Summary heading
A6210 – Register of Exhibits tendered before the Royal
Commission on Espionage.
Function and purpose
This series contains one item: the Royal Commission on
Espionage’s Exhibits Register. This register records both the numbered exhibits
(Exhibits 1 – 521) and the lettered exhibits (Exhibits A-J). Exhibits are
recorded in the register according to the date tendered.
The register provides the following information about each
exhibit in vertical columns:
- Exhibit
number;
- date
tendered;
- identification
number;
- witness;
- tendered
by;
- description
of exhibit; and
- page
and paragraph reference in transcript.
Other details such as if an exhibit was produced ‘in
camera’ or if it was returned after tendering are also recorded.
This register appears to have been maintained during the
course of the Royal Commission’s hearings, and corrected thereafter. A revised
‘fair copy’ version of the register (CRS A6211) was compiled after the hearings
ended, but it is not a strict copy of this particular register.
Physical characteristics
The register is contained in a buff coloured cardboard
binder, with white labels typed with: “ROYAL COMMISSION ON ESPIONAGE” and
“EXHIBITS REGISTER”. The register measures approximately 40 cm by 34 cm. The
register is typed, but with significant corrections to the entries made in ink
and pencil.
Relationships with other records
This register is a controlling record for the following
series:
CRS A6201 – Exhibits, single number system.
CRS A6202 – Exhibits, single letter system.
A later version of the exhibits register exists as CRS
A6211 - Register of Exhibits tendered before the Royal Commission on Espionage
('Fair Copy').
Series history
This series was transferred to the National Archives in
1984 from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. It was originally
accessioned as AA1984/323. The original series title was ‘Register of
Exhibits’.
Arrangement and description work on this series was
undertaken in April 2005 as part of a Collection Development project involving
multiple record series associated with the Royal Commission on Espionage. As a
result of this work, the series was properly described at item and series level
in RecordSearch, and re-packaged and rehoused in acid-free containers. The
series title was also amended to more clearly identify the item it
contains.
Custodial history
By the time the RCE Secretariat
had ceased to function in August 1957, all the records of the RCE were being
stored in the Cabinet Secretariat at the Prime Minister’s Department in
Canberra. Between September 1975 and May 1977, the RCE records were provided to
the Royal Commission on Intelligence and Security (RCIS). After the records
were returned to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, an archivist
from the Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
was engaged to properly index and catalogue them. As a consequence of this
work, the National Archives was engaged to undertake conservation work on the records.
In relation to CRS A6210, this consisted mainly of interleaving acid-free paper
between the folios to retard any potential deterioration.
End notes
Sources