421564
- TitleG. W. R. (George William Robert) Southern - papers, 1916-1972
- Creator
- Call numberMLMSS 7173/Boxes 1-4, 7-12
MLMSS 7173/Folders 5-6
MLMSS 7173/Box 13X - Level of descriptionfonds
- Date
1916 - 1972 - Type of material
- Reference code421564
- Physical Description1.78 metres of textual material (10 boxes, 2 folders, 1 outsize box) includes photographs
Textual Records
Textual Records - (typescript)
Textual Records - (typescript, photocopy)
Textual Records - (typescript, carbon)
Textual Records - (typescript, processed)
Clippings
Textual Records - (printed) - ADMINISTRATIVE/ BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
G. W. R. (George William Robert) Southern (1899-1972) was born in Cardiff, Wales, son of Thomas Angus Southern (1860-1931), mining engineer, and his wife Grace, nee James. He emigrated to Australia in 1922. He became a Quaker in Melbourne, taught at the Friends' High School, Hobart, Tas., 1925-1926, and within a decade had resigned from the Society of Friends. He graduated in Physical Education from the Dupain Institute in Sydney in 1929 and joined its staff as a commercial letter writer. During the 1920s he discovered the works of Edward Carpenter, Homer Lane and A. S. Neill which reshaped his views, also influenced later by Havelock Ellis, Sigmund Freud and Karl Marx.
In 1933 Southern published Making Morality Modern, a popular account of sexual psychology which introduced for the first time in Australia the platform of the World League for Sexual Reform. When the printer had submitted the page proofs to the Postmaster General's Department for registration as a book it was banned from transmission through the post. Fearing prosecution under the Obscene and Indecent Publications Act, the printer destroyed the type he had set up. Southern then printed one edition of 1,000 copies by hand, but found it difficult to get the book advertised or reviewed. The book carried endorsements from the Australian naturalist David G. Stead, as well as overseas authorities including Havelock Ellis, A. A. Brill, Julian Huxley and Bronislaw Malinowski, all of whom had been sent galley proofs for comment.
In the 1950s Southern was Secretary of the Free Philosophy Fellowship, established in Sydney, and originally named the Stewart Edward White Society after the American novelist. In 1956 Southern was introduced to the writings of the Austrian-American psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich through reading A. S. Neill's book, The Problem Family. He corresponded with several of Reich's associates and publishers after his death in 1957, primarily to obtain access to Reich's books which had been banned and withdrawn in Australia.
In 1970 Southern published The Mysterious McLeod-Lindsay Case, a booklet relating the injustice surrounding Alexander McLeod Lindsay's conviction in 1965 on the charge of having attempted to murder his wife. He had befriended Pamela Frances Lindsay and her three children and provided them with accommodation. In 1968 he transferred his title in a cottage he owned at Killcare, N.S.W., to her.
