Guide to the Papers of Frederic William Eggleston

MS 423

National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record

Collection Summary

Creator: Frederic William Eggleston
Title: Papers of Frederic William Eggleston
Date Range: 1911-1954
Collection Number: MS 423
Extent: 5.4 metres (34 boxes)
Language of Materials: English
Repository: National Library of Australia

Introduction

Scope and Content Note

The papers are concerned mainly with the official career and writings of Sir Frederic Eggleston. They relate to his activities as member of the delegation at the Paris Peace Conference (1919), Minister in the Victorian Government (1924-1927), Chairman of the Commonwealth Grants Commission (1933-1941), Australian Minister to China (1941-1944) and to the U.S.A. (1944-1946), and as a member of the Interim Council of the Australian National University (1946-1951). Reflecting his great interest in international affairs, there is material on immigration and on the work of the Institutes of Pacific Relations and International Affairs.

The collection also contains notes, manuscripts and typescripts of his writings and lectures as well as correspondence, a diary and press cuttings.

Correspondents include Fred Alexander, W. Macmahon Ball, Sir Richard Boyer, Herbert Brookes, Sir Allen Brown, Lord Bruce, Tristan Buesst, John W. Burton, G. Caiger, I. Huntington Cairns, Arthur Calwell, Lord Casey, Sir Harold Clapp, Sir Douglas Copland, L.F. Crisp, W.R. Crocker, John Curtin, Sir William Dunk, E.C. Dyason, H.V. Evatt, W.D. Forsyth, J.R. Halligan, Sir Keith Hancock, Ralph Harry, Sir Paul Hasluck, W.R. Hodgson, Sir John Latham, Sir Harry Lawson, Sir Robert Menzies, Sir John Monash, Sir Walter Murdoch, Sir Keith Officer, Sir Mark Oliphant, Gerald Packer, Sir James Plimsoll, Sir David Rivett, Geoffrey Sawer, W.E. Stanner, George Swinburne, Griffith Taylor, Sir Keith Waller, Sir Alan Watt and Sir Alfred Zimmern.

Conditions Governing Access

Access conditions may apply to this collection, please refer to the collection's catalogue record for further information (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2246008).

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Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions.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 Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.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 Frederic William Eggleston, National Library of Australia, MS 423, [box number and series and/or file number]'.

Provenance

The papers were received from the family of Sir Frederic Eggleston after his death in 1954.

Biographical Note

Frederic William Eggleston was born on 17 October 1875 in Melbourne, a son of John W. Eggeston, and was educated at Wesley College, Melbourne, Leys School, Cambridge, and the University of Melbourne. He studied Law and was admitted to the Bar in 1897.

Eggleston was a member of the Gladstone Debating Society, whose members included John Latham and Herbert Brookes, and where he met his future wife, Louisa Henriques, whom he married on 10 May 1904. There were two sons, Egan M. and Frederic H. and a daughter Jean (Mrs John Shannon). From 1911 until 1920 he was a member of the Caulfield City Council and Mayor in 1915.

During World War I, Eggleston served in the A.I.F. from 1916 until 1919 when he joined the staff of the Prime Minister, W. M. Hughes, at the Peace Conference in Paris. After his return to Australia in 1920 he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Victoria as the Nationalist Member for St. Kilda, and was Minister of Railways (1924-1927), Attorney-General (1924-1927) and Vice President of the Board of Land and Works in the governments of H.S.W. Lawson, Sir Alexander Peacock and John Allan. He was defeated in the 1927 general elections.

In collaboration with E. H. Sugden, Eggleston wrote The life of George Swinburne which was published in 1931, followed in 1932 by his State socialism in Victoria. He was widowed in 1935.

From its inception in 1933 until he resigned in 1941, Eggleston was chairman of the Commonwealth Grants Commission. During this time he was active in the work of the Institute of International Affairs and the Institute of Pacific Relations, and was chairman of Australian delegations at conferences of the latter organization in Honolulu (1927), Kyoto, Japan (1929) and Yosemite, U.S.A. (1936). In 1938 he attended a British Commonwealth Conference at Lapstone, N.S.W. Eggleston was appointed to a committee in 1939 to survey the possibility of establishing a combined administration of the Territories of Papua and New Guinea and to make recommendations regarding a capital site. He toured Papua and New Guinea in May-July 1939.

In 1941 Eggleston's Search for a social philosophy was published. he received a knighthood and was appointed Australia's first Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to China. He arrived in Chungking in October 1941 and remained until 1944. During his leave in Australia, Eggleston was invited to go to Washington as Minister to the U.S.A. to succeed Sir Own Dixon. He attended the San Francisco United Nations Conference in 1945, the Australian delegation being led by F.M. Forde and H.V. Evatt.

