Cultural Artefact: Jean Devanny Papers
Summary
Items: 11 boxes. Shelf Location: 80L-82L. Jean Devanny, 1894-1962, political activist, writer, feminist, and naturalist. New Zealand born, later lived in Sydney where her husband Harold Devanny published the Workers' Weekly. She made two tours of north Queensland in 1935 and 1936, campaigning for the movement against war and fascism, and later for Spanish Relief, following the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936. Jean Devanny returned to north Queensland in the early part of the Second World War; she was involved with the army in various areas such as the training of survival techniques, the study of natural foods and the discovery of an antidote for the box jellyfish. During this time she was expelled from the Communist Party, but was later re-admitted, and her alleged guilt expunged. Jean Devanny later settled on Magnetic Island, and finally in Townsville, where she died in 1962. This extensive collection of papers includes manuscripts of autobiographical works, novels and short stories, lectures, speeches, children's stories and radio broadcasts, also poetry, book reviews, personal and business letters, newspaper extracts/printed papers and political material. Intending researchers are required to apply in advance for written permission for access to the collection to Jean Devanny's grandson, Mr Michael Hurd. See Delamothe Librarian for details. Details of this holding are taken from lists supplied, and follow the order of arrangement in the Delamothe Archives. Box Index:
Box 1 JD/MSS/1.
Box 2: Miscellaneous Items JD/MSS/2-JD/MSS/20; JD/MSS/25.
Box 3 JD/MSS/26.
Box 4 JD/MSS/27-JD/MSS/33.
Box 5 JD/MSS/38; JD/MSS/39; JD/MSS/45.
Box 6 JD/MSS/53-JD/MSS/58; JD/MSS/63-JD/MSS/78.
Box 7 JD/MSS/79-JD/MSS/153; JD/MSS/159-JD/MSS/176.
Box 8 JD/CORR(P)/1-JD/CORR(P)/251; JD/KS/1-JD/KS/9; JD/COM1-JD/COM/67.
Box 9 JD/CORR(B)11-JD/CORR(B)/341; JD/PP/1-JD/PP/132.
Box 10 JD/PP/133-JD/PP/324.
Box 11 Originals of photographs.
Manuscripts of Autobiography by Jean Devanny.
'Rushed Affair', autobiographical memoirs, also instructions for frontpiece, pp.256, 2.
'Point of Departure, or the Yardstick', also frontpiece, pp.325, 1.
Copy of the above, pp.325, and part copy pp.93-188.
Preliminary autobiography, edited by Mrs P. Hurd, 1978, pp.347.
Autobiographical manuscript, incomplete, pp.124-180, also 3 miscellaneous pages.
Autobiographical manuscript, incomplete, partially burnt, fragile. JD/MSS/1/1-1/6.
Manuscripts of Unpublished Short Stories, (generally typescript).
'I Travel in Soviet Central Asia', first draft, pp.10. Second and third drafts of this short story, pp.10, 5.
'Forty Years Ago', radio broadcast from 2BL Sydney, 17 September 1942, pp.5.
'The Prisoner', final draft, pp.13. Draft of 'The Prisoner', pp.13.
'Idyll In the Night', pp.3.
[Maori/Pakeha Friendship], title missing, incomplete, pp.2-9.
'The Inventive Husband', pp.9.
'So You See It's No Use', pp.12.
'Ticket to the Coast', pp.5.
'A Woman of Peace', pp.8.
[Friendship between Black and White Children], title missing, incomplete, pp.2-15.
'There is a Story in Mosses', pp.6.
'Forced March on Cape York Peninsula', pp.4.
'The Turtle Kill', pp.7.
'Island Scheming', pp.9.
'Wildlife on a Mainland Island', pp.14.
'Come Up and See', pp.13.
'I Billy Miller', pp.8.
Con, later entitled: 'Dick and Con', pp.2.
The Demon, draft with corrections, pp.10. JD/MSS/2/1-20.
Manuscripts of Major Works, (Unpublished).
'The Divers, The Devil and Pan', or 'Pearls and Baroque', novel set on Thursday Island, pp.270.
'The Pearlers or The Pearlers and Pan'. Slightly altered version of the above. Pagination incorrect, pp.312.
