Guide to the Papers of Ian Downs, 1935-1994

Summary

Collection number:

MS 8254, MS Acc07.035

Creator:

Ian Downs

Extent:

4.69 metres and (32 boxes, 1 folio)

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

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

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

A former patrol officer who rose to the position of Deputy Administrator in the mid-1950s, Downs was a prominent figure in Papua New Guinea in the last years of the Australian trusteeship, and possibly the only person who combined the roles of administrator, politician, planter and historian.

Downs’ papers, which reflect the diversity of his career, are a mixture of original material and photocopied files, created at different times for different purposes, but which were together drawn upon for his official history of the Australian administration. This account, which was commissioned in 1972, was published in 1980 under the title of The Australian trusteeship : Papua New Guinea, 1945-75.

For the purposes of his research Downs was given unrestricted access to all files of the Department of External Territories (later the Department of Territories), from which he and his assistant Elaine Ryan made extensive photocopies. Included in the files were records of the Custodian of Expropriated Property which had been transferred to the Department of External Territories in Canberra following the Japanese war. Downs also collected original departmental files destined for disposal after the proclamation of Papua New Guinean independence, and rescued other papers from destruction following the closure of the Department of Territories. As additional research material, Downs brought together notes and sources he had been gathering as far back as 1945 with a view to someday publishing a book on Papua New Guinea.

In form, the papers include diaries and original correspondence, telegrams, authorisations, memoranda, file extracts and cuttings, photocopies or typed transcripts of official documents, court proceedings, and carbon copies of original minutes. The collection contains interesting material on major figures such as Hasluck, Gorton, Whitlam, Murray, Cleland, Hay and Gunther, and while much of the research material is not unique, historians may find it useful that copies of policy documents going back to the time of Curtin and Ward have been brought together in one body of documentation.

Downs’ papers were transferred to the Library in five instalments between 1991 and 1999. In sorting the collection Downs’ filing system and file names have, for the most part, been retained.

Biographical Note:

Date	Event
1915	Born in Edinburgh, Scotland
c.1926-28	Educated at Brighton and Geelong Grammar Schools
1929	Entered Royal Australian Naval College as a midshipman
1935	Joined New Guinea administration as a cadet patrol officer
1938	Joined the Hagen-Sepik patrol at Wabag
1942-45	Coastwatcher with Royal Australian Navy in New Guinea waters
1945	Returned to New Guinea as a patrol officer
1949	District Officer, New Ireland
Jan. 1951	Stipendiary Magistrate, Rabaul
May 1951	District Commissioner, Madang
1951-52	Assistant Director of Native Affairs
1952	District Commissioner, Goroka
1956	Resigned to take up coffee farming and to enter politics
1957	Elected Member for the New Guinea Mainland in the Legislative Council
1957-68	President, Highlands Farmers and Settlers Association
1957-69	Member of the East Highlands District Advisory Council
1961-69	Member of the Administrator’s Council
1964	Foundation Chairman, Coffee Marketing Board
1964-68	Elected to the first House of Assembly
1970	Publication of <em>The stolen land</em>
c.1971	Returned to Australia
1980	Publication of <em>The Australian trusteeship : Papua New Guinea,1945-75</em>
1986	Publication of autobiography, <em>The last mountain</em>
2004	Died on 24 August

Indexed terms

Names:

Ian Downs

Conditions Governing Access:

Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1295565).

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 Ian Downs, National Library of Australia [class number, 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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