Series descriptive note

Summary heading

B1759 - Proclamations issued by Sir Douglas Mawson during the British, Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition (BANZARE).

Function and purpose

This series consists of two original proclamations made by Antarctic explorer Sir Douglas Mawson during the British, Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Expedition, 1929-1931 (BANZARE). Dated 13 January 1930 and 18 February 1931, the proclamations claim sovereignty over much of Antarctica ‘in the name of His Majesty King George V, His heirs and successors for ever’. These proclamations provide an important legal basis for Australia’s territorial claims to the area now known as the Australian Antarctic Territory. Included in the series are the metal containers in which the proclamations were received by Archives. Copies of the proclamations have also been made for reference use.

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Sir Douglas Mawson was Australia’s pre-eminent Antarctic explorer. He was a member of Ernest Shackleton’s 1907 expedition and subsequently led the 1911-1914 Australasian Antarctic Expedition. Mawson was also a leading advocate of annexation of British discoveries in the region, particularly after World War One when Norway and France were asserting their own claims. The British did annex the Ross Dependency in 1923, but Mawson felt the Australian discoveries in 1911-1914 warranted similar action in respect of the ‘Australian quadrant’ - from Longitude 90 degrees East to 160 degrees East (excluding Adelie Land).

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The assertion of the British Empire’s claims to Antarctica was addressed at the 1926 Imperial Conference, which reiterated that Britain had rights of discovery in certain areas and suggested formal action should be taken to make this clear if the opportunity arose. The matter was taken up in Australia by the Australian National Research Council, which recommended the Australian government finance an expedition, not only to conduct further scientific and exploratory work, but to ‘raise the flag’ as well. The task of arranging such an expedition eventually fell to Mawson. This expedition became known as BANZARE since it was jointly funded by Britain, Australia and New Zealand. The expedition was led by Mawson himself, who was commissioned by special letters patent from the King to take possession of both newly discovered territory as well as lands discovered by previous British expeditions (1). Mawson’s sailing orders from the Australian government further instructed him to ‘plant the British flag wherever you find it practicable to do so’. These orders also spelt out the wording for the necessary proclamations, and how those proclamations were to be made (2).

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Two exploratory voyages were conducted by BANZARE in the Royal Research Ship Discovery:

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<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>19 October 1929 – 1 April 1930: from Capetown in South Africa to Kerguelen Island and hence to Antarctica, where the Discovery explored the coastlines of what are now known as Princess Elizabeth, MacRobertson, Kemp and Enderby Lands, before returning to Port Adelaide.

<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>22 November 1930 – 19 March 1930: From Hobart to Macquarie and Heard Islands, then to King George V Land, and westward along the coast to MacRobertson, Kemp and Enderby Lands, with the intention of linking previous British discoveries with those made by Mawson the year before. This voyage terminated in Hobart.

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These two voyages were of immense scientific and exploratory value. Hundreds of thousands of kilometres of previously unknown coastline were charted. That the Antarctic was a continental landmass was finally established and valuable data collected about Antarctic weather, oceanography, geology and wildlife.

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Mawson made several proclamations claiming sovereignty over vast Antarctic territories during the expedition. The two held in this series are those made at:

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<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>Proclamation Island on 13 January 1930, annexed the territories between Longitudes 47 degrees East and 73 degrees East and south of Latitude 65 degrees South (being Enderby, Kemp and MacRobertson Lands, with off lying islands).

<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>Cape Bruce on 18 February 1931 annexing Mawson’s discoveries between 138 Degrees and 60 Degrees East and south of Latitude 64 degrees south as far as the South Pole (the territory from the boundary of Terre Adelie westward to MacRobertson Land, and offshore islands).

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These proclamations were made according to a standard pattern: the British flag was physically planted on land. Mawson then read the proclamations to those present. The proclamations were then sealed in metal canisters. The canister containing the 13 January 1930 proclamation was attached to the flagpole (3). The copper tube containing the 18 February 1931 proclamation was buried in the rock cairn at the base of the flagstaff (4). The BANZARE meteorologist recorded the Cape Bruce ceremony in the following terms:

Dux [Mawson] jumped ashore and ran up the valley waving a flag and looking as pleased as punch – and so he was because at last we were in a position to make a legal, complete and entire observance of claiming land, which we forthwith proceeded to do, building a cairn, hoisting the flag, reading … the proclamation …, God Save the King, and cheering … The ceremony over it was made doubly correct by the pouring of a little champagne over the cairn – only a little as we wanted to (and did) drink the rest (5).

