Summary heading
Prime
Ministers Papers Project.
Function and
purpose
This series consists of
personal items belonging to Harold Edward Holt, mainly covering the period when
he was Prime Minister (1966-1967).
The most significant item is
the briefcase Holt took to Portsea in Victoria the weekend he disappeared while
swimming at nearby Cheviot Beach. Official documents in the briefcase at that
time were removed and passed to the Prime Minister’s Department by Holt’s
Private Secretary. They were placed in archival custody by the Department of
Prime Minister and Cabinet in 1987 (M1945). The present contents of the
briefcase include photocopies of the official documents, a small number of
files and other documents concerning Holt’s personal financial affairs, a file
covering the Holt v Egerton defamation case (1958),
beach toiletries and some other objects.
Another item is a blue zipped
documents wallet embossed ‘Very Important Papers’. Individual envelope sleeves
in the wallet also contain a number of documents, mainly concerning Holt’s
personal financial affairs and matters relating to journalist Maxwell Newton.
Other items in the series
include five empty leather pocket wallets, most stamped ‘Rt Hon Harold Holt’,
four brown luggage labels and an Israeli coin in a small wooden presentation
box.
Related
legislation
Using
the series
Language
of material
Physical
characteristics
a)
Item [1]:
Briefcase (brown leather with metal clasp and metal initials ‘HEH’ on closing
flap, various contents).
b)
Items [2] – [4]:
Wallets and luggage labels (leather, various colours and sizes, some gold
embossing)
c)
Item [5]: Silver
coin (in small wooden presentation case)
System
of arrangement and control
The
multiple number system of control was imposed by National Archives of Australia
in the absence of any original order to the material.
Relationships
with other records
Originally part of a
larger collection now controlled as M4297, M4298, M4299 and M4300, and also
related to other Holt material (eg M19450) and to M4962;
M4963; and M4964
Finding
aids
Access
conditions
Series
history
The objects and associated
papers in this series were amongst other records held in Holt family ownership after
the death of Harold Edward Holt in December 1967. The arrangement of the
material, including the item numbering and series description, was completed as
part of the Prime Ministers Papers’ Project in July 2002.
In August 2011, the contents
of each of the Front Middle and Zip pockets of the briefcase were described and
controlled and entered onto RecordSearch. The briefcase,
Item [1] has four compartments which held various personal objects. These
compartments are now numbered [1]-[4] to allow the contents to be intellectually
controlled and their original location recorded: These compartments are
numbered as below:
Front
pocket [1]; Middle pocket [2]; Zip pocket [3];Outside
(back) pocket [4]
Harold Edward Holt (CP 27).
Immediate
source of acquisition
Cultural
Gifts Program.
Custodial
history
The series was acquired
by National Archives in May 2002.
Quantity
in agency custody
Disposal
history
Publication
note
Additional
information
National Archives: RKS file
2001/3037, R346572002
In July and August 2011, the
Front, Middle and Zip pockets of the briefcase were designated as Items [6],[7] and [8] respectively. Each of the contents was
described with its Item number and a running number as the control symbol.
End
notes
Sources