Biography
Scope of collection
Biography encompasses the study of the lives of Australian individuals with particular emphasis on the lives of people who have had a connection with, or an influence or impact on New South Wales.
Collecting aims and intentions
The Library aims to collect biographical information on people who have had an impact on New South Wales, providing an understanding of their lives and formative experiences, to support research into society and individuals and their achievements.
The Library also collects information about people who, because of their origin, profession, work, status in life and/or role in the community, may be seen as representatives of a specific group within the population of New South Wales. This information provides insights into the conditions and issues in that community and society during a given period in the State's history.
Online databases facilitating access to Australian biographical information are acquired; Internet resources are identified and access facilitated by the creation of bookmarks on the Library's Electronic Resources webpage.
Existing collection
- Biographical resources such as biographical dictionaries and encyclopaedias, registers, biographical indexes, and compilations of biographies and collections focussing on specific categories of people
- Biographies and autobiographies of individuals
- Historical journals and journals of learned societies
- Indexes covering Australian newspapers and journals
- Publications of local community historical societies
- Personal correspondence, diaries and memoirs of individuals and private archives
- Albums of newspaper cuttings and scrapbooks
- Images and photographic albums illustrating individuals and their families
- Oral histories recording life experiences
- Realia associated with individuals
- Electronic databases including online indexes facilitating access to journal literature and Internet resources identified on the Library's Internet links webpage under the heading: Biography - Australian
Some examples of unique or significant items
- Australasian Biographical Archive.
- Australian Men of Mark.
- Sir Joseph Banks papers including his journal on HMS Endeavour, Banks Papers Series 03.
- William Bligh - HMS Bounty papers including his logbooks.
- Matthew Flinders collection including his journals on HMS Investigator, Mitchell Library: S1/24 and S1/25 and private journal.
- Poet James McAuley's papers.
- Patrick White's only existing literary manuscript Memoirs of Many in One.
- Papers of May Gibbs, author, children's book illustrator and cartoonist.
- Papers of Pamela Lyndon Travers, author of Mary Poppins.
- Papers of George Ernest Morrison, doctor of medicine, adventurous traveller and journalist.
- Journals and diaries of Australian explorers including Antarctic expeditions, for example the diary of Charles Sturt, S1/23b and the diaries of Frank Hurley.
Mitchell Library: MLMSS 389 - The Newsclippings File together with several volumes of newspaper cuttings such as the 28 vols of People I have Known
- Biographical registers of the State parliaments, for example, Biographical register of the New South Wales Parliament, 1856-1901, C.N. Connolly.
- Australian Biographical & Genealogical Record.
- Hunter Valley Register.
- Pioneers of Australia.
