MS 277
Papers of Sir John Kirwan



Summary

Creator: Kirwan, John, Sir, 1869-1949
Title: Papers of Sir John Kirwan
Date range: 1899-1935
Reference number:  MS 277
Extent:   16cm (8 folders) + 1 folio


Administrative Information

Access

Available for reference

Provenance

The papers were received in 1951 as part of a co-operative agreement with the Public Library of Western Australia.  Negotiations for the acquisition of his papers had taken place with Sir John Kirwan by both institutions, and after his death in 1949 it was decided to divide his papers, those of Federal importance being held in the National Library, with photocopies in Western Australia, those of local interest within the Public Library of Western Australia.  The original “Separate to Federate” letters are in the Western Australian collection, with photographic copies in Canberra.


Scope and Content

The papers include personal correspondence, manuscripts of Kirwan’s books and articles, publications, invitations, newspaper clippings and photographs.  Of special interest is the correspondence dealing with the conflict in Western Australia concerning federation and the Western Australian secession movement.  Correspondents include Sir Isaac Isaacs, W.M. Hughes, Andrew Fisher, Sir Joseph Cook, Sir John Quick, Alfred Deakin, Lord Hopetoun, Sir Earle Page, C.C. Kingston, Sir George Pearce, Sir George Reid, Sir Walter James, Sir Charles Dilke, George Leake, H.B. Higgins, S.M. Bruce, E.J. Harding, Malcolm MacDonald, James MacCallum Smith, J.J. Astor, Lord De La Warr, Sir Arthur Pearson, Lord Novar, Lord Salisbury and Sir Austin Chamberlain. 


Biographical Note

John Waters Kirwan was born in Liverpool, England, on 2 December 1869.  He worked as a writer in Dublin and London before his arrival in Australia in 1890.  In Australia he tried work as a journalist in various cities before settling on the Western Australian goldfields at Kalgoorlie, where he was made editor-in-chief of the daily Kalgoorlie Miner and weekly Western Argus, a position he held from 1895 until 1926.

After taking a leading part in advocating that Western Australia join the Commonwealth, Kirwan was elected to represent Kalgoorlie in the House of Representatives of the first Federal Parliament.  He was deputy Chairman of Committees, but was defeated at the 1903 election.  In 1908 he was elected to the Legislative Council of Western Australia where he sat until 1946, being its President from 1926 to 1946.  He represented Western Australia at Imperial Press Conferences in London (1909), Ottawa (1920), Melbourne (1925), and Rome (1933).  The author of many articles on the history of Western Australia, he published several books including An empty land: pioneers and pioneering in Australia (1934) and My Life’s adventures (1936).  He was knighted in 1930.

Kirwan died at Subiaco, W.A. on 9 September 1949.


Series List

Series     Title

1           Correspondence, 1899-1939

2           Publications

3           Manuscripts of books and articles

4           Other papers


Series Description

Series 1. Correspondence, 1899-1939

This series contains letters written between 1899 and 1939.  Most of them are from the early years of the century, dealing particularly with the issue of federation, goldfield agitation in favour of federation, and its relation to the building of the transcontinental railway.  Later letters deal with matters of journalism, with Kirwan’s attendance at Imperial Press Conferences and with his published material.

Items 1-194

Series 2. Publications

These publications are written by, or collected by, Kirwan.  They include details of the visit in 1902 of parliamentarians to the proposed sites for a national capital, the celebrations of the Western Australian goldfields and also Kirwan’s own works on the Imperial Press Conferences and on the history of the Western Australian Legislative Council.

Items 1-13

Series 3. Manuscripts of books and articles

The manuscripts demonstrate Kirwan’s interest in Western Australian history.  They discuss the early years of the colony, the history of Kalgoorlie and of the Kalgoorlie Miner, and the movement for federation in Western Australia.  In addition there is an article comparing the British with the Australian Parliament and another concerned with the imperial parliamentary conferences.

Items 1-211

Series 4. Other papers

The series comprises photographs (items 1-19), invitations (items 20-41) and newspaper clippings (items 42-78).  The committee and petition of the “separation for federation” movement of 1899 are represented among the photographs.  There are several pictures of Kalgoorlie.  Both official and unofficial photographs taken at the Imperial Press Conference in Ottawa in 1919 are included, as are those of the delegates to the International Parliamentary Commercial Conferences in Prague (1931) and Rome (1933).


Name Index To Correspondence

All correspondence in the Papers has been indexed, the numbers below being underlined to indicate authorship, non-underlining indicating receipt of a letter.

AMERY, Leopold S. 169

ASTOR, John Jacob 177, 179

AUSTIN, Alfred  97-8

BLONET, Paul 108-108a

BRADDON, Sir Henry 18

BRITTAIN, Sir Harry   170, 172

BRUCE, Stanley Melbourne, 1st Viscount 180-1

BURNHAM, Harry Lawson, 2nd Baron  163-4

CHAMBERLAIN, Sir Austen 131

COOK, Sir Joseph 128

CREIGHTON, L.  99-100

DE LA WARR, Herbrand, 9th Earl  191

DEAKIN, Alfred  19-22, 82-83, 130, 154, 160, 193

DEANE, Percival Edgar   167

DILKE, Sir Charles W.   70-72, 96

FAIRFAX, Albert Kirby, 12th Baron   190

FISHER, Andrew 124, 159

GLYNN, Patrick McMahon  88-91

GREEN, N.R.   105

HARDING, Sir Edward John 183-4, 185-6, 187

HIGGINS, Henry B. 157

HOGAN, J.F.  73-76, 77-81, 84-87

HOLBROOK, Arthur R.  182

HOPETOUN, John Adrian, 7th Earl   123, 125

HUGHES, William Morris  173

ISAACS, Sir Isaac  158

JAMES, Sir Walter Hartwell   26-28, 29-30, 31-33, 54-57

KINGSTON, Charles C.  23-25, 67-69, 109, 132-135, 136-148, 149-150, 151, 152, 153, 155

KIRWAN, Sir John   119-121

LABOUCHERE, Henry   101-2

LEAKE, George  34-37, 38-48, 49-53, 59-66, 92-95, 110-112, 113, 114-117

MacDONALD, Malcolm  189

McGRATH, Sir Patrick   174

McMILLAN, Sir William  126, 127

McMILLAN, W.  129

MANN, C.   88-91

NOVAR, Sir Ronald Munro-Ferguson, 1st Viscount   171

PAGE, Sir Earle G.   176

PEARCE, Sir George   168, 175, 192

PEARSON, Arthur   165-6

POYER, Charles, Rev    103

QUICK, Sir John   118, 119-121, 122

RAE, S.G.   58

REID, Sir George  16-17, 161, 162, 194-5

SALISBURY, James Edward, 4th Marquess   178

SMITH, Bruce   156

SMITH, James   188

VOSPER, F.C.B.   1-15


1971. Last updated August 2002.