Media Release 27 Aug 2008
Following negotiations with the Durack family, Dame Mary Durack’s literary and personal papers and the Durack Family Historical Archives will now be housed at the State Library of Western Australia. Dame Mary is renowned internationally for her books Kings in Grass Castles, Sons in the Saddle, The Rock and the Sand and a life of Eliza Shaw a Swan River Pioneer amongst other works.
These two significant and comprehensive collections, consisting of correspondence, journals, memoirs, printed and other materials and ephemera will now remain in Western Australia and complement the collections relating to MP Durack, JW Durack and Reg Durack held in the State Library.
Dame Mary’s papers relate predominantly to her career as a celebrated author and also to members of her family over three generations. The papers also include a large and unique collection of general and anthropological material concerning Aboriginal life from the 1880s on.
The Durack Family Historical Archives reveal the significant role this pioneering family played in European settlement and the opening up of the Kimberley area of the State. The Durack family was amongst the first of Australia’s great cattle kings. These papers consist of material realting to individual Durack family members and other well known pioneers involved in the development of the Kimberley area.
Dame Mary’s daughter, Patsy Millett, who has maintained the papers carefully over many years and who has brought them up to a high standard of accessibility said she ‘is delighted that the collections remain in Western Australia’.
The State Library's CEO Margaret Allen said that ‘the State Library is grateful that this collection of national significance will be kept in Western Australia as it will contribute further to the State’s heritage collections. The role of the State Library is to collect, preserve and make accessible documentary heritage and this collection is of enormous importance to Western Australia’s historical record’.
Following cataloguing, the papers will be accessible to researchers and historians.
For further information regarding the Durack Collection please contact Sarah Brown, Battye Librarian, phone 9427 3127.
These two significant and comprehensive collections, consisting of correspondence, journals, memoirs, printed and other materials and ephemera will now remain in Western Australia and complement the collections relating to MP Durack, JW Durack and Reg Durack held in the State Library.
Dame Mary’s papers relate predominantly to her career as a celebrated author and also to members of her family over three generations. The papers also include a large and unique collection of general and anthropological material concerning Aboriginal life from the 1880s on.
The Durack Family Historical Archives reveal the significant role this pioneering family played in European settlement and the opening up of the Kimberley area of the State. The Durack family was amongst the first of Australia’s great cattle kings. These papers consist of material realting to individual Durack family members and other well known pioneers involved in the development of the Kimberley area.
Dame Mary’s daughter, Patsy Millett, who has maintained the papers carefully over many years and who has brought them up to a high standard of accessibility said she ‘is delighted that the collections remain in Western Australia’.
The State Library's CEO Margaret Allen said that ‘the State Library is grateful that this collection of national significance will be kept in Western Australia as it will contribute further to the State’s heritage collections. The role of the State Library is to collect, preserve and make accessible documentary heritage and this collection is of enormous importance to Western Australia’s historical record’.
Following cataloguing, the papers will be accessible to researchers and historians.
For further information regarding the Durack Collection please contact Sarah Brown, Battye Librarian, phone 9427 3127.