Guide to the Papers of Sir Douglas Mawson
MS 6650
National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record
Created: March 2019
Collection Summary
- Title
- Papers of Sir Douglas Mawson
- Date Range
- 1911-1931
- Collection Number
- MS 6650
- Extent
- 0.24 metres (8 folders)
- Language of Materials
- English
- Repository
- Special Collections (Manuscripts)
Introduction
Scope and Contents
A collection of diaries and log books providing a daily account of life on Macquarie Island, during Sir Douglas Mawson's expedition to Antarctica, 1911-1914. They include Leslie Russell Blake's handwritten official diary, January 1912-October 1913; four of Harold Hamilton's biological log books, 1 January 1912 to 30 May 1913, with daily entries; a four-page typed manuscript by Arthur John Sawyer (Macquarie Island senior wireless operator 1912) concerning disturbance to radio communications between Macquarie Island, Adelie Island and other stations; a four-page typed and annotated report by Mawson in 1915 on soils on Macquarie Island and extracts from the diary of Charles T. Harrisson (Western Base Team Biologist) of an overland journey on December 14th and 15th, 1911, from the North end to the South end of Macquarie Island. This collection also includes logs kept on board The Discovery, during the British, Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition, 2 November 1930 - 2 March 1931, comprising the engineer's daily reports and the 2nd Officer's log.
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-vn2194260).
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Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions.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 Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.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 'Papers of Sir Douglas Mawson, National Library of Australia, MS 6650, [class/series/file/item number(s)]'.
Finding Aid Source
Please note: This finding aid may comprise or contain descriptive information provided by donors, researchers and/or volunteers.
Item Descriptions
Log books, 2 November 1930 - 2 March 1931 (File 1)
Logs kept on board The Discovery, during the British, Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition, 2 November 1930 - 2 March 1931, comprising the Engineer's Daily Reports to the Commander and the 2nd Officer's log.
Report, 1915 (File 2)
A four-page typed and annotated 'Report on Soils forwarded by Sir Douglas Mawson From Macquarie Island'.
Diary, 1 January 1912 - 29 October 1913 (File 3)
Official handwritten diary of Leslie Russell Blake. The diary is fragile, very legible and in its original notebook. It also contains some of the duplicate carbon pages. Entries are daily but reasonably brief.
Papers (File 4)
Extracts from the diary of Charles T. Harrisson (Western Base Team Biologist), 1911 (Item)
Extracts from the diary of Charles T. Harrisson (Western Base Team Biologist) of an overland journey on December 14th and 15th, 1911, from the North end to the South end of Macquarie Island.
Written account by Arthur John Sawyer (Macquarie Island senior wireless operator 1912), 1915 (Item)
Written account by Arthur John Sawyer (Macquarie Island senior wireless operator 1912) on 'Wireless Telegraphy at Macquarie Island' - a four paged typed manuscript concerning disturbance to radio communications between Macquarie Island, Adelie Island and other stations.
Newspaper, 7 March 1914 (File 5)
The Chronicle, Adelaide, 7 March 1914, including special supplement on 'Life in the Frigid South: with Dr. Mawson and Party in Adelie Land, (pages 29-32) and article 'Back From the Antarctic - Dr Mawson's Story, (pages 42-43).
Log Books (File 6)
Log Book titled Rain Register, 1 January 1912 - 30 May 1913 (Item)
Log Book titled Rain Register recording brief daily entries. Each page with Leslie Russell Blake's name written at top, however log appears to be in handwriting of Harold Hamilton.
Biological Log Book 1, 1 Jan 1912-22 April 1912 (Item)
Biological Log Book 1 - Macquarie Island - recorded by Harold Hamilton. Entries are daily and of 4-8 lines, providing a succinct but reasonably detailed account of daily life, particularly Hamilton's work as the party's biologist.