Guide to the Papers of William Maxwell Aitkin, 1st Baron Beaverbrook (as filmed by the AJCP)
M1126-M1129
National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record
Created: 2018
Collection Summary
- Creator
- Aitken, William Maxwell, 1st Baron Beaverbrook
- Title
- Papers of William Maxwell Aitkin, 1st Baron Beaverbrook (as filmed by the AJCP)
- Date Range
- 1915 - 1964
- Collection Number
- M1126-M1129
- Extent
- 273 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
General correspondence 1928-1964 referring especially to Empire Free Trade Crusade of 1929-1931, press and politics in Australia and New Zealand, and imperial trade.
Correspondents include Sir James Parr, F.L. McDougall, Lord Bledisloe, J.H. Scullin, Theodore Fink, Sir Frederick Doidge, Sir Keith Murdoch, H.V. Evatt, G. Lansell, Lord Bruce, R.G. Casey and Ann Mozley.
Special correspondence, including correspondence with Sir Frederick Doidge, R.D. Elliott, Sir David Low and Sir Earle Page.
World War II papers concerning munitions production in Australia, Cable and Wireless Ltd, construction of American airfields in the western Pacific, and civil aviation in Australia and New Zealand.
Letters 1962-1963 from Australians and New Zealanders supporting Beaverbrook's campaign against the European Common Market.
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.
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
Selectively filmed at the House of Lords Record Office as part of the Australian Joint Copying Project, 1979 (AJCP Reels: M1126-M1129). Original microfilm digitised as part of the NLA AJCP Online Delivery Project, 2017-2020.
The Beaverbrook Papers were originally housed in the Beaverbrook Library and were transferred to the House of Lords Records Office in 1975.
Existence and Location of Originals
House of Lords Record Office. Houses of Parliament, Westminster, London SW1A 0PW, England.
For further information, see Parliamentary Archives (http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/parliamentary-archives/).
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-vn725616] as well as other institutions holding AJCP microfilm.
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 2018. 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.
Subjects
Australia: politics and government; Bathurst, Sir Charles, 1st Viscount Bledisloe; Bruce, Stanley M., 1st Viscount; Businessmen; Cable and Wireless Ltd; Casey, Richard G., Baron; Civil aviation; Daily Express (London), newspaper; Doidge, Sir Frederick; Elliott, R.D.; Empire Free Trade Crusade; European Economic Community; Evatt, Herbert V., Dr; Fink, Theodore; Great Britain: relations with colonies; Lansell, G.; Low, Sir David; McDougall, F.L.; Moyal, Ann; Munitions and munition production; Murdoch, Sir Keith; New Zealand: politics and government; Newspaper proprietors; Page, Sir Earle C.G.; Parr, Sir James; Politicians: Britain; Scullin, James H.; Trade: imperial; World War II
Bibliography
Originally cited in Australian Joint Copying Project Handbook. Part 8: Miscellaneous (M) Series. Third Edition, published 1998. Entry 30, p.10.
Biographical / Historical
William Maxwell Aitken (1879-1964), 1st Baron Beaverbrook (created 1917). Born in Maple, Ontario, and grew up in Newcastle, New Brunswick. Began his business career as a bond-salesman, established the Royal Securities Corporation in Halifax in 1902, moved to Montreal in 1906 and by 1910 was one of Canada's leading millionaires. On his first visit to London in 1908 he became associated with the Conservative parliamentarian Andrew Bonar Law and in December 1910 Aitken was elected Conservative M.P. for Ashton-under-Lyne. He was knighted in 1911 and made a baronet in 1916. In January 1916 he created the Canadian War Records Office and he was the Canadian military representative in London. He played a leading part in the downfall of the Prime Ministers H.H. Asquith in December 1916 and David Lloyd George in October 1922. Beaverbrook was Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for Information in 1918. In 1916 he acquired control of the Daily Express, he started the Sunday Express in 1918, and he bought the Evening Standard in 1923. He became disenchanted with the Conservative Party under Baldwin's leadership and in 1929-1931 led the Empire Free Trade Crusade and later campaigned for Scottish Home Rule and Isolationism. In May 1940 Churchill appointed Beaverbrook Minister for Aircraft Production, he became a member of the War Cabinet in August 1940 and from June 1941 to February 1942 he was Minister for Supply. He rejoined the Government in October 1943 as Lord Privy Seal and held this office until July 1945. From 1947 to 1953 he was Chancellor of the University of New Brunswick. In 1954 he established Beaverbrook Newspapers and the Beaverbrook Foundation. He wrote several books, mainly on historical subjects. Beaverbrook died at Cherkley, Surrey, a few days after his 85th birthday.