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On the basis of Mawson’s various proclamations, the King issued an Order in Council on 7 February 1933 placing all Antarctic territory south of 60 degrees Latitude and between 160 degrees East and 45 degrees East Longitude (except Adelie Land) under Australian authority (6). Australia duly passed the necessary acceptance legislation – the Australian Antarctic Territory Acceptance Act 1933 – but formal Australian sovereignty did not begin until 24 August 1936 when that Act came into force.

Related legislation

The Australian Antarctic Territory Act 1933 ratified Australia’s acceptance of control over the territories covered by Mawson’s proclamations. This Act was made by virtue of Section 122 of the Australian Constitution, which gives the Commonwealth Parliament power to make laws for any territory placed under Australian authority by the Crown.

Using the series

The National Archives constructed titles for all items in this series.

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Due to preservation considerations, neither the original proclamations signed by Sir Douglas Mawson, nor the metal canisters they were shipped to Archives in, can be issued to the Reading Room. Reference copies of the two proclamations are available and can be ordered as CRS B1759/1, 1930/3 and CRS B1759/1, 1931/3.

Physical characteristics

The 13 January 1930 proclamation is handwritten in black ink on heavy white paper (similar to cartridge paper) measuring approximately 500 mm by 342 mm. The main text is in ‘copperplate’ written out on ruled pencil lines that have not been removed (7). Details of the territories covered by the proclamation have been added by Mawson in blue ink. The document is signed by Sir Douglas Mawson as expedition commander, and countersigned by John King Davis, the Master of the Discovery. The edges of the document are damaged, and there is a vertical fold down the centre where it was folded before being rolled up inside its original container. The surface of the proclamation is a little discoloured in appearance.

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The 18 February 1931 proclamation is also handwritten in black ink on cartridge type paper, signed by both Mawson and Davis. Mawson added additional details of territories covered by the proclamation in the left hand side margin. This document is slightly smaller than the 13 January 1930 Proclamation, measuring approximately 49 cm by 32.3 cm. There is some discolouration and staining to the paper. The document also has tears in a number of places.

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The proclamations were returned to Australia in metal containers, which have been retained as separate items in the series. Since the original steel canister for the 13 January 1930 proclamation had rusted away, it was shipped back to Australia in a brass screw top cylinder specially made for that purpose by the Antarctic Division (8). The 18 February 1931 proclamation was contained in a two part copper cylinder, which pulled apart in the centre. This appears to be the original container used by Mawson to house this document (9).

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The reference copies the original proclamations are full-sized black and white photocopies of each document. The copy of the 1930 proclamation has been mounted on thick cardboard.

System of arrangement and control

A multiple number system has been imposed on items in this series by the National Archives, with a range of control symbols from 1930/1 to 1931/3. Each control symbol consists of the year of an original proclamation, and a number identifying what each particular item is in relation to that document:

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1 – the cylinder used to ship the proclamation back to Australia

2 – the original proclamation

3 – the reference copy of the original proclamation.

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The allocation of numbers in this way helps to preserve the original relationship of the items to each other: what Archives originally received into custody was two metal cylinders, from which the proclamations were subsequently removed. The reference copies were made later from the originals.

Relationships with other records

The National Archives collection contains a number of records relating to the two proclamations. The most important is a photograph of the proclamation ceremony held on 13 January 1930 taken by Frank Hurley (CRS A2442/1, item 1). This provides visual evidence supporting Australia’s legal claims to the Australian Antarctic Territory.

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CRS A4311/1, 365/9/3 in the ‘Cumpston Collection’ of documents relating to the history of Australian foreign policy contains another set of photographs documenting the various proclamations made by Mawson during BANZARE, including those of 13 January 1930 and 18 February 1931.