Southern married, in 1925, Elsie Lois Fullagar in Melbourne, and they moved two years later to Mosman in Sydney; they had a son, Richard Angus (b. 1931) and the couple separated in 1953. He spent from 1941 to 1963 farming in the Kurrajong district, west of Sydney. He lived on Bowen Mountain where he had a number of cabins on his property which he let to holiday makers, one of whom was Peta Hussey (Salmon), later to become co-executor of his estate. He had bought a cottage at Pretty Beach, near Wagstaff, N.S.W., in 1957 and lived there from 1963 until his death. - Scope and ContentA. Diaries, 1916-1971
1916-1917, 1920-1943; Diaries (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/1)
1944-1954, 1957-1959; Diaries (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/2)
1960-1971; Diaries (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/3)
B. Correspondence, 1916-1972
1916-1926; Letters received from, among others, Caroline G. Blaxter, Hugh Ferris, Charles L. Ives, Charles R. Law, Margaret Pierce and Fred J. Williams (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/4/1)
1942-1972; 'Cardiff', being correspondence with his brother, T. E. A. (Tom) Southern and sister, Margery Southern (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/4/2)
1955-1962; Correspondence with Lois Southern, 1955-1962 (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/4/3)
1959-1966, 1970; Correspondence with his niece Elizabeth Brown, 1959-1966, 1970, and sister-in-law, Muriel Southern, 1960-1961 (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/4/4)
1962-1972; Correspondence with Peta Salmon (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/4/5)
1955-1962, 1972; Correspondence with Richard Southern (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/5 : RESTRICTED)
1958-1962; Correspondence with Joan Reid (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/6 : RESTRICTED)
1946-1972; General and household correspondence (Arranged chronologically) (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/7/1)
1950-1972; General and household correspondence (Arranged alphabetically) (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/7/2)
1925-1929; Correspondence mainly with Co-operative Estates Limited, Hobart, concerning the purchase of a lot on Augusta Road Estate, Waverley Avenue, Hobart, Tas. (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/7/3)
1943-1944; Correspondence with Mr J. McGuire concerning his proposed purchase of land at Bowen Mountain, Kurrajong, N.S.W. (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/7/4)
1955-1963; Correspondence mainly concerning the sale of land at Bowen Mountain, Kurrajong, N.S.W., to Colin Graham Scrimgeour (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/7/5)
1957-1959; Correspondence concerning the purchase of 'Glen View', High View Road, Pretty Beach, N.S.W. from Mrs M. F. McDonald (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/7/6)
1957-1963; Correspondence concerning the purchase and sale of properties at Pretty Beach, N.S.W. (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/7/7)
1953-1971; Correspondence: A-C
Correspondents include A.B.C. Weekly, 1954-1957; A.I.C.D [Association for International Co-operation and Disarmament (N.S.W.)], 1966-1967, 1970-1971; Ad Hoc Committee for the Study of the Emotional Plague (Philadelphia, Pa), 1964-1965, 1968; Angus & Robertson Ltd, 1957, 1969; Ilse [Aram ?], 1953-1954; Australia Party, 1971; 'Bach, Dr Edward', being correspondence concerning Dr Edward Bach's flower remedies with Dr J. R. Atcherley, 1964-1965, and Nora Weeks, 1965; David Boadella, 1959-1962; Comment Publishing Company, 1966; H. W. Crittenden, 1960-1966; John Culver, 1961, 1964-1965; and Current Book Distributors, 1965-1967 (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/8/1)
1956-1971; Correspondence : D-L
Correspondents include Dissent (Melb.), 1964-1965, 1967; A. E. Floyd, 1956; Guozi Shudian (China Publications Centre), 1965-1967; Mary Henderson, 1964-1971; John Henshaw, 1960-1962; Dr Eva Hill, 1960; Interscience Research Institute (Stamford, Conn.), 1962-1966; Walter Kaufman, 1971; Morley Legg, 1962-1965; Liberal Reform, 1967; and Mildred J. Loomis, 1963 (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/8/2)