'The Pearlers', final draft, pagination incorrect, pp.268, with synopsis, pp.3.
'One Can't Have Everything', pagination incorrect, pp.425.
'One Can't Have Everything', working draft, pp.225.
'One Can't Have Everything', uncorrected incomplete draft, pp.311, also author's note and list of books by J. Devanny.
'One Can't Have Everything', pagination incorrect, incomplete.
'You Can't Have Everything', with epilogue, pp.321, also author's note and page with 'Books by the Same Author', pp.2.
'Gold Is My Heart', pp.181, plus title page including frontpiece and dedication 'For Pat'.
'Gold Is My Heart', by Vivian Stole, pseud, of Jean Devanny. Corrected draft, pp.134, plus title page.
'Reconnaissance', by Vivian Stole, pseud, of Jean Devanny, final draft of Gold Is My Heart, pp.134 plus title page.
David and Michael in Crocodile Land, pp.162, p.8. missing.
Manuscript incomplete. A critique of Engel's version of woman's role in his 'Origin of the Family', includes presentation of theories by Morgan. The manuscript was left at Communist Headquarters Sydney where a substantial part of the work was lost. Holdings: pp.9, 32-91, 101-312, also an introduction to the last chapter entitled: 'Man's Response', pp.6, plus rough general notes.
‘The Island: Australian Interlude', pp.262.
'Life On a Barrier Reef Island or Island Interlude', pp.246.
'Life On a Barrier Reef Island or Island Interlude', pp.246, plus synopsis pp.2, final draft.
'Foreshores Of a Mainland Island', pp.7.
Miscellaneous pages from various manuscripts, pp.29. JD/MSS/25/1-37.
Manuscripts of Children's Plays/Radio Scripts (Unpublished).
'David and Iris in Crocodile Land', first draft, incomplete, pagination erratic.
'David and Iris in Crocodile Land', second draft, pp.168.
'David and Iris in Crocodile Land', final draft, pp.181, plus pages with "chapter headings" and list of "books by same author".
'David and Iris in Crocodile Land', completed radio script, national children's session, 21 episodes, pp.108, plus two copies.
'David and Iris on the Great Barrier Reef, rough draft, episodes 1-8 only, pp.41.
Manuscripts of Published Novels and Film Scripts JD/MSS/38/1-44.
'Out of Such Fires', first draft, pp.162.
'The Challenge and the Fury, or Stepmother', formerly Out of Such Fires, pagination incorrect, pp.256, also rough draft, pp.256.
'Paradise Flow', play script, draft with corrections, pp.77, including title page and list of characters.
'Paradise Flow', corrected draft pp.67, plus 'Characters in Play' and description of scene.
Individual character scripts, pp.62.
Cindie [?], could be early draft of novel of that title, pp.2-244.
'To Touch the Heart', saga, characters, setting and outline of film script pp.3, 8. JD/MSS/45/1-52.
Manuscripts of A.B.C. Talks.
'Whose War Is This?' n.d., pp.4.
'Workers In Russia and Australia', broadcast from 2BL Sydney, on Wednesday 6th May 194?, pp.4, plus duplicate, 'Speakers copy'.
'Message to Australian Women', n.d., pp.4.
'The Seamen and the War Effort', Sydney, n.d., pp.5.
'Impressions of Christmas on Thursday Island', broadcast A.B.C. Women's Session, 13
February 1948. JD/MSS/53-62.
Manuscripts of Lectures, Notes etc. (Some notes relate to research for major published and unpublished works).
'Marriage', pp.13.
'Marriage', notes and lecture, pagination incorrect, pp.20.
'Incest', [may be two separate articles/lectures], pp.12.
[Evolution?], parts two and three of manuscript, pp.15-38, also duplicate of part two.
'The Sex Life of the Maoris', chapters 1, 3-6, pp.36.
'Lecture on Humanism', rough notes, pp.14.
'Lecture on Arab Women', no title, pp.6, plus notes.
Rough notes entitled 'Malinowski', pp.7, plus part of lecture notes probably related to this
topic, pp.3, 3.
'T.L', lecture notes, pp.4.
'Conditions on Thursday Island', pp.1-32, 2.
