Summary heading

Series note for A13848

Function and purpose

This series consists of 114 glass plate negatives that were taken into National Archives’ custody from a member of the public.

All slides appear to be the work of William James (Jack) Mildenhall (1891-1962) and mainly document the early stages of Canberra under construction.  The negatives feature a number of significant buildings such as Old Parliament House, Hotel Canberra and East Block.  They also depict the early development of Canberra suburbs (and the construction of houses), as well as surrounding areas such as the Cotter Dam.

Mildenhall was a Commonwealth public servant, who worked for the Federal Capital Commission as an Information Officer from 1926, recording the growth of Canberra through his photographs.

Related legislation

 

Using the series

Many of the images in this Series have been identified as being similar to the Mildenhall pictures in CRS A3560 (the majority of which have been digitised), and other Series within the collection such as A5342 and M4071.  The captions however are different at times.  Other images within this Series may also be similar to the National Library’s ‘Mildenhall Collection’ or the ACT Heritage Library.

The following table displays some of the images in this Series A13848 that have been identified as similar to images in other Series held within the National Archives’ custody or collections elsewhere:

Item in CRS A13848 (control symbol)	Similar item in CRS A3560, A5342 or M4071; National Library and ACT Heritage Library		Item in CRS A13848 (control symbol)	Similar item in CRS A3560, A5342 or M4071;     National Library and ACT Heritage Library
6	CRS A3560, 860 & 854		56	CRS A3560, 1200 and M4071, 63 (barcode 7648184)
8	CRS A3560, 783		57	CRS A3560, 1408 and ACT Heritage Library ref# 007854
12	CRS A3560, 628		58	CRS A3560, 1300
13	CRS A3560, 616		60	CRS A3560, 2465 and 2641
15	CRS A3560, 864 and 1430		62	CRS A3560, 461
20	CRS A3560, 865		63	CRS A3560, 1457
21	CRS A3560, 743		65	CRS A3560, 337
24	CRS A3560, 1445		66	CRS A3560, 340 and 348
27	CRS A3560, 636		70	CRS A3560, No 22 of A5342, VOLUME 1 PART 1
28	CRS A3560, 635		72	CRS A3560, 225
29	CRS A3560, 748		73	CRS A3560, 343
34	CRS A3560, 792		74	CRS A3560, M4071, 63 (barcode 7648189)
35	CRS A3560, 791		80	No 60 of A5342, VOLUME 1 PART 1
37	CRS A3560, 363		82	CRS A3560, 354
38	CRS A3560, 1344		83	No. 20 of A5342, VOLUME 1 PART 1
40	CRS A3560, almost identical to nla.pic-an11030057-394		84	M4071, 63 (barcode 7648195)
42	CRS A3560, 251		85	CRS A3560, 1725
43	CRS A3560, 344		89	CRS A3560, 1917
45	CRS A3560, 3271		90	CRS A3560, 3390 and 4779
47	CRS A3560, 2242		91	CRS A3560, 170, 402, 405, 7551 (and many others)
48	CRS A3560, 699		92	CRS A3560, 2595
49	CRS A3560, 2985		93	CRS A3560, 6
51	CRS A3560, 348		94	CRS A3560, 3516

Series A3348 is a collection of 50 glass lantern slides featuring early images of Canberra and includes the construction of suburbs and significant buildings (Government House and Mount Stromlo Observatory) as well as the ceremonial opening of Parliament House in 1927.

Mildenhall’s personal collection of photographs is in the custody of the National Library of Australia and approximately 450 of these images are featured online.

Language of material

 

Physical characteristics

 

System of arrangement and control

All control symbols have been imposed by the National Archives of Australia.  The system of arrangement is by single number.  All item captions have been created by the National Archives and gleaned from various sources mainly Series A3560.

Relationships with other records

 

Finding aids

All items in this series are in the custody of National Archives of Australia and have been entered onto the item level database, RecordSearch, as at 5 May 2010.

Access conditions

 

Series history

 

Provenance

 

Immediate source of acquisition

 

Custodial history

Little is known as to the custodial history of these slides.  Prior to their transfer into the National Archives of Australia in 2008 they were located in an office at the Australian National University.

Quantity in agency custody

 

Disposal history

 

Publication note

 

Additional information

 The captions (or titles) of a number of images in the Mildenhall collection have become lost over time.  As a result, some of the images and their descriptive information are inadequate or incomplete, and in some cases may be incorrect.

End notes

 

Sources

Canberra’s Early Years: Photographs from the Mildenhall Collection, National Archives of Australia, Canberra, 2000.

Peter Nagle Australia in Focus: Photographs in the National Archives, National Archives of Australia, Canberra, 2003, pp.60-61.

ACT Heritage Library website: http://www.images.act.gov.au/

National Library of Australia website:  http://www.nla.gov.au