1954-1970; Correspondence: M
Correspondents include A. S. Mander, 1954-1957; Mary Matheson, 1957-1961, 1965-1968; and Monthly Review Press, 1961-1970 (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/8/3)
1955-1972; Correspondence: N-S
Correspondents include A. S. Neill, 1955-1961; 'Reich, Wilhelm', 1957-1958, being correspondence with Edmond Bordeux Szekely, Helen G. Palmer and Cedric Belfrage, and letters to Theodore P. Wolfe; Alan Rickard, 1971-1972; Paul Ritter, 1958-1962, 1964-1965; Rock Newspaper Company (Glebe, N.S.W.), 1957, 1960, 1969; Peter Russo, 1957-1959; Alan Searle, 1967; Anna Louise Strong, 1965; Sydney Libertarians, 1960-1962, 1964; Sydney Morning Herald, 1957-1971; and Sydney University Labour Club, 1967 (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/8/4)
1949-1972; Correspondence: T-W
Correspondents include Arch Taylor, 1963; Vietnam Moratorium Campaign (N.S.W.), 1970; Vision Press (London), 1957, 1960; Voice : The Australian Independent Monthly, 1952-1956; and Victor H. Wallace, 1949-1957 (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/8/5)
1955-1959; Correspondence, with enclosures, concerning the Free Philosophy Fellowship
Correspondents include A.B.C. Weekly, 1955; Laurence John Bendit, 1957; Phyllis Rose Creasey; George Z. Dupain, 1955-1956; Eric Lowe; J. P. McKinney, 1955; Mary Matheson, 1957; Hephzibah Menuhin, 1956; Walter Murdoch, 1957-1959; Society for Psychic Research (Australia), 1955-1957; and Kylie Tennant, 1955-1956 (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/8/6)
C. Personal documents, 1916-1972
Include membership cards and certificates; Pelman Laboratory of Applied Psychology, London, report, 1921; references and testimonials, 1916-1934; and British passport, 1922 (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/9/1-2)
D. Legal and financial papers, 1930-1971
Include papers concerning his will and donation of his body to the Department of Anatomy, University of Sydney, 1957-1964; letters patent for the invention of an improved swimming paddle, 1930-1931; the estate of his father, T. A. Southern, 1938-1940; and cash receipt books (3), 1934-1936, for sales of Making Morality Modern (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/9/3)
E. Literary papers, ca. 1924-1963
1923-1931; Unbound notebook: 'Fitful Rambles of an Unruly Pencil', including 'The History of My Early Sexual Life', 6 Dec. 1925, and writings on various topics such as being a Quaker (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/10/1)
1931; 'Introducing Giant Tennis : A Complete Scheme for the Maintenance of a Normal Physique and A Treatise on Physical Education, being carbon typescript, June 1931 (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/10/2)
1933; Making Morality Modern, being corrected galley proofs, with corrected typescript of Postcript (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/10/3)
1933-1937; 'Opinions on / MMM / & correspondence re Ban', being correspondence mainly with E. H. Burgmann, Robert B. S. Hammond, Eric Lowe, Upton Sinclair, Bronislaw Malinowski, Professor Christian A. Ruckmick, Robert Briffault, Howard Daniel, Havelock Ellis, Postmater-General's Department, H. Scott Bennett, P. R. Stephensen, A. B. Piddington, Marion Piddington, David G. Stead, L. L. Woolacott, R. Campbell Miller, J. V. Duhig, Dr James Booth (Australian Literature Society), S. A. Rosa, George Z. Dupain, J. S. Huxley, A. G. Tansley, Dr W. J. Robinson, A. A. Brill, Dr Ira Solomon Wile, Dr H. W. Fink and Edward Westermarck (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/10/4)
1934-1936; 'MMM / Advertisements / etc', being correspondence concerning attempts to advertise the book Making Morality Modern in magazines and newspapers (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/10/5)
1934; 'Approaching Nudism', being corrected typescript, July 1934 (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/10/6)
1939-1941; 'Let Us Be Cultured', being corrected typescript, with enclosures (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/10/7)
1940; 'Let Us Be Cultured and Other Writings', a revised version, being carbon typescript with MS. additions and corrections (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/11/1)