'The Pearling Industry etc.', incomplete pp.13, plus duplication pp.1-7.
'Boat Crew', rough notes [for novel?], p.1, plus notes on tides and boats, p.1.
Manuscripts on pearling and conditions ashore, pagination incorrect, pp.31.
'The Mill', pp.3. 'Sugar', pp.4.
'July 1899', pp.4.
'Mossman', p.1.
Notes regarding Canegrowers' Conference, 1929.
'Black Grown Cane and White Grown', pagination incorrect, pp.7.
Notes and extracts regarding sugar industry and technology, sugar excise and bounties, abolition of Kanaka labour, and labour movement, pp.7, 2, 5.
'Arthur Olive', pp.5.
'Notes on Sugar Industry, Italians in North Queensland, Kanakas, Immigration Policy', pp.10, 4, 10, 4.
'Sugar Industry', December 1893, pp.3.
'Sugar Industry', 1909, page one missing, pp.6.
'Characteristic Trees of north Queensland', pp.10.
'Flora', pp.11, pages 6, 9, missing.
'Emblems of the States', pp.3.
'Forest. Mr Fryer', pp.3.
'The Seasoning of Timber', pp.2.
'Early Cairns', pp.3.
'Legrande', part of unidentified manuscript, pp.2.
'Farm and Fishing', pp.2.
'Port Douglas, Mowbray. Teamster Camps and the Bump'. Includes hand drawn map, pp.6.
Parliaments and Development of Labour.
'Woman's Suffrage', pp.2. 'Federation', pp.5.
'Women's Progress Clubs of North Queensland', pp.2.
'Talks given regarding Spanish Relief Appeal', pp.5, 2, 3.
'How We Built The Lavatory', p.1.
Short paragraphs: 1. Yanks and Rape, 2 Short Arm Drill, 3. Miles Franklin, p.1, 1, 1.
'Cairns at Night', p.1.
'Cardwell', paragraph on Cardwell family, p.1.
'Mount Koblo', pp.3.
'The Ivy', pp.5.
'Three Types of Miners', pp.8.
'Sampling the Tin', incomplete, pp.5, plus duplicate.
'Oombah Dance and Races', pp.4, plus duplicate.
'Some Aspects of Life On The Ridges', chapter 8 of unidentified manuscript, pp.7, plus duplicate.
'All Talk and No Fish', pp.13, plus duplicate.
'Butterflies, Moths and Their Larvae', pp.5, plus duplicate.
'Mr and Mrs Uca', pp.4.
'Killing Day on Batavia', pp.5, plus duplicate.
'The Geological Expert', pp.4, plus duplicate.
'It's Bloody But a Man's His Own Boss', pp.12, plus duplicate.
'The Golden Journey to Samarkand', pp.2.
'The Young Man at Neutral Bay', draft of article or talk, pp.2.
'Belle Tells Her Story', pp.3.
Manuscript, unidentified, chapter two of appendix only, pp.13.
Book Review by Jean Devanny, [of Australian short stories?], pp.4.
'Jewish Refugees', pp.7.
Defence of Australia, notes for talk, pp.6.
'Pacifism', p.1.
'Defence Policy for Labour', pp.7.
'Irvinebank', pp.8, plus two copies.
'Flora and I and The Bawler', pp.4.
Manuscript notes on unidentified paper on violins.
'Vera Yarns', pp.3.
'Comrade Jones Says: Quote', 9 November 1959, pp.2.
'Raiding Dogs', pp.2.
'Forced March on Cape York Peninsula', pp.3.
Fiona, Chapter 5 of unidentified manuscript, pp.9, plus duplicate.
Manuscript unidentified, pp.25, 27, 28 only, heading: Charters Towers.
Press release draft, for Paradise Flow, by Jean Devanny, p.1.
32 Miles from Alma Den, p.1.
'The Passing Of a Great Woman'.A tribute to Krupskaya, widow of Lenin, p.1.
Various items, pp.2, plus duplicate. JD/MSS/63-158.
Cuttings, Extracts, Miscellany, etc., used for research.
