Summary heading

Function and purpose

Series M3610 comprises invitations and other souvenirs of events attended such as programmes, seating plans and menus accumulated by Sir Joseph Cook and his wife, Dame Mary Cook, over the period 1918-40 while Sir Joseph was Minister for the Navy (1917-20), Treasurer (1920-21), Australian High Commissioner to Britain (1921-27), and in retirement.  The invitations for 1918-27 are arranged into items by year.  There is then a gap in the contents date range of the series, followed by a small number of select invitations for the period 1935-40 when Sir Joseph was retired.  The last item in the series (item 12) contains name-cards and undated invitations.

The contents of the series concerns events associated with the Imperial War Conference and Cabinet in 1918 and the Versailles Peace Conference in 1919 (including farewells and welcomes to Sir Joseph Cook and William Morris Hughes in Britain and Australia); events associated with the 1920 visit to Australia by the Prince of Wales; farewells in 1921 to Sir Joseph and Dame Mary Cook before they left Australia for Sir Joseph to take up the position of Australian High Commissioner to Britain; and events attended while Australian High Commissioner including official functions, royal events, openings of Parliament and ‘At Homes’.

Several invitations relate to events after Sir Joseph retired such as the swearing in of Lord Gowrie as Governor-General in 1936 and events attended by Dame Mary during her 1938 trip to Europe for the International Red Cross Conference.

Related legislation

Using the series

Language of material

Physical characteristics

System of arrangement and control

Single number control symbols [1]-[12] have been imposed on the items in this series by National Archives. 

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Access conditions

Series history

In 1993 the Cook family donated Sir Joseph Cook papers, including series M3610, to the National Archives of Australia.  The collection was initially located at the New South Wales Office of National Archives but was transferred to the National Office of National Archives in Canberra in 2001.

Provenance

Series M3610 is part of the personal collection of former Prime Minister Sir Joseph Cook, although it appears to have been accumulated by both Sir Joseph and his wife, Dame Mary Cook.  The Cook family donated the collection to the National Archives in 1993.

Immediate source of acquisition

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Additional information

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