From 1946, when his term in Washington concluded, until 1949, Eggleston was an adviser to the Department of External Affairs, and wrote a course of lectures in diplomacy for the diplomatic cadets. He was chairman of the Advisory Committee to examine questions relating to the Japanese peace settlement. In 1946 Eggleston was appointed to the Interim Council of the Australia National University and was actively involved in the University's affairs until 1951.

His Reflections of an Australian liberal was published in December 1952; it dealt with political parties and leaders and aroused considerable interest.

Eggleston died in Melbourne on 12 November 1954.

References: The Australian encyclopaedia, Vol. 3 (Sydney, Angus and Robertson, 1958) Osmond, Warren. Frederic Eggleston : an intellectual in Australian politics (Sydney : George Allen & Unwin, 1985)

Item Descriptions

Series 1. Correspondence, 1911-1954 - Box 1, 2

Items 1-1550

This series contains personal business letters arranged chronologically from 1911 to 1954. Correspondents included Sir John Latham, Mark Oliphant, Sir Douglas Copland, Keith Hancock, Sir Alfred Zimmern, Keith Waller, W.D. Forsyth, W.H. Stanner, W.R. Crocker, W. Macmahon Ball and B.A. Levinson.

Series 2. Diary, 1927 - Box 2

Items 1-2

Two copies of a typescript diary kept during a visit to the U.S.A. in 1927 as chairman of the Australian delegation to the Institute of Pacific Relations, Honolulu, 1927.

Series 3. Printed material - Box 2, 3

Items 1-610

This is a miscellaneous collection of parliamentary papers, reports, pamphlets and magazines on wide variety of subject. Other printed items have been placed in their relevant subject series.

Series 4. Notes - Box 3

Items 1-416

Contained in this series are the notes Eggleston made from the writings of others, including H. G. Wells, J.A. Spender, Cyril Asquith and Henry Stimson.

Series 5. Press cuttings, 1946-1954 - Box 4

A small collection of press cuttings, mostly on international affairs, during the period 1946-1954. Cuttings also appear throughout the collection in the series to which they relate.

Series 6. Peace Conference, 1919 - Box 4

Items 1-490

This series contains correspondence, Eggleston's Conference pass, notes, material on the formation of the League of Nations, press cuttings and manuscripts of his writings 'The peace treaty study in moral values' (items 413-87) and 'The peace machinists at work - outstanding figures at the Peace Conference' (items 488-90)

Series 7. M.L.A. for St Kilda, 1920-1927 - Box 4, 5

Items 1-612

Much of this series consists of correspondence between John Allan, H. S. Lawson and F. E. Old during the political crisis of 1923 (items 1-152). The remainder of the series concerns his portfolio of Attorney-General (1924-1927) during which period George Swinburne resigned as a member of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria following Willetts Sawyer's report on the operations of the Commission. His correspondents included Sir John Monash, Sir Harold Clapp, George Swinburne and Willetts Sawyer (items 153-612).

Series 8. Commonwealth Grants Commission, 1933-1941 - Box 5

Items 1-18

Eggleston was chairman of the Commission from its inception in July 1933 until his resignation in 1941. This series contains a very small amount of correspondence with J.A. Lyons, A.W. Fadden, T. Hythen and M. Richardson.

Series 9. Australian Minister to China, 1941-1944 - Box 5, 6, 7, 8

Items 1-2158

Manuscripts and typescripts of his diaries make up most of this series (items 376-2008). Also included is correspondence with Sir Frederick Stewart, John Curtin, H.V. Evatt, W.R. Hodgson and Keith Waller concerning Eggleston's appointment, the establishment of a legation and staff matters, (items 1-175) together with notes, lectures and a despatch dated 2 February 1943 entitled 'The outlines of constructive peace in the Pacific' (items 240-2930).

Note that this series has been microfilmed G24,016 - 018 (3 reels)

Series 10. Australian Minister to U.S.A., 1944-1946 - Box 8, 9, 10, 11

Items 1-1949

This series consists of papers concerning Eggleston's appointment to Washington, the organization of the Australian Legation; the establishment of a Consulate- General in New York; correspondence with H.V. Evatt, William Dunk, Lord Bruce, Keith Officer, Sir David Rivett and others (items 1-280); minutes and reports from the Four Powers Conference at Dumbarton Oaks (1944); the United Nations Conference at San Francisco (1945) (items 281-614) and his diaries and memoirs (items 615-1949).

