George Ernest Morrison collection, 1738-1935

MLMSS 312

fonds

1738-1935

Textual Records, Graphic Materials, Cartographic Materials

457265

Copy print : CY 16 (1899-1900), CY 17 (1901), CY 231 (1878-1890), CY 232 (1896, 1899, 1900), CY 233 (1899-1901), CY 234 (1902-1904), CY 235 (1905-1906), CY 236 (1907), CY 238 (1909-1910), CY 240 (1911), CY 487 (MLMSS 312/43, Item 1), CY 488 (MLMSS 312/43, Items 2-3), CY 489 (MLMSS 312/46 Items 1-3)<br>

232 volumes, 87 boxes, 1 folder and 3 portfolios of textual material - manuscript, typescript, printed

George Ernest Morrison, also known as 'Chinese Morrison' and 'Morrison of Peking', was born in Geelong in 1862. By the age of 21 he had walked around the coast to Adelaide and canoed down the Murray from Wodonga to the sea selling his diaries of both trips to The Leader, failed his medical studies at Melbourne University, sailed on a blackbirding schooner, walked across Australia from north to south and led an exploring expedition into New Guinea where he was speared in the face and abdomen. In 1884 he sailed to Britain to pursue his medical studies at Edinburgh University. After graduating in 1887 he worked in Spain for eighteen months as medical officer at a British-owned mine before returning to Australia where he took up the position of resident surgeon at Ballarat Base Hospital. In 1894 he walked across China from Shanghai to Rangoon a journey of over 5000 km. As a result of this feat he was appointed the first permanent correspondent of 'The Times' at Peking in 1897. He was in China during the Boxer Rebellion and took part in the defence of the foreign legations in Peking in 1900, when he was severely wounded while rescuing another defender. In the following years he travelled extensively in Asia, reporting on the Russo-Japanese War of 1905 and other major international events. In 1912 he resigned from The Times to become political adviser to the president of the new Chinese Republic,Yuan Shi-kai. In the same year he married New Zealander Jennie Wark Robin, with whom he had three sons. He attended the Versailles Peace Conference in 1919 as part of the Chinese delegation, but his health was declining and he died in England the following year.

Reference: Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 10, (MUP), 1986

Guide to the papers of George Ernest Morrison in the Mitchell Library, Sydney, 1977

SERIES 01
George Ernest Morrison diaries 1878-1883, 1887, 1889-1890, 1899-1920, with 2 diaries of his wife Jennie Wark Morrison, 1919-1920

SERIES 02
George Ernest Morrison, works for publication, 1895, 1922-1925

SERIES 03
George Ernest Morrison, correspondence and letter books, 1850-1920 and correspondence of Jennie Wark Morrison, 1910-1923

SERIES 04
George Ernest Morrison, subject files, 1738-1922

SERIES 05
George Ernest Morrison, miscellanea, 1877-1921

SERIES 06
George Ernest Morrison, newspaper cuttings, 1873-1935

SERIES 07
George Ernest Morrison, Chinese newspapers (English editions), 1894-1920

SERIES 08
George Ernest Morrison pictorial material, 1802-1923

SERIES 09
George Ernest Morrison realia, 1747-ca. 1920

MAPS
Maps from this collection are located at:
M Ser 4 000/1 MLMSS 312/Maps 1-8

E. S. Wigg & Sons map of South Australia [cartographic material] : giving all the latest information compiled from official sources.
M Ser 4 000/1 MLMSS 312/Map 1
The Murray from longitude 141° East, latitude 34° South.
M Ser 4 000/1 MLMSS 312/Map 2
Map of north eastern China [cartographic material] / Ch. Waeber ; geographical establishment of A. Ilyin.
M Ser 4 000/1 MLMSS 312/Map 3
Outline map of Siam [cartographic material].
M Ser 4 000/1 MLMSS 312/Map 4
Map of the Pacific Islands : showing the various steamship services / compiled & printed by J. Creffield.
M Ser 4 000/1 MLMSS 312/Map 5
Persia, Afghanistan & Beluchistan / compiled under the supervision of Hon. G. Curzon, M.P. by Wm Jno Turner, F.R.G.S.
M Ser 4 000/1 MLMSS 312/Map 6
Tibet and the surrounding regions : compiled from the latest information / W. & A.K. Johnston Limited Engravers & Lithographers.
M Ser 4 000/1 MLMSS 312/Map 7
Chinese Empire : our correspondent's route.
M Ser 4 000/1 MLMSS 312/Map 8

The arrangement of the papers, pictures and realia in this collection follows the arrangement and description in Guide to the Papers of George Ernest Morrison in the Mitchell Library, 1977, by Mrs Sybil Blanton of the Manuscripts Section.

Contents list available in the Mitchell Library Reading Room at 7-802c.

Molixun yan li de jin dai Zhongguo = Old China through G.E. Morrison's eyes / Shen Jiawei bian zhuan ; Dou Kun deng yi. Fuzhou : Fujian jiao yu chu ban she, 2007. Edition Di 2 ban. This publication uses Mitchell Library's collection of Morrison's photographs.

A bound typescript copy of the Guide to the papers of George Ernest Morrison in the Mitchell Library, Sydney. Sydney : The Library Council of New South Wales, 1977 (includes Index to Correspondents) is available in the Mitchell Library Reading Room.
Another copy is located at MLMSS 312/1.
Volumes contain George Ernest Morrison bookplates.
Volumes contain Mitchell Library bookplates "This book was presented to the Mitchell Library Sydney by Mrs G. E. Morrison"