Guide to the Papers of Frank Benson Horner, 1980-1994

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Summary

Collection number:
MS 7620
Creator:
Frank Benson Horner
Extent:
1.8 metres and (13 boxes + 1 folio packet)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Frank Benson Horner, National Library of Australia, MS 7620, [box number and series and/or file number]'.
Availability:
Available
Access conditions:
Available for reference. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:
The papers comprise manuscript and typescript drafts of French reconnaissance: Baudin in Australia (Melbourne University Press, 1987), Horner’s first book on French exploration in the Pacific, and partial drafts of his subsequent work Looking for La Pérouse: D’Entrecasteaux in Australia and the South Pacific 1792-1793 (Melbourne University Press, 1995). There are also copies of documents, articles, notes on and extracts from source materials, and Horner’s correspondence with historians and institutions regarding documents, illustrations, research and publication permissions for these two works. The documents include copies of the journals, letters and reports of the two expedition leaders, Nicolas Baudin and Joseph Antoine Bruny d’Entrecasteaux, from archival collections in Australia and France, some with English translations, and photographic copies of maps and illustrations collected for the two publications.
Biographical Note:

Frank Horner (b. 1917) joined the NSW Bureau of Statistics in 1935 on completion of secondary schooling at Sydney High School, and attended evening classes at Sydney University to obtain a degree in economics. He was seconded to the Commonwealth Treasury in 1940 and served in the Navy, principally in the New Guinea region, between 1943 and 1946. After post-graduate studies for his doctorate at the London School of Economics, he returned to the Bureau as Assistant Statistician under S.R. Carver and rose to the position of Assistant Government Statistician. In 1958 he joined the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics (subsequently the Australian Bureau of Statistics) in Canberra, being appointed Deputy Commonwealth Statistician in 1964.

In retirement Horner undertook extensive research on French voyages in the Pacific, publishing French reconnaissance: Baudin in Australia (Melbourne University Press) in 1987. This work was the non-fiction selection for the Fellowship of Australian Writers’ Barbara Ramsden Award. His second major work, Looking for La Pérouse: D’Entrecasteaux in Australia and the South Pacific 1792-1793, was published by Melbourne University Press in 1995 (reprinted Miegunyah Press 1996).

Immediate Source of Acquisition:

Frank Horner donated the papers to the Library in three instalments, in 1989, 1996 and 1999.

Arrangement:

The collection has been largely maintained in the file arrangement in which it was received.

Indexed terms

Names:
Frank Benson Horner

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:
Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1909156).
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 Frank Benson Horner, National Library of Australia, MS 7620, [box number and series and/or file number]'.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact:
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