This series has been microfilmed at mfm G24,016-018 (3 reels)

Series 11. Department of External Affairs, 1946-1949 - Box 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23

Items 1-7986

This series is the largest in the collection and contains general correspondence written while Eggleston was an adviser to the Department (1946-1949), material on the United Nations Trusteeship system, the Japanese Peace Conference (items 566-1008); the 1947 Inter-Asian Relations Conference at New Delhi (items 1009-1096); the 1949 New Delhi Conference on Indonesia (items 1097-1142); legislation to place the Territory of New Guinea under the international trusteeship system and provide for the government of Papua and New Guinea (items 1430-1806); lectures and notes on diplomatic history, consisting of three parts:

(i) 'Lectures on diplomatic life' - designed to interest the cadets in diplomatic life.

(ii) 'The dialectic of peace' - 14 lectures tracing the history of the efforts for peace from the time of the formation of the League of Nations until 1948.

(iii) 'Diplomatic techniques' - lectures on conferences on reparations and disarmament and other important diplomatic subjects since 1928.

Series 12. Australian National University, 1946-1951 - Box 23, 24, 25

Items 1-1393

This series contains much correspondence concerning University policy and appointments, with Sir Douglas Copland, Mark Oliphant, Keith Hancock, W.R. Crocker, W.E. Stanner and R.A. Hohnen during the formative years of the University (items 62-629); printed matter including legislation and reports (items 709-724); the A.N.U.-sponsored project for a Political Atlas of the Pacific and Indian Oceans (items 943-1212); papers assembled by Eggleston as a member of the Committee appointed to consider proposals for the future of the Australian School of Pacific Administration at Mosman, N.S.W. (items 1213-1283) and reports and correspondence with Raymond Firth and others on the establishment of a Research School of Pacific Studies at the A.N.U. (items 1284-1369).

Series 13. Immigration, 1947-1952 - Box 25

Items 1-329

Eggleston had a deep interest in the Commonwealth Government's post-war immigration policy. This series contains correspondence with A.A. Calwell, W.D. Forsyth and Pauline Falquieres, articles by Eggleston, printed matter and press cuttings dating from 1947 to 1952.

Series 14. Institute of Pacific Relations - Box 26

Items 1-240

Eggleston was a foundation member of the Institute, helped draft its constitution in 1927, was the Australian member on the Pacific Council for many years, and was chairman of delegations at conferences in Honolulu (1927), Kyoto, Japan (1929) and Yosemite, U.S.A. (1936). The series contains correspondence with W.L. Holland, P.E. Lilienthal, G. Caiger and others, together with printed matter and reports.

Series 15. Australian Institute of International Affairs, 1938-1954 - Box 26

Contained in this series is correspondence dating from 1938 to 1954 with TristamBuesst, E. C. Dyason, Frederick Alexander, George Caiger, John M. Ward, Gordon Greenwood and others, together with printed matter and reports.

Items 1-266

Series 16. 'Melbourne memoirs' - Box 26, 27, 28

Items 1-1091

The manuscripts and typescript of an unpublished account of Melbourne's social and cultural development from the late nineteenth century through to the depression years. Much of this is autobiographical.

Series 17. Reflections of an Australian liberal, 1952-1953 - Box 28, 29

Items 1-468

This book was published for the Australian National University by Cheshire in December 1952. A typescript copy of the manuscript, correspondence, reviews and press cuttings are contained in this series.

Series 18. Search for a social philosophy, 1940-1941 - Box 29

Items 1-272

This work was published in1941 by Melbourne University Press and the series contains correspondence, reviews and proofs together with 'Review of the thesis in search for a social philosophy' (items 74-236).

Series 19. 'Diplomatic memories' - Box 30

Items 1-202

This series contains manuscripts and typescripts copies of 'Diplomatic memories'.

Series 20. Essays and other writings - Box 30, 31, 32, 33

Items 1-3863

In this large series appear manuscript and typescript copies of his writings on a wide variety of subjects not covered in other series. Included here are unpublished typescripts of papers on systematic sociology consisting of 'Character and method of sociological thought', 'Story of social intergration' and 'Logic of the social sciences' (items 1611-3864).

Series 21. Public lectures, 1951-1954 - Box 33

Items 1-323

These lecture consist of copies of talks broadcast on the A.B.C. and other places.

Series 22. Writings for the press and letters to the Editor, 1951-1954 - Box 34

Items 1-243

Eggleston was held in high regard as commentator on world affairs and the editors of the Age and the Herald often requested articles by him. He contributed to many journals both as a commentator and a reviewer. His letters to the Editor cover his last years 1951-1954 and include the subjects of rural marketing, parliamentary salaries and local government finance.

Series 23. United Nations League of Lawyers, 1946-1949 - Box 34

Items 1-139

The League was set up in Washington in 1946 and was an attempt to establish an international league designed to maintain co-operative relations among the lawyers of the United Nations. Eggleston was elected a deputy Vice-President, and the series contains its constitution and his correspondence with R.J. McArthur, Heher Rice, David Maughan, Ralph Harry and John Oldham in the 1946-1949 period.

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