Summary heading
Series note for A4311
Function and purpose
In late 1959 Dr John Stanley Cumpston,
a long-standing External Affairs employee, was appointed department historian
to the then Department of External Affairs.
Dr Cumptson held this position until his
retirement in 1969. During this time, Dr
Cumpston collected a large amount of material
concerned with the Department and all aspects of the history of Australian
foreign policy. The records that Dr Cumpston collected for his research were gathered from the
Department’s registered series, ‘private’ collections of Departmental staff and
his own material. These records were
stored together in boxes by Dr Cumpston with no
overall control system.
The collection comprises a large variety of records
including Departmental files, bulletins, bound volumes, publications, treaties
and agreements, assorted papers, newspaper clippings and typed and handwritten
notes compiled by Dr Cumpston on various
subjects. The content of the records
varies markedly, but Dr Cumpston seems to have been
mainly concerned with Australia's
perspective of world affairs and the range of her involvement in external
affairs. Content includes records on
administrative arrangements for private visits to overseas posts, the post-war
peace processes for both World War One and Two, sale of land in the New Hebrides from the late 1800s, Mawson’s
1929-31 expedition to the Antarctic, intelligence summaries and SEATO. There is
also much emphasis on Australian involvement with her Pacific and Asian neighbours. This is
only a snapshot of the collection – interested researchers should consult the
National Archives collection database RecordSearch for more information on the
item titles contained within this series.
Following Dr Cumptson’s
retirement, the records remained grouped together in boxes within the
Department. Prior to transfer to the
National Archives, some of the items that could be tracked back to their
original registered series were re-sorted into these series by Departmental
staff. In most instances however, the
original context could not easily be ascertained, so the remaining items were
grouped together as the ‘Cumpston collection’ and
registered as series A4311 on transfer to the National Archives in 1979.
On transfer to the National Archives in 1979, the only
control over the collection was an incomplete system of box numbering imposed
by staff in the Department’s Historical Section according to their order on the
shelves. A box contents list was only
partially completed, and following transfer to the Archives the collection
continued to be listed, arranged and described by both Departmental and
Archives’ staff over the next 10 years, with boxes 695-769 roughly listed by a
Department staff member in 1991.
In the mid-1990s, a larger-scale project was undertaken by
the Department of Foreign Affairs to better control the series. During the mid to late 1990s, A4311 was
withdrawn from the Archives’ custody and a small team from the Department of
Foreign Affairs (the Controlling Agency) worked through the items in A4311 to
list all the items at box level; sentence records of temporary value for
destruction; separate groups of related records into new series; and
re-integrate Department files belonging to other registered series back into
their original series where this could be identified (see Related Series below for the full list
of new and ‘originating’ series). The
remaining items comprise what’s left of series A4311.
Since the ‘Cumpston collection’
was never properly controlled by Dr Cumpston or any
subsequent Departmental staff, the National Archives has imposed a two-number
control system on the series according to box and position number. The first number denotes the number of the
box in which the item was transferred into the Archives’ custody in 1979 (or
subsequently); the second number denotes the position number of the item within
the box. For example, the third item
originally in box number 20 is item control 20/3. Where items comprise several parts which have
been deemed worthy of separate registration, a third- number-part has been
added after the position number, eg 20/3/1 for the first part of the third item
from the 20th box.
A box list detailing the contents of the majority of the
items compiled between the late-1970s and 1980s can be requested (see series
A4312). However, since this list was drafted extensive changes were made to the
collection including a large-scale cull and re-arrangement by the Controlling
Agency, so this list no longer accurately reflects the records and titles of
the records in A4311. Also, more records
were added to this series after the list was created, so records contained in boxes 700-781 do not
appear on this list (note that boxes
770-781 were transferred between
2005-2006).
There are copies of files of German origin covering the
period 1929 to 1939, the originals of which were included in the collection but
which have since been returned to the German Foreign Office. These items are
registered on RecordSearch as items 102/1 – 102/7. In addition, the collection includes copies
of documents from SEATO (South East Asia Treaty Organization), some of which
were subsequently removed and incorporated into SEATO series A9946, A9947,
A9954 and A9955, although there are still some SEATO files in A4311.
