposited by HM at the BM (NH)

Correspondents include: M McAuley (Queensland House); Lord Iddesleigh (Exeter).

Scientific Expeditionary Research Association, 1922 - 1925 (File CP 658)

(68p.)

Correspondence, memos, and reports concerning the Scientific Expeditionary Reseach Association's collecting expedition to South Pacific in St George.

Correspondents include: JG Blair (SERA); Cyril Crossland (Balboa); Sir Kenneth Mackenzie (SERA).

Seals and Sealing, 1959 (File CP 663)

Filmed Selectively.

Correspondence with Clive Sansom (Hobart), memos and press cuttings on proposed destruction of seals on Macquarie Island, 1959 (Item ff.103-97)

Society for Promotion of Native Reserves, 1948 - 1949 (File CP 680)

Filmed Selectively.

Correspondence with J Ros Garnet (Field Naturalists' Club of Victoria) re national parks and preservation of Victorian flora and fauna, 1948 - 1949 (Item ff.60-18, 7-6)

Includes: National Parks and National Reserves in Victoria: report by the National Parks and National Monuments Sub-Committee of the Field Naturalists' Club, and Proceedings of the Conference on Victorian National Parks, 28 July 1948.

Stranded Cetaceans, 1965 - 1966 (File CP 702/1)

Filmed Selectively.

Press cuttings and correspondence with Sir Robert Menzies (Canberra), 1965 - 1966 (Item ff.84-77)

re his appointment as Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and entitlement to Royal Fish stranded in the area.

Thefts (File CP 710/1)

Filmed Selectively.

Colin Wyatt and the theft of butterfly specimens from Australian Museums, 1951, 1947 (Item ff.195, 93, 90-73)

Correspondents include: RTM Prescott (National Museum of Victoria); H Greenham (South Australia House); AB Walkom (Australian Museum).

Includes: Report on court case against Colin William Wyatt of Farnham Surrey at West Ham Magistrate's Court, 21 May 1947.

Type Specimens (File CP 731)

Filmed Selectively.

Correspondence with DF Waterhouse (CSIRO, Canberra) and BM (NH), 25 February 1966- 7 May 1965 (File ff.93-73, 65-64)

memos regarding the lodgement in Australia of Australian holotypes

University of Malaya, 1971-1967 (File CP 738)

(48p.)

Correspondence concerning the working visit to BM (NH) of David Labang.

Correspondents include: YC Siew and Lord Medway.

Vernay, AS, 1955-1929 (File CP 742)

Correspondence and BM (NH) memos concerning expedition to Malaya led by AS Vernay to obtain specimens of Javan Rhinoceros sondaicus.

Correspondents include: AS Vernay (Bahamas, New York); NR James (Perak); Colonial Office; Theodore Hubback (Kuala Lipis); Lord Rothschild (Tring).

Subjects include: damage sustained by specimen when mammal gallery was hit by flying bomb in July 1944; equipment; obtaining permit.

Western Australian Museum, 1965 - 1967 (File CP 757)

Correspondence regarding exchange of staff - William G Inglis and Mr Koch.

Correspondents include: WDL Ride and RJ Terrell.


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