[UMA-SRE-20140101] Administrative Files of the Australian Secretary of the Rhodes Trust

Description

IdentifierUMA-SRE-20140101Extent18 boxesLinear Meterage2.16Scope and ContentThe Association of Rhodes Scholars in Australia was established in February 1931 by Sir John Behan (aka "Jock" Behan in some of the correspondence) in order to foster, co-ordinate and maintain links between Australian Rhodes scholars in the various states. George Paton succeeded Behan in the role, holding the position of Secretary from 1953 until 1974. The records held in series include those accumulated by Behan and Paton during their terms as secretaries and span the years 1929-1974. Many records include Behan and Paton's annotations and hand-written comments. Rhodes Scholarships were suspended due to the onset of World War Two: a number of files cover the "revival" of the scholarships in the various states following the war. Former Rhodes Scholars served from time to time on selection committees and actively supported the work of the Rhodes Trust. Records in this series include: Applications by candidates (i.e. by Rhodes Scholars; referee reports; medical reports etc.); Conferences (Association of Rhodes Scholars Australia); Correspondence to the Oxford Wardens regarding progress of scholars and broad scholarship matters ( Sir Francis Wylie, 1903-1931; Sir Carleton Allen, 1931-1952; and Edgar Williams, 1952-1980 were the wardens during this period); Correspondence (with Oxford Secretary Sir George Parkin; State Secretaries; overseas Secretaries; University Registrars etc. ); Establishment and handover records (formation of Association of Australian Rhodes Scholars; hand-over from Behan to Paton as Secretary etc.); Events (Silver Jubilee in 1929); Finance records (Annual Statements; banking; expenses; Rhodes Special Fund; Rhodes House Library donations and expenditure etc.); Forms (referees; college preference); Governance records (selection process; various procedures; Australian Memorandum; copies of Rhodes' Will; Rhodes Trust; Trustees; Behan Educational Trust Fund; Conditions); Meetings (Association of Rhodes Scholars Australia Meetings; State Selection Committee files etc.); Publications (circulars to former Rhodes Scholars; Australian Rhodes Review; Rhodes Scholarship pamphlets; Reports (from/to Oxford); Schemes (Fairbridge Farm Schools; Statistics and lists of former Rhodes Scholars and Visits (by Oxford Wardens; N.B. - the above categories have been used to describe this series in full detail and are not part of a structured filing system. Progress reports include some for individuals who went on to become famous Australian identities (e.g. Bob Hawke, Kim Beazley, James Gobbo etc.). The observations in these reports are quite brutal as well as forthright, hence it may be necessary to consider access prior to release of the records, especially seeing as the reports were only intended to be read by selection committees and have been marked confidential. Correspondence includes that from and to famous identities including Henry Brose, physicist and Colin Clark, economist as well as Australian Prime-Ministers including Curtin, Scullin and Chifley.Collection CategoryUniversity, officialAccess StatusAccess restrictions applyRequest Access to RecordsRequest records from this SeriesSearch within this Series

Item

Unit

Provenance

CreatorAssociation of Rhodes Scholar

Dates

Date1902-1975

Description Control

Previous System ID2014.0101Records Services IDUM612State of ListFully listed

Relationships

Feature CollectionRecords of the University of Melbourne

University of Melbourne Archives

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[UMA-SRE-20140101] Administrative Files of the Australian Secretary of the Rhodes Trust