Related legislation
Using the series
The researcher wishing to access records in the collection
should first try a basic keyword search, ensuring that ‘A4311’ is entered into
the Reference numbers field of
the general Search & Retrieve part of RecordSearch.
If this is unsuccessful, the researcher may like to consult
the box list in A4312 and the Canberra Reading Room also holds copies of the
original item lists. If an item of
interest is identified this way, note down the box number and to search for the
item on RecordSearch enter the series ‘A4311’ into the Reference numbers field of the general Search & Retrieve part
of RecordSearch, along with the box number followed by an asterix
(ie a wildcard) – separate the series and box number
by a comma and single space. For
example:
Enter:
A4311, 691*
for items contained in box 691.
This is the best way to search for items identified in the box
lists, since they may now be registered on RecordSearch as a part of the box,
eg the third item in box
691 would now be registered as 691/3. This type of searching also ensures that any
items from the box which have since been converted to other series are
retrieved.
Language of material
Physical characteristics
System of arrangement and control
The National Archives has imposed a two-number control
system on the series according to box and position number. The first number denotes the number of the
box in which the item was transferred into the Archives’ custody in 1979 (or
subsequently); the second number denotes the position number of the item within
the box.
For example, the third item originally in box number 20 is
now item control 20/3.
Where items comprise several parts which have been deemed
worthy of separate registration, a third number-part has been added after the
position number, eg 20/3/1 for the first part of the third item from the 20th
box.
Where no box and position number was able to be discerned, a
box and position number has been imposed by the National Archives and this has
been recorded in the item note.
Relationships with other records
Ten boxes of the Cumpston
Collection in A4311/0 were located in the Australian Archives, Victorian Office
and appear to be connected to the Casey papers.
Between 1996 and 2001, a small team from the Controlling
Agency withdrew and reviewed the entire series and as a consequence, various
groups of records were split from the this series and added to new series
created specifically for these records, or where identified, item’s that had
originated from other Departmental series before Dr Cumpston
removed them were re-sorted back into these series.
These various series include:
A434; A1066; A1067; A1068; A1838; A3312; A4351; A4355;
A4640; A5466; A5467; A5468; A5475; A6006; A6237; A6238; A6530; A6537; A6740;
A6768; A6779; A8600; A9367; A9368; A10301; A10302; A10322; A10323; A10324;
A10345; A10350; A10356; A10468; A10553; A10563; A10570; A10576; A10601; A10607;
A10716; A10617; A10618; A10619; A10671; A10679; A10812; A10817; A10821; A10838;
A10847; A10848; A10870; A10911; A10912; A10913; A10915; A10916; A10917; A10927;
A10943; A10948; A10950; A10951; A10952; A10953; A11344; A11370; A11382; A11386;
A11526; A11530; A11531; A11546; A11547; A11548; A11549; A11576; A11581; A11585.
Finding aids
As at July 2008 all items in A4311 have been entered onto
the National Archives collection database RecordSearch.
Access conditions
Series history
The bulk of items within series A4311 were transferred to
the National Archives in 1979. During the
late 1990s the Controlling Agency undertook a large-scale re-sentencing project
to cull and better control the records contained in A4311. This work involved refining the original box
level lists; sentencing records of temporary value for destruction; separating
groups of related records into new series; and re-integrating Department files
belonging to other registered series back into their original series where this
could be identified.
In 2005 and again in 2006, the Controlling agency located
several more records belonging to series A4311 and these were transferred into
the National Archives’ custody and added to RecordSearch.
Between 2006 and 2008 an Arrangement and Description project
was undertaken to establish which records from A4311 had been returned into
custody and update the item registrations on RecordSearch. Items not previously registered on
RecordSearch were also entered to enhance access to the collection.
Provenance
Immediate source of acquisition
Custodial history
Subsequent to the records being transferred to the National
Archives in 1979 the entire series was withdrawn by the Controlling Agency in
the 1990s for re-sentencing resulting in some culling. This large-scale re-sentencing project was
conducted by the Controlling Agency within the National Archives’ Mitchell
building. Those items returned to the
Archives in 2000-2001 were reorganised and the
original box lists therefore may not accurately reflect the remaining items
within A4311.
Quantity in agency custody
Disposal history
Publication note
Additional information
End notes
Sources