ca. 1924-1963; 'MSS., Ideas', being mainly various writings, including articles submitted and rejected for publication; 'I Want Some Herpestinae ! But They Must Be Ichneutic', an article with correspondence with David G. Stead, 1950; 'Who Wants a Mountain', including photographs of Bowen Mount Gardens, Kurrajong, N.S.W., Mar. 1955; draft letter not sent to Melbourne Monthly Meeting, Society of Friends, 4 May 1925; 'The Instincts', being essay for W.E.A. Philosophy Class, 2 June 1925; 'For Religious Discussion Meeting at Sydney Friends' Meeting House', 21 Aug. 1929; correspondence with Emma E. Benson (Elder of Sydney Meeting), 1930; letter from Wilfrid ? to Elsie [Southern], 26 Aug. 1939; 'Essays from Life : 1. Childhood', being corrected typescript, 11 Oct. 1954; and plays, including 'Mr Grundy's Nightmare', ca. 19319 (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/11/2)
1959; 'An Essay on the Guiding Principles Conducive to Wise Government in the House', being carbon typescript (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/11/3)
Date unknown; 'Poems from a Hermitage' (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/11/4)
1928-1953; 'Sublimations', being drafts of a collection of poems (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/11/5)
F. Miscellaneous papers, 1933, 195--ca. 1972
Mainly notes and jottings, some in Pitman shorthand, and promotional folders concerning the carry-chair, July 1933 (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/11/6)
G. Scrapbooks of newscuttings (2), 1924-1934, 1945-1970
1924-1930, 1945-1970; Scrapbook on various topics (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/12)
1929-1934; Scrapbook of mainly of his literary contributions to Australian Quarterly, The Bulletin, Health and Physical Culture, The Home, Pandemonium, Stead's Review, Sydney Opinion, The Wentworth Magazine (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/12)
H. Printed material, 1920-1964
Includes publications and statements by G. W. R. Southern, including Bathers Beware ! : The Naked Truth About the Bathing Costume Wowsers (1935), Making Morality Modern (1933), Fluoridation : A Poisonous Fraud ! (1956), The Mysterious McLeod-Lindsay Case (Sept. 1970) and Is the N.S.W. Government Controlled by Mafia ? or If Not, By What [1971]; bound volume of issues of Pandemonium : A Critical Australian Monthly, vol. 1 no. 1, Feb. 1934 - vol. 1 no. 12, Jan. 1935; Witch Doctors & Medical Men (1964) by John Rowland Hill; The Spiral Flame : A Study in the Meaning of D. H. Lawrence (1956) by David Boadella; and publications by and about T. A. (Thomas Angus) Southern (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/12)
I. Photographs, ca. 1908-1963
Include photoprints of G. W. R. Southern, among others, as a child; modelling for the Health and Physical Culture magazine, 193- ; with his wife, Lois; demonstrating his invention, the carry-chair, with his son, Richard [?], 193- , photographed by Max Dupain; at his printing press, 1933, and in his study, 6-7 Sept. 1941, at 5 Sirius Flats, Moran Street, Mosman, N.S.W., 1933 ; Grace Southern; T. E. A. (Tom) Southern; Annie Westmoreland (Captain, Healesville Girl Guides), Jan. 1925; Hugh Ferris and family at Iona via Bunyip, Vic., Jan. 1924; Fred J. Williams on his wedding day at the Friends' Meeting House, Melbourne, 4 Oct. 1924; autographed portraits of Robert Briffault and Upton Sinclair, 193- ; autographed toned silver gelatin photoprint of A. A. Brill, inscribed: 'With cordial greetings to Mr. G.W.R. Southern, a courageous pioneer in a sexually backward land.'; Quakers at picnics and meetings for worship at Killcare, N.S.W., Point Clare, N.S.W. and Healesville, Vic., 192- ; rural scenes in Victoria, 192- , including Upwey in the Dandenong Ranges; Maroondah Reservoir, Vic., under construction, Jan. 1925; and Glen View, High View Road, Pretty Beach, N.S.W., Nov. 1963 (Call No.: MLMSS 7173/13X)
Author/Artist entries:
Ad Hoc Committee for the Study of the Emotional Plague
Angus & Robertson
Association for International Co-operation and Disarmament (N.S.W.)
Atcherley, J. R. (John Rowland)
Australia Party
A. B. C. Weekly
Belfrage, Cedric, 1904-
Bennett, H. Scott (Harry Scott), 1878-1959
Benson, Emma E.
Blaxter, Caroline G.
