Description of series:
The files in this series consist of personal representations concerning employment made to the Prime Minister, Joseph Aloysius Lyons, in the period 1938 to early 1939. Some of the representations were made though Lyons' wife, Dame Enid Lyons, and often came from a parent, spouse or family friend on behalf of the person seeking employment. The correspondence usually provides details of employment history, war service, personal situation or family circumstances. Positions were mainly sought in the Commonwealth public service or a state government, defence forces and munitions establishments, some with large companies or another organisation including the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation and the Australian Broadcasting Commission.

The representations are maintained in alphabetical order by correspondent, and associated papers usually include correspondence between Lyons and the appropriate Minister or organisation he approached on the person's behalf. In some cases pre-1938 letters are also present, in others the final reply was made in the weeks following Lyons' death in April 1939.

The records were transferred to archival custody by the Prime Minister's Department on 26 January 1949 (ref. RWC 2/8/1). Originally accessioned as CP4 (later CP246), the present accession number (CP167) was allocated in 1953. A single number system has been imposed on the files, one for each letter of the alphabet. In January 2002, item 24 was removed from CP167/1 (where it had been controlled as item 23) to CP167/3. The series description was also revised at that time as part of the Prime Ministers Papers' Project.

Person controlling unregistered

1939-1981 : Dame Enid Lyons
1981-3000 : Estate of Dame Enid Lyons