Guide to the Papers of Hugh Anderson, c. 1890-2003

Summary

Collection number:

MS 6946, MS Acc04.186, MS Acc06.138

Creator:

Anderson, Hugh

Extent:

28.05 metres and (116 ms boxes + 1 small-folio box + 14 medium folio-boxes + 6 large folio-boxes + 11 sound/av carriers)

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Hugh Anderson, National Library of Australia, MS 6946, [box number and series and/or file number]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Part available for research; part requires permission for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

"MS 6946 comprises personal and business correspondence, manuscripts, typescripts, galley proofs, journal articles, newscuttings, notes, printing quotes, reports and reviews. The papers reflect Hugh Anderson's diverse range of interests as a teacher, writer, historian, publisher, folklorist and also his interest in Chinese writings."

Biographical Note:

Hugh Anderson was born in Elmore, Victoria in 1927.

He trained as a civil engineer at Bendigo Technical College but changed to teaching a few years later, undergoing training at Bendigo and Melbourne Teachers' College. He joined the Victorian Education Department as a teacher, at first specialising in handicapped children, then as a school and college librarian. After a long teaching career, he retired from the Education Department in 1982, having reached the level of School Principal.

Hugh Anderson has written over 100 books in fields as diverse as Australian history, biography, bibliography, folklore, folksong, literary criticism and school texts. As a publisher Anderson has produced a number of historical and folkloric studies. In 1978 he set up his own publishing firm under the name of Red Rooster Press.

His publications include critical and bibliographical works such as A guide to ten Australian poets (1953), Frank Wilmot (Furnley Maurice): a bibliography and criticism (1955 with Barbara Ramsden), Shaw Neilson: an annotated bibliography and check list (1956), Christopher John Brennan: a comprehensive bibliography with annotations (1959 with Walter Stone), The singing roads: a guide to Australian children's authors and illustrators (1965, 1969), The poet militant: Bernard O'Dowd (1969), and John Shaw Neilson (1972 with L.J. Blake).

Anderson's interest in Australian folksong and balladry is reflected in his compilation of Colonial ballads (1955) and other editions published as The story of Australian folksong (1970) and in such publications as Botany Bay broadsides (1956), Songs of Billy Barlow (1956), Goldrush songster (1958), Farewell to old England (1964), and Folksongs of Australia and the men and women who sang them (1967 with John Meredith). He also wrote a biography, George Loyau: the man who wrote bush ballads (1991), and published the anthology On the track with Bill Bowyang (1991).

His historical works include Out of the shadow: the career of John Pascoe Fawkner (1962), and Victoria from discovery to federation (1974), Victorian squatters (1983), and Saltwater River history trails (1984). He has also written many school texts on Australian history and a series of books on Australian industry.

Anderson has also contributed articles and reviews on folklore to literary and folklore journals both in Australia and overseas, including Overland, Folklife (UK) and Folk Music Journal (UK). He has been a member of the editorial board of Australian Folklore and a review editor of that journal.

On the invitation of the Chinese Writers' Association and the Chinese Folklore Society, Hugh Anderson has spent much time studying folklore in China and was the leader of several tours by Australians in the 1980s. As a result he has published A wind across the grass (1985), a translation of stories by three Chinese women writers and a bibliography, Australian writing translated into Chinese 1954-1988, compiled with Ma Zuyi and Chen Zhengfa (1989).

In 1986 Hugh Anderson was appointed Chairman of the Australian Government's Committee of Inquiry into Folklife in Australia. The other members of the committee were Gwenda Davey and Keith McKenry. The Committee travelled extensively throughout Australia and Central and Eastern Europe gathering submissions from private individuals, government and cultural organisations. This resulted in the publication of the report Folklife: our living heritage (1987).

References:

The Oxford companion to Australian folklore, Melbourne, Oxford University Press, 1993The Oxford companion to Australian literature, Melbourne, Oxford University Press, 1994

Collection Retrieval Advice:

Please note: each consignment in this collection has a separate box number sequence (i.e. there are multiple Box 1's). Please cite the relevant Class number as well as the Box number when requesting retrieval of material from the collection.

Indexed terms

Names:

Anderson, Hugh

Conditions Governing Access:

Please refer to the collection's catalogue record (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2230337) 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 Hugh Anderson, National Library of Australia, MS 6946, [box number and series and/or file number]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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