Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 2007 (Creation)
- 1971-1990 (Creation)
Level of description
Series
Extent and medium
6 folders
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Academic John Beston was born in Gundagai, New South Wales, in 1930. He was awarded a First Class Honours degree in English from the University of Sydney and a PhD on medieval literature from Harvard University, before commencing post-doctoral research into author Patrick White at the University of Queensland in 1970. He lived for much of his life in the United States where his wife, Rose Marie Beston (née Beattie) also had an academic career. As well as work on Patrick White, Beston was a regular reviewer of Australian literature for the US press, and had an interest in literature in other languages, particularly French. He died in Coffs Harbour on 1 February 2018.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Correspondence to John Beston from many Australian authors relating to his research on Patrick White. Authors include Patrick White, Thea Astley, Gwen Harwood, Xavier Herbert, Thomas Keneally, David Malouf, David Williamson and Judith Wright.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
First four folders are arranged alphabetically by correspondent, the fifth folder has 15 letters from Patrick White, and the last folder are two letters from Geoffrey Tozer.
Box 1
Folder 1
Astley, Thea, 19 Sep 1972 [re: Patrick White]
Badgery, Frank Alexander, 9 Apr 1973 [1 item with 4 attached letters from the late 1880s re:
property dealings; see also Judith Wright correspondence in folder 5]
Barnard, Marjorie, 1972-1974 [8 items, some re: Patrick White and some personal]
Beaver, Bruce, 1974-1976 [5 items, re: publishing articles]
Böll, Annemarie, 23 Mar 1974 [in German]
Christesen, Clem B, 14 Sep 1972 [personal]
Clark, Manning, 2 Aug 1975 [re: Patrick White]
Curtis, Graeme, 1974-1978 [4 items, personal]
Davis, Jack, 1977 [3 items, re: Aboriginal literature, publishing]
Dawe, Bruce, 1973-1974 [6 items, re: MA thesis Dawe was completing]
Drysdale, Russell, 3 Oct 1972 [re: Patrick White]
Durack, Mary, 30 Jun 1975 [signed Mary Miller, personal]
Fitzgerald, Robert D, 12 Sep 1972 [re: Patrick White]
?, Gerry, 30 Oct 1973 [re: Judith Wright and Patrick White. Letter signed with first name only, from
the University of Sydney English Department.]
Harwood, Gwen, 1974-1979 [2 items, re: Patrick White and some personal]
Folder 2
Hazzard, Shirley, 1971-1990 [8 items, personal, some about Patrick White]
Henderson, Moya, 1973 [5 items, mainly personal, some about Patrick White]
Herbert, Xavier, 10 Sep 1972 [re: Patrick White]
Hewett, Dorothy, 24 Nov 1972 [re: Patrick White]
Hope, Alec, 1972, 1975 [5 items, re: Patrick White and visit to Western Australia]
Howarth, Guy, 1972-1973 [2 poems]
Folder 3
?, Irvine 15 Oct 1975 [personal, no last name given]
Ireland, David, 14 Sep 1972 [re: Patrick White]
Keesing, Nancy, 20 Aug 1973 [re: anthology publication]
Keneally, Elsie, 3 Sep 1973 [re: meeting with Tom Keneally Senior]
Keneally, Judy, 1 May 1974 [personal]
Keneally, Thomas, 1972-1975 [7 items, re: Patrick White, some personal]
?, Leila, 4 Jul 1978 [mainly personal, on Aboriginal Publications Foundation letterhead, see also
Jack Davis correspondence in Folder 1]
McAuley, James, 1972-1973 [4 items, re: articles submitted to Quadrant, some about Patrick
White]
McGregor, Craig, 5 Jul 1972 [re: Patrick White]
Malouf, David, 6 Dec 1984 [personal]
Marr, David, 20 Jan 1986 [re: Patrick White, also some Australian history]
Moore, T Inglis, 9 Jun 1972 [re: Patrick White and advice on grant applications]
Folder 4
Perry, Grace, 1974-1975 [4 items, re: South Head Press publishing, poetry, some personal]
Porter, Hal, 2 Sep 1972 [re: Patrick White]
Scharen, Peter, 1976-1978 [3 items, personal]
Seymour, Alan, 20 Sep 1972 [re: Patrick White]
Shapcott, Thomas, 24 Nov 1972 [re: Patrick White and Randolph Stow]
Stead, Christina, 16 Apr 1976 [personal]
Stewart, Douglas, 1972, 1976 [4 items, personal, some about Patrick White]
Stow, Randolph, 1972, 1974, 1978 [5 items, re: Patrick White and personal, mostly signed ‘Mick’]
Tennant, Kylie, 22 Sep 1972 [re: Patrick White]
Walker, Kath, [Oodgeroo Noonuccal] 1976, 1978 [3 items, re: Moongalba, various poets and
touring America]
Williamson, David, 1972-1973 [3 items, re: Patrick White and Williamson’s own work]
Wright, Judith, 1972-1973 [6 items, re: Patrick White, Wongwibinda property, some personal; see
also Badgery correspondence in folder 1]
Zwicky, Fay, 5 Jun 1975 [re: Adelaide Festival of the Arts]
Folder 5
15 letters from Patrick White to John Beston, mainly in reply to correspondence from Beston about
White’s work, 1971-1976
Folder 6
Two letters from Geofrey Tozer, 2007. [Geoffrey Tozer (1954-2009), Australian pianist, personal]
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Box 1 Folders 1-6
Alternative identifier(s)
Former call numbers
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- White, Patrick, 1912-1990 (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Created, Linda Justo, 29-Sep-2021.