Reference: A.J.P. Taylor. Beaverbrook. (London, Hamish and Hamilton, 1972)
Item Descriptions
Series Series B. General correspondence, 1928 - 1964
245 itemsArchival History
Until 1962 the correspondence is arranged alphabetically within each year and therefore the quantity of correspondence with a particular correspondent varies from a single letter (although Beaverbrook nearly always replied to letters and kept copies of his replies) to 20 or 30 letters. For 1962-1964 the correspondence is arranged chronologically.
Originally filmed on AJCP reel M1126.
J. Langdon Bonython (Adelaide), July 1928 - September 1928 (File 26)
Publication of Beaverbrook's Political history of the War in the Advertiser.
Sir William Sowden (Adelaide), January 1928 - February 1928 (File 32)
Manuscript on position of State Governors in Australia.
J. Cosgrove (Ashton-under-Lyne), May 1912 (File 49)
Scheme for emigration of ex-soldiers to Dominions where they would form a Reserve Force.
L.W. Shepheard (Melbourne), November 1929 - December 1929 (File)
Agreement between Britain and Dominions.
B W. Tredwen (Australian & New Zealand Merchants Association, London), October 1929 - December 1929 (File 119)
Australian tariff.
J.L. Bastian, August 1930 (File 128)
His son's experiences in Australia and views on Empire Free Trade.
A.D. Beveridge (Sydney), March 1930 - April 1930 (File 131)
Australian support for Empire Free Trade.
British Manufacturers' Association of New Zealand, September 1930 - October 1930 (File 133)
Encloses booklet.
T. Duffield (Adelaide), September 1930 - October 1930 (File)
Enclosing paper on Australia's financial plight.
T.H. Dunsford (Australian), July 1930 (File 144)
Supporting Empire Free Trade; requesting interview.
W.J. Flanagan (W. Aust.), March 1930 (File 148)
Seeking funds for Nationalist Party in Western Australia.
J.W. Fletcher (Mitchell Qld.), February 1930 - April 1930 (File)
Suggests capital levy to wipe out national debt in Britain and Australia.
A.W. Ivens (Australian), June 1930 (File 158)
Danger of trade unions creating artificial rate of wages.
G.E. Littlejohn (Wellington), January 1930 (File 163)
Economic depression; reorganization of British industry.
Mrs. J. McCord (Melbourne), October 1930 - November 1930 (File 165)
Country Party support for Empire Free Trade; Senator Elliott.
J.P. Mitchell, November 1930 (File)
Formerly on staff of Mt. Morgan Mines, wishes to work for Beaverbrook.
Sir Ben Morgan, January 1930 - September 1930 (File 168)
S.M. Bruce's visit to England; 'Australia the greatest obstacle'.
Keith Murdoch, April 1930 - May 1930 (File)
Support for British marketing scheme; Empire Press Union Conference.
A. Richardson (Sydney), September 1930 (File 172)
Requesting statement for journal Scientific Management.
W.A. Walker (Australian), January 1930 (File 181)
Empire Free Trade; protection against foreign competition.
C.H. Williams (Gisborne N.Z.), November 1930 - December 1930 (File 184)
Extension of free trade to foreign countries.
T. Dunbabin (Australian Newspapers Cables Service), January 1931 - February 1931 (File 186)
Requesting interview.
H.C. Smart (Australia House, London), December 1931 (File)
Seeks message from Beaverbrook on occasion of 8000 Australian lambs being landed in Britain.
Lord Bledisloe, April 1931 - August 1931 (File 188)
Beaverbrook's concordat with N. Chamberlain; New Zealand butter.
H.S.V. Busst (Bendigo), April 1931 - June 1931 (File)
Empire Free Trade; presents piece of Australian quartz.
Sir James Parr, November 1931 - December 1931 (File 203)
Airmail postage; Parr's appointment as Leader of New Zealand Legislative Council.
Citizens' League of South Australia, April 1932 (File 251)
Praises Senator Elliott; congratulates Beaverbrook.
Australian High Commission, September 1932 (File)
Problems of clearing Australian produce with H.M. Customs.
W.C. Cambridge (Farmers and Settlers Association of N.S.W.), March 1932 - May 1932 (File)
Problems of primary producers; Senator Elliott.
Theodore Fink, September 1933 - October 1933 (File)
Melbourne Centenary Celebrations and representation of English newspapers.
