Summary heading
A6226 – Volumes of news cuttings relating to the Royal
Commission on Espionage
Function and purpose
This series consists of three bound volumes of newspaper
and journal cuttings relating to the Royal Commission on Espionage. The
cuttings, which date from the period April 1954 to March 1956, document the
extensive coverage given to the Petrovs’ defection and the subsequent Royal
Commission in the print media. Items [1] and [3] contain clippings from
Australian newspapers and journals, including the Sydney Morning Herald, The
Age, Tribune, News Weekly, The Bulletin, The Canberra Times, and The Courier
Mail. Item [2] contains overseas press clippings, including from Britain,
Ireland, Singapore, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), France, Switzerland, New Zealand, Fiji,
Italy, and the United States.
The volumes of cuttings were created and maintained by the
Royal Commission on Espionage Secretariat.
Using the series
The cuttings in each volume are arranged in chronological
order, except in Item [3] where some 1954 clippings have been pasted in between
1956 clippings.
Language of material
Some clippings in Item [2] are in foreign European
languages, such as German and French.
Physical characteristics
Each item in the series is a large hard covered volume bound
in blue, with black spine and corners. Title information and approximate date
ranges are given by typed ‘OHMS’ Prime Minister’s Department correspondence
labels on the spines.
System of arrangement and control
There was no system of arrangement and control when these
items were transferred to Archives. A single number system has been imposed,
with the range of control symbols [1] – [3].
Relationships with other records
This series forms part of the body of records created by
the Royal Commission on Espionage. These records can be broadly divided into
three categories: the Records of the Royal Commissioners (series A6214 and
A6215), the Records of the Secretariat (primarily A6213) and the records that
were assembled as a result of the Royal Commission’s investigations (exhibits,
transcripts of proceedings and reports etc).
The Royal Commission Secretariat collected various types
of press reports about the Royal Commission’s activities. Besides the volumes
of newspaper cuttings in A6226, A6225 contains feature articles written by
Vladimir and Evdokia Petrov, Geoffrey Hoare and Dr Michael and Patricia
Bialoguski for serialisation in Australian newspapers. Other newspaper
cuttings, copies of the communist newspaper ‘Tribune’ and binders of radio news
and commentary items can be found in A6213.
The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) also maintained
a series of newspaper cuttings about the Royal Commission on Espionage (A6282).
Series history
Along with other Royal Commission on Espionage records,
this series was received into Archives custody from the Department of Prime
Minister and Cabinet in 1984. It was formerly accession AA1984/503. The
original series title was ‘Volumes of Newspaper cuttings’. Arrangement and
description work was undertaken in April 2005 as part of a Collection
Development Project involving multiple series of records associated with the
Royal Commission on Espionage. As a result of this work, all items were
properly registered in RecordSearch at item level, the series descriptive note
re-written, and the item rehoused in an acid free container. The item title was
enhanced to read: ‘Volumes of Newspaper cuttings relating to the Royal
Commission on Espionage’.
Custodial history
It is certain that the related items in A6225 and
items RCE/R/18 Parts A-F were transferred to the Prime Minister’s Department
Library when the Secretariat relocated from Canberra to Sydney in March 1956
(1). It is likely that the items in A6226 remained with the Secretariat longer
since Item 3 contains cuttings for 25 October 1956 attached to a Prime
Minister’s Department letterhead attentioned to CP Alpen.
Publication note
End notes
(1). Letter from CP Alpen, Acting Secretary, RCE to The
Librarian, Prime Minister’s Department, Canberra. A6213, RCE/X/12.
Sources