Series 03: Florence James correspondence with personal and literary friends, 1928-1992

MLMSS 5877/Boxes 13-21

series

1928-1992

Textual Records, Graphic Materials, Photographs, Clippings

71008

9 boxes of textual material - typescript

Florence James (1902-1993) was a novelist, editor and reviewer. She was born in New Zealand and educated at Sydney University where she began her long association with Dymphna Cusack. Together James and Cusack wrote two books, 'Four Winds and a Family', a story for children, and 'Come in Spinner' which won the Sydney Daily Telegraph prize in 1948.
Florence James went to England in 1927. She shared a bedsitting room with Christina Stead for a short time, and worked mainly as a journalist and independent literary agent until her return to Australia in 1938. James went to England again in 1947 and from 1951 worked as an independent literary agent and reader for Constable and Co. and for Richmond, Towers and Benson Limited. While in London she acted as a talent scout for Australian and New Zealand writers including Mary Durack, Nene Gare, Maurice Shadbolt, David Martin and Sylvia Ashton-Warner.
James maintained a close friendship with many of the women she met at University and with the writers whose work she promoted. In the early 1970s she became an active member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Australia. James married William ('Pym') Heyting in 1932. They divorced in 1948. They had two daughters. Florence James died in 1993.

Florence James conducted an extensive correspondence with her family and friends, with relatives in New Zealand, with writers, and with Quakers around the world. Most correspondence includes letters received and copies of letters sent. Further correspondence with some authors can be found in the series 'Publishing correspondence and related material'.
1928-1979; Correspondence with Dymphna Cusack and her husband Norman Freehill ('Nell and Norman'). Contained in boxes 13 and 14 as follows:
1928, 1933-1935, 1947-1949; Includes photograph of Dymphna Cusack, 1980, and readers' reports on 'Come in Spinner', ca.1948 (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/13)
1951-1971; (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/13)
1972-1979, nd; (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/14)
Further material concerning Dymphna Cusack is located in boxes 15, 21, 49, 50
1928; Letters received from Kate Austen Merrick ('Austy') (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/14)
Further correspondence with Kate Austen Merrick is located in boxes 19, 44, 45
1929-1992; Correspondence with Christina Stead and William Blake. Contained in box 14 as follows:
'Chris and Bill from March 1933 to Sept 1936' (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/14)
Correspondence, 1933-1940, 1948-1958, 1961 (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/14)
'Christina Stead letters, originals of photocopies posted to Hazel Rowley 14/4/88'. Includes correspondence with Stead, 1933-1936; correspondence with Rowley concerning Stead, 1988; and draft of chapter 3 of Rowley's biography with ms. annotations by James (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/14)
'Letters and cards, Christina...'. Includes postcards received from Stead, 1948-1951, 1969; notes on Stead's life to 1937; copy of transcript of interview with Stead by Rodney Wetherell, Sept. 1979, broadcast on ABC 24 Feb. 1980; and newscuttings concerning Stead, 1938-1983 (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/14)
Further material concerning Christina Stead is located in boxes 17, 20, 21, 43
1945-1989; Correspondence with Mary Dent, 1948-1989. Includes photograph of Dent family, 1945 (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/15)
1947-1954; Correspondence between Florence James and Dymphna Cusack (jointly) and Miles Franklin (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/15)
1949-1955; Correspondence between Florence James and Dymphna Cusack (jointly) and Miles Franklin, 1949-1954, together with a tribute to Miles Franklin by James, 1955 (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/15)
1947-1951; Letters received from Florence Beaufoy (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/15)
1947-1983; Correspondence with Joan de Fraine and Marjorie ('Miggs') Thomas, 1947-1983; 1965-1973 (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/15)
1948-1950, 1965-1975; Correspondence with Marie Byles (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/15)
Further material concerning Marie Byles is located in boxes 17 and 49
1948-1980; Letters received from Hartney Arthur (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/16)
Further correspondence with Hartney Arthur is located in box 17
1948-1980; Letters received from various people including Isabel Wilson and Rudolf Van Ophuysen (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/16)
1950-1951; Letters received from Elisa ('Lies') Van Ophuysen (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/16)
1962-1963, 1974-1989; Correspondence with Mary Durack. Includes extracts from Durack's diary, 1963; copy of 'The Friendly Highway Between Perth and Adelaide' by Durack, published in 'Walkabout', 1963; newscuttings concerning Durack, 1978-1983 (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/16)
1963-1965; Correspondence with Mary Durack. Includes extracts from Durack's and James' diaries of trips, 1963; newscuttings concerning James' trip to Australia and New Zealand, 1963-1964 (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/16)
1966-1967, 1974-1978; Correspondence with Mary Durack. Includes photograph of Durack, 1976 (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/16)
1970-1974; Correspondence with Mary Durack. Includes photograph of Durack, 1970 (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/16)
1965-1966; Correspondence with Mary Durack, and with Colin Johnson concerning Colin Johnson's work, together with newscuttings of reviews of 'Wild Cat Falling' (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/17)