Lord Bledisloe, July 1934 - December 1934 (File 256)
Bledisloe's work in New Zealand; economic cooperation in Empire.
Theodore Fink, May 1934 - November 1934 (File)
Keith Murdoch; Senator Elliott; J.T. Lang; Federal elections; disunity in Country Party.
A.P. Laurie, March 1934 - April 1934 (File)
New Zealand's offer to export butter free of duty to Britain.
C. Moyle (Truth and Sportsman, Sydney), June 1934 - July 1934 (File)
Empire Free Trade; suggests weekly cable service.
C. Blackburn (N.Z. Farmers Union Gisborne), September 1934 - November 1934 (File)
Export of New Zealand beef.
E.W. MacAlpine (Australian Consolidated Press), August 1941 (File 264)
Fighter planes required by Australia.
C.J. Burchell (Canadian High Commissioner, Canberra), July 1941 - October 1941 (File)
Reminiscences; present position.
Walter Nash, January 1946 - May 1946 (File)
Congratulations on Nash being made Privy Councillor; his visit to England.
H.V. Evatt, September 1948 - October 1948 (File 281)
Evatt's election as President of U.N. General Assembly; book on war years.
Sidney Holland, April 1948 - November 1948 (File)
Introduces E. Beaven; New Zealand politics; imperial ties; U.S. Presidential elections.
Sir Gordon Rolph (Launceston), February 1948 - July 1948 (File 283)
Introduces daughter; international situation; Rolph's knighthood.
K.W. Bilston (Live Stock Bulletin), February 1949 (File 285)
Need for Britain to import food from Dominions; pig industry.
Sir Keith Murdoch, September 1949 - December 1949 (File)
Malcolm Forsyth; Rupert Murdoch; Bartholomew.
Geoffrey Webster (Auckland Star), June 1949 (File 289)
Congratulations on Beaverbrook's 70th birthday.
G. Lansell, March 1950 (File 292)
Death of R.D. Elliott; Lansell's newspaper and radio interests in Victoria; B. Mundy.
R.G. Menzies, February 1950 - June 1950 (File)
Election victory; visit of Evelyn Baring to Australia; Schuman Plan.
Sir Keith Murdoch, February 1950 - August 1950 (File)
Murdoch's retirement; British politics; visit to London; Evelyn Baring.
H.C. Smart, August 1950 - September 1950 (File 293)
Smart's work for Australian High Commission and Empire propaganda.
Monica Carbines (Australian), September 1951 - October 1951 (File)
Seeks journalistic work on musical subjects.
R.G. Casey, December 1952 (File 300)
Anzus Treaty; British-American relations; attacks on Casey by Express.
Hilda Elliott (Melbourne), March 1952 - November 1952 (File 301)
Empire campaign in Australia; R.D. Elliott.
Sydney Elliott, January 1952 - March 1952 (File)
Return from Australia; Australia and Commonwealth; R.D. Elliott.
Bernard Myers (New Zealander), May 1952 - June 1952 (File)
Beaverbrook's broadcasts; F. Doidge; Myers' autobiography.
Arthur D. Gorfain (Arthur Denny), May 1955 (File 316)
Suggests column for Sunday Express called 'An Australian in London'.
Lord Kirkwood, July 1955 - August 1955 (File)
Article by Beaverbrook on W.S. Robinson for Consolidated Zinc Journal Discus.
W.C. Wentworth, February 1955 - March 1955 (File 318)
Requests interview to discuss atomic energy development.
Marion Paterson (Melbourne), September 1956 - November 1956 (File 322)
Presents print of Fredericton to University of New Brunswick Library.
Lord Bruce, May 1957 - July 1957 (File 324)
Empire trade; Bruce's retirement from Finance Corporation for Industry.
F.B.M. Fisher (Rotorua), February 1958 - March 1958 (File 330)
Anglo-New Zealand trade; dumping of foreign food on New Zealand.
Ann Mozley (Canberra), May 1959 - December 1959 (File 336)
Canberra; Australian dictionary of biography; Peter Phillips.
Vernon Bartlett (Singapore), February 1960 - August 1960 (File 338)
Bartlett's autobiography; transfer of power in Singapore and Malaya.
Mrs. Patrica Hawker (Adelaide), October 1960 - December 1960 (File 339)
Purchase of Wright's painting 'The Synnot children'.; Capt. Walter Synnot.
Ann Mozley, January 1960 - December 1960 (File 340)
W.K. Hancock's biography of Smuts; Earle Page's autobiography.
