Summary heading

  CRS A1633

System of arrangement and control

  Chronological

Relationships with other records

  M L Shepherd gave his memoirs and other memorabilia to the Prime Minister’s Department in 1958. Some items were passed to the National Library of Australia in December that year. The memoirs and some personal letters from the Rt Hon W M Hughes were retained in the Department ‘to meet Mr. Shepherd’s request that the Prime Minister should see them and because of their value to Departmental history’. They were transferred to the Commonwealth Archives Office in late 1967, accessioned in April 1968 (AA1968/122 and AA1968/123) and subsequently registered as two separate series (A1632 and A1633 respectively). Photocopies of the letters were also attached to departmental file 1958/3338 (subsequently top numbered to file 1963/4559). From these copies, it appears that the four letters comprising A1633 have been separated from a larger number, covering the period 1922 to 1937, which were described in a departmental inventory in 1958 but are now included with the memoirs (A1632, Part 2) (1).

Finding aids

Access conditions

  Subject to the Archives Act 1983.

Series history

  One of the senior Commonwealth Public Service appointments held by Malcolm Lindsay Shepherd (CP 25) was that of Secretary to the Prime Minister’s Department (1911-21). The period included most of William Morris Hughes’ term as Prime Minister (1915-23). Hughes and Shepherd remained personal friends for many years afterwards and corresponded regularly, especially when Shepherd was Official Secretary to the Australian High Commission in London (1921-27).

This series includes four letters (three handwritten, one typescript) from Hughes to Shepherd, dated 29 December 1922, 28 March 1923, 3 September 1923 and 5 February 1924. Their content is a mixture of personal and political comment.

Provenance

  Malcolm Lindsay Shepherd.

Immediate source of acquisition

  Prime Minister’s Department.

Custodial history

Publication note

Additional information

End notes

  (1) National Archives, Prime Minister’s Department correspondence: CRS A463, item 1963/4559 and attachment.

Sources

  Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol 11, 1891-1939, p 592

  National Archives, Prime Minister’s Department correspondence: CRS A463, item 1963/4559 and attachment