Guide to the Papers of Frank Benson Horner
MS 7620
National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record
Collection Summary
- Creator
- Frank Benson Horner
- Title
- Papers of Frank Benson Horner
- Date Range
- 1980-1994
- Collection Number
- MS 7620
- Extent
- 1.8 metres (13 boxes + 1 folio packet)
- Language of Materials
- English
- Repository
- National Library of Australia
Introduction
Scope and Contents
The papers comprise manuscript and typescript drafts of French reconnaissance: Baudin in Australia (Melbourne University Press, 1987), Horner’s first book on French exploration in the Pacific, and partial drafts of his subsequent work Looking for La Pérouse: D’Entrecasteaux in Australia and the South Pacific 1792-1793 (Melbourne University Press, 1995). There are also copies of documents, articles, notes on and extracts from source materials, and Horner’s correspondence with historians and institutions regarding documents, illustrations, research and publication permissions for these two works. The documents include copies of the journals, letters and reports of the two expedition leaders, Nicolas Baudin and Joseph Antoine Bruny d’Entrecasteaux, from archival collections in Australia and France, some with English translations, and photographic copies of maps and illustrations collected for the two publications.
Conditions Governing Access
Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1909156).
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Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions.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 Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.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 Frank Benson Horner, National Library of Australia, MS 7620, [box number and series and/or file number]'.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Frank Horner donated the papers to the Library in three instalments, in 1989, 1996 and 1999.
Related Materials
A recording and transcript of a 1984 interview with Horner by Cameron Hazlehurst and Colin Forster, describing his education and career in economics and statistics, is held in the Oral History Section (ORAL TRC 1594)
Arrangement
The collection has been largely maintained in the file arrangement in which it was received.
Biographical Note
Frank Horner (b. 1917) joined the NSW Bureau of Statistics in 1935 on completion of secondary schooling at Sydney High School, and attended evening classes at Sydney University to obtain a degree in economics. He was seconded to the Commonwealth Treasury in 1940 and served in the Navy, principally in the New Guinea region, between 1943 and 1946. After post-graduate studies for his doctorate at the London School of Economics, he returned to the Bureau as Assistant Statistician under S.R. Carver and rose to the position of Assistant Government Statistician. In 1958 he joined the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics (subsequently the Australian Bureau of Statistics) in Canberra, being appointed Deputy Commonwealth Statistician in 1964.
In retirement Horner undertook extensive research on French voyages in the Pacific, publishing French reconnaissance: Baudin in Australia (Melbourne University Press) in 1987. This work was the non-fiction selection for the Fellowship of Australian Writers’ Barbara Ramsden Award. His second major work, Looking for La Pérouse: D’Entrecasteaux in Australia and the South Pacific 1792-1793, was published by Melbourne University Press in 1995 (reprinted Miegunyah Press 1996).
Item Descriptions
Series 1. French reconnaissance: drafts
Following his retirement from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Horner undertook research on the voyage of French explorer Nicolas Baudin, who charted the coasts of Van Diemen’s Land and the southern and western coasts of Australia from 1801 to 1803. His book French reconnaissance: Baudin in Australia.was published by Melbourne University Press in 1987.
This series contains the manuscript drafts of chapters 1-16 and typescript drafts of Chapters 1-15 of that book.
Series 2. French reconnaissance: source documents
Source documents and notes for Chapters 2-15, arranged by chapter, with a separate file for illustrations.
Series 3. French reconnaissance: Baudin documents
Reports, letters and journal entries by Baudin, 1801-1802, some with English translations, and a file on Baudin’s Austrian service. Also notes on and extracts from microfilm and map collections relating to Baudin and/or the voyage.
Series 4. French reconnaissance: articles and notes
Articles and notes from published and manuscript sources. In two alphabetical sequences, by subject A-W and by author A-Z.
Series 5. Looking for La Pérouse: drafts - Box 10
Horner’s second book dealt with the expedition, led by Joseph Antoine Bruny d’Entrecasteaux, undertaken in 1791 to search for the ships of the Comte de la Pérouse that had disappeared after leaving Botany Bay in 1788. It was published in 1995 by Melbourne University Press as Looking for La Pérouse: D’Entrecasteaux in Australia and the South Pacific 1792-1793.
This series contains manuscript and typescript drafts of Chapters 1-4 only. Comprising 1 file.
Series 6. Looking for La Pérouse: source documents
Source documents and notes for Chapters 1-17, arranged by chapter.
Series 7. Looking for La Pérouse: d’Entrecasteaux documents, articles and notes
The series includes copies of letters and journals of expedition leader Joseph Antoine Bruny d’Entrecasteaux, 1791-1793, Horner’s files on particular aspects of the expedition, notes on Microfilm sources, unpublished papers by Brian Plomley 1991, and a file of post-publication notes and articles 1991-94, including a program of the Rudé seminar in July 1994 at which Horner gave a paper on d’Entrecasteaux.