Further correspondence with Mary Durack is located in box 25
1962-1991; Correspondence with Sheila Rhodes, 1974-1991, and with Marie Byles, 1962-1963 (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/17)
1962-1992; 'Jessie Street'. Correspondence with Jessie Street, 1962-1963; copies of reports by Street on Aborigines, 1957, nd; newsletters of the Jessie Street Library Association, 1991-1992 (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/17)
1963-1972; 'Personal, Mixed 63-70'. Correspondents include Christina Stead, 1968-1969, Isobel Bowden, 1867-1969, O.D. Watson, 1965-1968, Joyce Nicholson, 1965, Isabel Wilson, 1964-1970 (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/17)
1963-1978; Correspondence with Phyllis ('Pip') Kaberry. Includes photograph of Kaberry, 1977 (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/17)
Further material concerning Phyllis Kaberry is located in boxes 43 and 49
1964-1974; Correspondence with various people including Nancy Cato, Marie Byles and Dymphna Cusack (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/17)
1964-1990; 'File Assorted'. Includes correspondence with Hartney Arthur, 1966-1990, and with relatives in New Zealand; photograph of James, 1964; typescript of article concerning 'Come in Spinner' (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/17)
Further correspondence with Hartney Arthur is located in box 16
1966-1977; 'Letters 60s-70s to be sorted'. Correspondents include Eleanor Smith, Ursula Winant and Mary Durack (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/17)
1968-1986; 'Eileen'. Includes correspondence with Irina Golovnya in Russia concerning Eileen Barnard-Kettle, 1968, correspondence between Eileen Barnard-Kettle and Irina Golovnya, 1975-1986, and testimony to Eileen Barnard-Kettle on her death, 1986 (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/18)
1969-1974; Correspondence with Dutch friends (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/18)
1969-1978; 'To be Filed 60s to 1978', being letters received from various people (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/18)
1972-1978; Correspondence with Betty Roland (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/18)
Further correspondence with Betty Roland is located in boxes 24 and 25
1973-1984; 'NZ'. Includes correspondence with family in NZ and with Friends in England (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/18)
1974-1978; 'Awaiting Answer', being letters received, 1977-1978, together with reader's report concerning novel by John Durack, 1974 (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/18)
1974-1985; Correspondence with Mildred Watt and Margery Beale (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/18)
1975-1976; 'NZYM'. Includes correspondence with friends and relatives in NZ, some concerning her visit to NZ Yearly Meeting of Friends (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/19)
1976-1980; 'NZ Letters 1970s'. Includes correspondence with relatives in NZ (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/18)
1976-1982; Correspondence with World Vision and with sponsored child in Kenya (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/19)
1976-1991; Correspondence with various people. Includes letter concerning 'Caddie', 1976 (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/19)
1979-1988; 'USA etc'. Correspondence with friends in USA, including Jean Smith and Kate Austen Merrick ('Austy') (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/19)
1980-1985; Correspondence with Joyce Johnston, Shelagh Garland, Sheila Rhodes and Hazel McLean (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/19)
1981-1984; Correspondence with various people during her 1984 world trip. Includes biographical notes for inclusion in 'Come in Spinner', 1981, and accounts of visits to Friends' organisations overseas (2 folders) (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/20)
Further material concerning her 1984 world trip is located in boxes 44 and 45
1982-1992; Cards and letters received, some for her 90th birthday in 1992 (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/20)
1984-1987; Correspondence with Vic H. Lloyd concerning Dymphna Cusack and the writing of 'Come in Spinner'. Includes transcripts of interviews with Florence James (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/20)
1984-1987; Correspondence with various people. Includes correspondence with Harold Evans concerning peace issues in NZ (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/20)
1929-1933, 1986-1988; 'Christine Williams, C. Stead'. Includes correspondence with Williams, 1986-1988, concerning Williams' biography of Stead, together with pages from Williams' ms. with annotations by James. Includes two letters written by James to her family, 1929, 1933, describing the bedsitting room in London which she shared with Stead (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/20)
1934, 1987-1988; Correspondence with Hazel Rowley, 1987-1988, concerning Rowley's biography of Stead, together with letter received from Stead, 22 Nov. 1934 (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/21)
1988-1991; Correspondence with Hazel Rowley. Includes article by Rowley concerning 'The Man Who Loved Children' and draft of chapter 4 of biography (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/21)
1992; Correspondence with Hazel Rowley. Includes drafts of chapter 3 and part of chapter 2 of biography (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/21)
1987-1990; Correspondence with Dale Spender concerning Dymphna Cusack (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/21)
1989-1990; Correspondence with Kirsten Lees concerning Dymphna Cusack and the writing of 'Come in Spinner' (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/21)
1989-1991; 'Deep Sleep', being correspondence, mainly with Doug Le Noury, concerning book about deep sleep therapy (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/21)
1990; Correspondence with Jill Roe concerning Miles Franklin letter (Call No.: ML MSS 5877/21)