Collection of letters, lectures, poems and songs, short stories, manuscript notes, botanical lists and notes. Writers include Innis Boyle, Patricia Devanny, George Elarde, Earl King, Frank Ryland, George Weller. 19 listings, JD/MSS/159-176.
Personal letters. Extensive collection, in and out letters, also several items including lettercards, telegram, notes, lists, statement, passport, memorandum of agreement, birth and death certificates, invitation, obituary, pamphlets. Correspondents include:
Marjorie Barnard Karl Shapiro
Jack Beasley Stephen Murray Smith
Eleanor Dark Philip Soljak
Frank Dalby Davison Miriam Soljak
Dr H. Flecker lan Turner
Miles Franklin Judah Waten
Dame Mary Gilmore Stan White
J. Lindsay Gordon James Devanny
Frank Hardy P. Mortford
Jack Lindsay J.W. Collinson
Katherine Susannah Prichard Father Bennie
Nettie Palmer Beatrice Davis
Vance Palmer W.R. Gumming
Earliest item dates from ca. February 1930, but the bulk of the collection covers the period November 1942-August 1966. 252 items, JD/CORR(P)/1-252.
Business correspondence. Extensive collection, in and out letters, includes correspondence with the A.B.C., regarding radio plays and broadcasts, with the C.S.I.R., British Museum, Russian Embassy London, various libraries, banks, and solicitors. However correspondence with publishing houses and newspaper offices forms the bulk of the file. These include:
Penguin Books Lawrence and Wishart Ltd
Curtis Brown Ltd Federated Press, New York
Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd Sydney Sanders, Literary Agents, New York
Macaulay Company Cassells, Melbourne
Angus & Robertson Ltd Hutchinson and Co., Melbourne
Robert Hale Ltd A.M. Heath and Co. Ltd, London
Frank Johnson Constable and Co. Ltd, London
Oxford University Press Foreign Literature Publishing House, Moscow
Horwitz Publishing Inc. Pty Ltd Rigby Ltd
The Australian Journal Australasian Book Society
Overland Smith's Weekly
Sydney Morning Herald. 342 items, June 1925-May 1961, JD/CORR(B)/1-342.
Personal Papers - Aboriginal Problem. Mainly correspondence, some notes, one incomplete manuscript draft of a speech or written work. Most letters from Mary M. Bennett, other correspondents including C.G. Brown, Yarrabah Mission, R.F. Antony and J. Simpson. 13 items, February 1933.ca.1952, JD/PP/1-13.
Personal Papers - Press Drafts. Manuscript drafts of newspaper submissions regarding Aborigines.
5 items, ca. September 1935-ca. January 1938, JD/PP/14-18.
Personal Papers - Newspaper Cuttings. Newspaper extracts regarding Aborigines. 5 items, dates not indicated, JD/PP/19-23.
Personal Papers - Extraneous Cuttings. Newspaper extracts regarding Aborigines, from interstate press, including, Sydney Morning Herald, Daily Telegraph, The Workers' Weekly, Labor Daily, Sunderland Echo, and Western Australian newspapers including Daily News (Perth). 25 items, ca. January 1938-ca. March 1938, JD/PP/27-50.
Personal Papers - Pamphlets.
Patten, J.T. & Ferguson, W. "Aborigines claim citizen rights!" Sydney, the Publicist, 1938, pp.11.
Parsons, Geoffrey, "Black Chattels", London, National Council for Civil Liberties, n.d., pp.55. 2 items, JD/PP/51, 52.
Personal Papers - Miscellaneous. Mainly reports of inquiries and conferences regarding Aborigines in New South Wales and Victoria, also Constitution, Aboriginal-Australian Fellowship, p.1, no date supplied. 6 items, ca.1939-ca. 1957, JD/PP/53-58.
Personal Papers - Papers regarding Fellowship of Australian Writers. Collection of letters, rough manuscript draft, questionnaire circular and results, talk, notes, policy proposals and committee decisions. 18 items, ca.1938-1952, JD/PP/59-76.
Personal Papers - Newspaper and Newspaper Cuttings. 5 items, 1944-1948, JD/PP/77-81.
Personal Papers - Pamphlets.
Beasley, Jack, "Socialism and the Novel", August 1957, pp.23.
