Lawson family papers, mainly correspondence, 1896-ca.1968

MLMSS 7692

fonds

1896-ca.1968

Textual Records, Graphic Materials, Clippings, Photographs

455734

0.17 metres of textual material (1 box) - manuscript, and typescript
Clippings
Photographs

Bertha Bredt and Henry Lawson were married in Sydney in 1896. After living in Western Australia, New Zealand and Sydney the Lawsons, with their two young children Jim and Bertha, went to England in 1900. They returned to Sydney in 1902 and were legally separated the following year.
In 1931 a book of reminiscences 'Henry Lawson by his mates', edited by his daughter Bertha and Professor John Le Gay Brereton, was published by Angus & Robertson. The Henry Lawson Memorial Literary Fund (of which Bertha was a trustee) was established to distribute the royalties from the book to writers in need of financial assistance.

Letters written by Bertha Lawson: to her mother from England, 1900-1901; to her daughter Bertha, 1917-1919; to the Sydney Morning Herald, 1939; to the Secretary of Henry Lawson College, 1948
Letters received by Bertha Lawson, 1896-1952, correspondents include: Henry Lawson (1 letter, undated); Edward Tregear, 1911-1931, with a portrait photograph and obituaries; Rose Scott, 1922 & undated; T. D. Mutch, 1922; Gertrude Moore Puckle, 1922-1933; A. G. Stephens, 1925; John Le Gay Brereton, undated; Vera Robinson (nee Tregear), 1931-1938; Ernest Fraser, 1934-1952; Sister Mary Clotilde, 1934-1946; Frank Robinson (publisher), 1943, with contract for 'My Henry Lawson', 1942, and royalty statement, 1946
Poem by Henry Lawson: 'The Song of Many': undated typescript with ms. annotations and corrections
Legal document: Lawson v. Lawson - Decree for Judicial Separation, 1903
Papers of Bertha Lawson (Jago): correspondence, 1922, 1931, 1954-1959, 1963, mainly concerning her father, includes letter from Walter Jago, 1931, with copy of an article written by him about Henry Lawson; letters from Frank Hardy, 1954, and Colin Roderick, 1959, with copies of her replies; copy of letter sent to H. V. Evatt concerning approaches made by Hardy and Roderick to write biographies of Henry Lawson; letter, 1963, from Peter Ryan of Melbourne University Press concerning unpublished Lawson autobiography with copy of reply; two newspaper articles about Henry Lawson by Colin Roderick from the Daily Telegraph, 8 June 1959, and The Age Literary Supplement, 31 August 1959; notes by Bertha about her parents, written before October 1968
Records of The Henry Lawson Memorial Literary Fund, 1932-1938: includes correspondence, programs for fund-raising performances, receipts, financial statements, newscuttings, notes about the history of the Fund by Bertha Lawson (Jago) who also arranged and paginated these records