Boadella, David, 1931-
Booth, James, 1861-1944
Briffault, Robert, 1876-1948
Brill, A. A. (Abraham Arden), 1874-1948
Burgmann, E. H. (Ernest Henry), 1885-1967
Comment Publishing Company
Crittenden, H. W. (Harry William)
Culver, John
Current Book Distributors
Daniel, Howard, 1911-
Dissent
Duhig, J. V. (James Vincent)
Dupain, George Zephirin
Dupain, Max, 1911-1992
Ellis, Havelock, 1859-1939
Ferris, Hugh
Floyd, A. E. (Alfred Ernest), 1877-1974
Frink, H. W. (Horace Walpole), 1883-
Hammond, Robert B. S. (Robert Brodribb Stuart), 1870-1946
Henderson, Mary
Henshaw, John
Hill, Eva, 1898-
Huxley, Julian, 1887-1975
Interscience Research Institute (Stamford, Conn.)
Ives, Charles L.
Kaufman, Walter
Law, Charles R.
Legg, Morley
Liberal Reform (Australia)
Loomis, Mildred J.
Lowe, Eric (Eric Edward)
McKinney, J. P. (Jack P.), 1891-1966
Malinowski, Bronislaw, 1884-1942
Mander, A. S.
Matheson, Mary
Monthly Review Press
Neill, A. S. (Alexander Sutherland), 1883-1973
Palmer, Helen G. (Helen Gwynneth), 1917-1979
Piddington, A. B. (Albert Bathurst), 1862-1945
Piddington, Marion
Pierce, Margaret, 1880-1967
Reid, Joan
Rickard, Alan
Ritter, Paul, 1925-
Robinson, William J. (William Josephus), 1867-1936
Rock Newspaper Company (Glebe, N.S.W.)
Rosa, Samuel Albert, b. 1866
Ruckmick, Christian A. (Christian Alban), 1896-1961
Russo, Peter V. (Peter Vasquez), 1908-1985
Salmon, Peta, 1940-
Searle, Alan
Sinclair, Upton, 1878-1968
Southern, Lois
Southern, Tom
Stead, David G.(David George), 1877-1957
Stephensen, P. R. (Percy Reginald), 1901-1965
Sydney Libertarians
Sydney Morning Herald
Szekely, Edmond Bordeux
Tansley, A. G. (Arthur George), Sir, 1871-1955
Taylor, Arch
Vietnam Moratorium Campaign (N.S.W.)
Voice : The Australian Independent Monthly
Wallace, Victor H.
Weeks, Nora
Westermarck, Edward, 1862-1939
Wile, Ira S. (Ira Solomon), 1877-1943
Williams, Fred J., 1895-1961
Woolacott, L. L. (Leslie Loval) - Access Conditions
Partly restricted : Applies to folders 5 & 6 - General note
Digital order no:Album ID : 954507 - Creator/Author/ArtistAngus & Robertson
Association for International Co-operation and Disarmament (N.S.W.)
Atcherley, J. R. (John Rowland)
Australia Party
A. B. C. Weekly
Belfrage, Cedric, 1904-
Bennett, H. Scott (Harry Scott), 1878-1959
Benson, Emma E.
Blaxter, Caroline G.
Boadella, David, 1931-
Booth, James, 1861-1944
Briffault, Robert, 1876-1948
Brill, A. A. (Abraham Arden), 1874-1948
Burgmann, E. H. (Ernest Henry), 1885-1967
Comment Publishing Company
Crittenden, H. W. (Harry William)
Culver, John
Current Book Distributors
Daniel, Howard, 1911-
Dissent
Duhig, J. V. (James Vincent), 1889-1963
Dupain, George Zephirin
Dupain, Max, 1911-1992
Ellis, Havelock, 1859-1939
Ferris, Hugh
Floyd, A. E. (Alfred Ernest), 1877-1974
Frink, H. W. (Horace Walpole), 1883- - NameBach, Edward, 1886-1936
Briffault, Robert, 1876-1948
Brill, A. A. (Abraham Arden), 1874-1948
Reich, Wilhelm, 1897-1957
Sinclair, Upton, 1878-1968
Southern, G. W. R. (George William Robert)
Southern, Lois
Southern, Tom
Strong, Anna Louise, 1885-1970
Williams, Fred J., 1895-1961
Wolfe, Theodore P.
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