Alan Mitchell (Commonwealth Correspondents Association, London), January 1960 - March 1960 (File)
Invites Beaverbrook to address meeting.
Ann Mozley, April 1961 - July 1961 (File 344)
Sir Earle Page; foreward to Page's autogiography; Beaverbrook's books; Mozley's paper on her Work with Beaverbrook and Page.
R.P. Gladwin (News Ltd.), February 1962 (File 347)
Seeks interview on Common Market and Commonwealth relationships.
A.M. Deamer (Melbourne Herald Cable Service), February 1962 (File)
Requests interview on Common Market.
Ann Mozley, March 1962 (File)
Beaverbrook's book Courage; death of Sir Earle Page; her work on history of Australian science.
Patricia Hawker (Adelaide), December 1962 (File)
Her visit to Fredericton; book on Australian art; painting by Norman Lindsay.
Eric Butler (Australian League of Rights), February 1963 (File)
Need for Conservative Party to produce new leaders dedicated to Commonwealth cause.
Ann Moyal, March 1963 (File 353)
Beaverbrook's Decline and fall of Lloyd George; Earle Page's Truant surgeon; Lady Page.
Series Series C. Special Correspondence, 1915 - 1963
13 itemsArchival history
Originally filmed on AJCP reel M1127.
Correspondence with L.S. Amery, July 1948 - January 1954 (File 8)
3 itemsCorrespondence with Sir Frederick Doidge, 1935 - 1961 (File 117-118)
2 items
Correspondence, 1935 - 1954 (Item)
Concerning Empire Free Trade, British and New Zealand politics, the New Zealand elections of 1935, 1938, 1946 and 1949, W. Nash, S. Holland, R.D. Elliott, imperial relations, Bretton Woods Agreement, Havana Trade Charter, 1950 Colombo Commonwealth Conference, Eden's visit to New Zealand in 1949, Doidge's appointment as Minister for External Affairs in 1949 and High Commissioner in London in 1951.
Correspondence with Senator R.D. Elliott, 1930 - 1950 (File 19-31)
2 items
Correspondence, 1930 - 1950 (Item)
Concerning the Empire Free Trade Crusade, Country Party and public support in Australia for Empire Free Trade, conflict between Elliott and the Lyons Government, S.M. Bruce's tariff policies, Beaverbrook's financial contribution to the Country Party, negotiations between the Country Party and United Australia Party in 1934, policies of Australian press on free trade and protectionism, Abdication, events following the death of Lyons in 1939, divisions within the Opposition parties, 1942-45, Earle Page, R.G. Menzies, Keith Murdoch, T. Fink, Elliott's visits to England in 1930, 1932, 1935 and 1947.
Correspondence with Sir David Low, May 1958 - October 1963 (File 226)
4 itemsSeries Series D. World War II, May 1940 - December 1945
14 itemsArchival history
Originally filmed on AJCP reels M1127-M1129.
Papers on munitions production in Australia and the provision of tanks for Australia, January 1942 (File 70)
Memoranda and correspondence relating to Cable and Wireless Ltd. and the proposed Anzac scheme of telecommunications within Commonwealth (File 176)
Papers on the formation of a State-owned authority Commonwealth Airways, the survey of air routes across the Pacific via Clipperton Island, the establishment of the Commonwealth Air Transport Council, and imperial air services, January 1944 - March 1945 (File 208)
Australian civil aviation, July 1943 - December 1945 (File 214)
Papers on the Australian Government's plan to set up a statutory authority to take over interstate airlines, A.N.A.'s order for American aircraft, Australian plans for post-War civil aviation, including proposals by Hudson Fysh, W.S. Robinson and Daniel McVey.
Pacific air bases, November 1943 - July 1944 (File 221)
Papers on the construction of airfields at Nandi, Fiji, and the involvement of the U.S.A. and New Zealand in the construction.
Memoranda and minutes of meetings of Dominion Prime Ministers on post-War arrangements for civil aviation, May 1944 (File 254)
Papers on the construction by the U.S.A. of airfields on British or Dominion territories in the Western Pacific and on the potential value of Henderson Island for aviation, September 1943 - May 1944 (File 274)
Miscellaneous correspondence between Beaverbrook and the Dominions Office, May 1940 - March 1941 (File 333)
Subjects including the work of the Ministry of Aircraft Production, the release of American aircraft for the Dominions, an Australian Government order for an aluminium extrusion press, and the supply of aircraft to New Zealand.