Guide to the Papers of Sir Percy Spender, 1937-1978

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Summary

Collection number:
MS 4875
Creator:
Sir Percy Spender
Extent:
22.5 metres and (17 ms boxes + 42 phase boxes + 1 folio box)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Sir Percy Spender, National Library of Australia, MS 4875, [box number and series and/or file number]'.
Availability:
Available
Access conditions:
Available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:
Papers documenting Percy Spender's political, diplomatic and legal career including correspondence, speeches, press statements, cutting books, photographs of overseas trips and functions attended, itineraries, invitations, and printed material. The collection also includes papers of Lady Jean Spender, family photographs, papers relating to the Colombo Plan, and papers on French nuclear weapons explosions. Correspondents include Sir Robert Menzies, Sir Paul Hasluck, Sir Garfield Barwick, Sir Keith Officer, Sir Arthur Tange, Sir Alan Watt, Dr John Burton, John Foster Dulles, Dean Acheson, Thomas Mann, Felix Frankfurter, G.H. Hackworth, Ernest Bevin, Walter Crocker and Selwyn Lloyd.
Biographical Note:

Lawyer, politician and diplomat. Percy Claude Spender was born in Sydney in 1897 and educated at Fort Street High School and the University of Sydney. He entered federal politics in 1937 when he was elected to the House of Representatives as member for Warringah, New South Wales. During R.G. Menzies' post-war government, he served as the Minister for External Affairs and External Territories, 1949-1951. He figured in the development of the Colombo Plan and promoted close US-Australia relations. On leaving politics, Spender was appointed Australian ambassador to the United States, 1951-1958. From 1964 until 1967 he was president of the International Court of Justice at The Hague. Later, in Sydney, he became head of a committee of trustees at the Australian Museum that oversaw the National Photographic Index of Australian Birds, 1969-1971. Spender died in Sydney in 1985.

Immediate Source of Acquisition:

Original consignment transferred in May 1975 (Boxes 1-9). Further papers added in various consignments from 1975-1985.

Indexed terms

Names:
Sir Percy Spender

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:
Please refer to the collection's catalogue record (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2759673) for the access conditions.
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 Sir Percy Spender, National Library of Australia, MS 4875, [box number and series and/or file number]'.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact:
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