Notes on the History of New Theatre in Australia, Sydney, New Theatre, 1959, pp.28. 2 items, 1957, 1959, JD/PP/82, 83.
Personal Papers - Articles. Articles on writers including Katherine Mansfield and H.G. Wells, also on Daisy Bates and political and cultural subjects. 9 items, 1940s-1950s, JD/PP/84-92.
Personal Papers - Literature and War. Talks and articles, rough and final drafts covering the topics of fascism, democracy, "individual freedom', Australian involvement in the Second World War, women in the Army. Also a petition demanding 'democratic liberty'. 8 items, Second World War period, JD/PP/93-99/2.
Personal Papers - Overland. Notes and submissions to Overland Magazine, Melbourne and correspondence with the editor, Stephen Murray-Smith. Material regarding Australian literature and writers' groups, including minutes of meetings, constitutions, notes and speeches, press statements, pamphlets. 15 items, ca.1945-1961, JD/PP/100-113.
Personal Papers - Literature and Morality, Religion and Sensuality. Lecture, radio talks, articles, on literature, censorship and morality, etc. 6 items, JD/PP/114-118.
Personal Papers - General Comments on Literature. Talks, articles, etc. 6 items, ca.1939-ca.1959. JD/PP/119-124.
Personal Papers - Socialism. Lecture, statement and articles on the subject of socialism.
8 items, JD/PP/125-132.
Personal Papers - Published Short Stories.
'Traveller's Rest', typescript, pp.6.
'Traveller's Rest', A.B.C. Weekly, 18 April 1942, p.1.
The Marriage of Con O'Hara, Pertinent, June 1942, pp.3.
Wherein it Lay, Auckland Weekly News, n.d., [early 1922], p.1.
The Demon, Smith's Weekly, 1 October 1938, pp.2.
River's Luck, A.M. 24 August 1954, pp.2. 6 items, ca.1922-1954, JD/PP/133/1-137.
Personal Papers - Articles. Published articles mainly on north Queensland topics, some emphasis on nature subjects: The Barrier Reef, tropical mangroves, sea and sea life. Publications including North Australian Monthly and North Queensland Naturalist. Also an article entitled: Katherine Prichard Handel Richardson, Communist Review, January 1938. 13 items, ca. May 1930-1958, JD/PP/138-149.
Personal Papers - Newspaper Cuttings. Extracts of articles mainly relating to north Queensland, topics include tin and wolfram mining, coloured labour and the sugar industry, crocodile trapping, rainforest destruction. 6 items, ca. 1941-1957, JD/PP/150-155.
Personal Papers - Cuttings and Articles. Extracts of articles and reviews by various authors including Jean Devanny. Topics cover Pacific Island immigration and inter-racial matters in general, white Australia policy, travels
in north Queensland, writers, publications including Townsville Bulletin, North Queensland Naturalist, Irish Times, Meanjin. 23 items, July 1954-March 1959, JD/PP/156-169.
Personal Papers - Torres Straits and Thursday Island. Extracts of articles by various authors including Jean Devanny. Topics cover Thursday Islanders and immigration and alleged racism and injustice perpetrated against them, also white settlers in the tropics, natural history topics and a series on articles on the north Queensland sugar industry. Publications include Cairns Post, Sunday Mail, Sydney Morning Herald, Townsville Bulletin, Tribune. 21 items, October 1940-February 1958, JD/PP/170-191.
Personal Papers - Newspaper Articles. Papers not identified, Articles not dated. Miscellaneous collection, principally extracts of articles and complete periodicals; topics cover north Queensland natural history, conservation, Aborigines, writers, European exploration and general history. 152 items, JD/PP/192-324.
Communist Material. Articles and extracts from Australian and international literature, lectures, speeches, notes, reports, circulars. 51 items, from ca.1934, JD/COM/1-50.
Lectures on Palestine. Lectures, letters, telegram, circular. 19 items, ca.June 1936-July 1959, JD/COM/51-67.
Karl Shapiro Poems.
Sydney Bridge.
Jew.
Travelogue for Exiles.
The Synagog.
Public Library.
The Gun.
New Guinea.
Full Moon: New Guinea.
Troop Train. 9 items, JD/KS/1-9. DELAMOTHE.