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There are also files in the records of the Prime Minister’s Department relating to both BANZARe in general, and the issue of proclamations. These include:

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<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>CRS A461, C413/6 – BANZARE – Annexation of Territories

<![if !supportLists]>· <![endif]>CRS A461, N413/1 - Expeditions. BANZARE - Sailing orders for Sir Douglas Mawson

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A third proclamation issued by Mawson on 5 January 1931 at Cape Denison, taking possession of King George V Land and its extensions (the territory between Longitude 142 degrees East and 160 degrees East and Latitude 66 degrees South and the South Pole), is now held by the National Library of Australia as NLA MS 5970. In addition to the three 'successful' proclamations on 13 January 1930, 5 January 1931 and 18 February 1931, there were three unsuccessful attempts, one on 11 February and two on 13 February 1931. The physical traces of these attempts have not been located.

Series history

After recovering the original proclamations from Antarctica in early 1980 (see Custodial History below), the Antarctic Division sent two cylinders containing these documents to the Archives’s Melbourne office. The items were then transferred to Canberra for conservation treatment at the time. The proclamations were permanently removed from the cylinders, treated to remove stains, repair tears and arrest any acidification from the paper. The tension in the documents was also released so they could be housed flat (10). Reference copies were then made.

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In order to control the items during conservation treatment, the 1931 proclamation was designated as ‘Mawson A’ and the 1930 one ‘Mawson B’. These control symbols remained in place until May 2005, when it was decided that these control symbols were inadequate, and the new multiple number control system was devised (see System of Arrangement and Description). Detailed research was also undertaken for rewriting of the series note.

Custodial history

The proclamations remained undisturbed in situ at the two proclamation sites until 1957, when they were discovered and dug out by an expedition from Mawson Base. The items were taken back to Mawson Base, photographed and then returned to their original locations. The 13 January 1930 proclamation was again located and re-photographed in the 1970s. The original steel cylinder was found rusted away inside a bottle. After the document was photographed, it was placed back inside the bottle. It seems the copper canister used by Mawson to house the 18 February 1931 proclamation survived the rigours of the Antarctic climate.

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In the late 1970s, it was proposed to the Antarctic Division that the original proclamations be recovered and returned to Australia. This occurred during the 1979/1980 Summer field season. In both cases, the original proclamations were removed, and replaced by facsimiles with notices stating the originals had been returned to Australia. The Antarctic Division made brass cylinders to house these facsimiles. The items recovered from the sites were first taken back to Mawson Base, where they were stored in a freezer. They were then returned to Melbourne on the MV Nella Dan in January 1980. The cylinders arrived at the Archives inside a ‘Fosters Lager’ beer carton.

End notes

(1) A typed Copy of the Letters Patent, dated 25 July 1929 is held on file CRS A461, C413/6.

(2) Sailing Orders to Sir Douglas Mawson issued by Prime Minister SM Bruce 12 September 1929. See copy held on file CRS A461, N413/1.

(3) letter from Sir Douglas Mawson to F Strahan, Prime Minister’s Department, 22 November 1930. CRS A461, C413/6.

(4) Sir Douglas Mawson, Report on Geographic Discoveries and Proclamations, dated 29 June 1931. Carbon copy on file CRS A4331, 365/9/2.

(5) Diary entry by RG Simmers, quoted in The Winning of Australian Antarctica (Sydney, 1962) p 156.

(6) A carbon copy of the Order in Council is held on file CRS A664, 404/401/139.

(7) From Mawson’s diary, it seems that the document was drawn up by Frank Hurley at Mawson’s request. See entry for 8 January 1930 quoted in

Sir A. Grenfell Price, The Winning of Australian Antarctica (Sydney, 1962) p 67. Frank Hurley was the expedition’s official photographer and

cinematographer. It is not clear who drew up the 18 February 1931proclamation, although it appears to be in a similar hand.

(8) See information on NAA series file for CRS B1759.

(9) ibid

(10) Detailed records of conservation treatment to items in this series are contained on the NAA’s series file for B1759, and on preservation treatment files

held in the Preservation Laboratory at the NAA’s Mitchell Repository.

Sources

Sir A. Grenfell Price, The Winning of Australian Antarctica (Sydney, 1962) is based on Sir Douglas Mawson’s own papers, and provides many details of the two proclamations, as well as photographs of both ceremonies.

Email advice about the 'unsuccessful' proclamations received by the National Archives of Ausrtralia on 29 September 2020 from Sally Elisabeth Douglas based on her father's BANZARE logs and other published sources.