Series 01: Sir John Sulman personal papers, including Sulman family papers, 1826-2000

MLMSS 9927/Boxes 1-3
MLMSS 9927/Box 4X

series

1826-2000

Textual Records, Graphic Materials, Photographs, Clippings, Ephemera

1006874

1.59 metres of textual material (3 boxes and 1 outsize box), includes some photographs and ephemera items

BOX 1

A. DIARIES, BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Folder 1
Notebook containing an account of Sulman’s trip to North Wales with his wife Sarah, commencing 26 July 1875. Manuscript
Particulars of the career of Sir John Sulman, 1922. Annotated processed and carbon typescript

B. CORRESPONDENCE

Folder 2
Letters from Sulman to his young children, 1902-1911, and a letter from Thomas Sulman to his mother, 1919
Letters from Lieut. Col. J.B. St Vincent Welsh regarding the landing at Anzac Cove and with condolences on the death of Arthur Sulman, 1915-1917
Letter from Arthur Hennings, Sulman’s former partner in London, 1916
Letter from the Mitchell Library, NSW, acknowledging receipt of a donation of letters from Florence and Geoffrey Sulman, 1918
Correspondence, 1920-1931. Correspondents include: Sir Tannatt William Edgeworth David, regarding David’s knighthood; Colonial Office in London, regarding Sulman’s forthcoming knighthood; the private secretary to the Duke and Duchess of York, regarding Sulman’s gift of a drawing of the first dwelling erected at Canberra; Stanley Wearing, Norwich, architect; Lesley Wilkinson, regarding the Lawson Memorial
Letters to the Sulman family from cousins in England, 1924-1932
Postcards received by the Sulman family, 1896-1927

Folder 3
Correspondence with the University of Sydney, 1887-1934. Subjects include: Sulman’s appointment to a lectureship in Architecture; condolences on the death of Geoffrey Sulman; a proposed Faculty of Architecture prize; the Geoffrey Sulman Memorial Lectureship in Aeronautics in the Faculty of Engineering
Letter from the Board of Architects of New South Wales, 1924, with similar circular letter, enclosing the first Architects Act, No. 8, 1921, Architects Roll of New South Wales for the year 1924
Correspondence relating to the design of the Sir John Sulman Medal, 1929-1931
Papers relating to Sir John Sulman properties, estate and cemetery works, 1931-1935

Folder 4
‘Notes on my trip to North Queensland being principally extracts from my letters to my wife and daughters’, 1911. Typescript notes (40 pages) plus 6 ink and pencil drawings of the ‘Artesian House’, including perspective drawings, plans and location maps

Folder 5
Letters from and copies of letters to John W. Rhodes, Sulman’s former partner in London, 1928-1934

Folder 6
Letters, with annotated copies, from Sulman to his children, written during his European trip, 1930. Also includes notes from Colombo, Ceylon, 15 March 1930, and correspondence with Mrs Allen, 1930

Folder 7
Typescript contents lists for boxes and filing cabinets

C. WRITINGS BY SIR JOHN SULMAN AND OTHERS

Folder 8
Things seen in Sweden: lecture by Sir John Sulman at the Assembly Hall, Education Department, Sydney on 17.8.31. Processed typescript
Sir John Sulman’s property in Warrung St, McMahons Point, North Sydney, ca. 1927. 2 typescript carbon copies of proposal for redevelopment, with manuscript costings
Sir John Sulman F.R.I.B.A., 1849-1934. Typescript transcript of article by J.S. MacDonald in ‘Art in Australia’ November 1934
Note relating to Women’s College building plans submitted in 1892 by Sulman & Power
Sydney as it might have been (dreams that died on the drawing board), by Eric Irvin (part only), no date. Photocopy
The Armidale School – its major buildings. Notes prepared for a guided tour by members of the National Trust of Australia (N.S.W.) on Australia Day, Sunday 26th January 1986, by Ian M. Johnstone; notes on the State Bank building at 208 Beardy Street, Armidale
A Sulman Genealogy, 1988 / J.F. Sulman. Family history in comb bound volume, includes loose clipping relating to Suleiman The Magnificent, 2000

D. CLIPPINGS
News clippings relating to: the Citizens’ Association, no date; Sir John Sulman’s obituary, 1934; the Sir John Sulman Prize, 1935, 1939; the Sir John Sulman Medal, 1939; death of Arthur Sulman, [ca. 1971]

E. EPHEMERA
Small leather plaque with gilt inscription ‘Presented by Mr & Mrs Wright to Mr & Mrs John Sulman November 17 1844’. ‘Wedding gift’ – inscribed in ink on verso
Wedding invitation for the marriage of Sarah Clark Redgate to John Sulman, 1875; wedding card, 1875; hymn sheet, no date
Souvenir of the opening of the Thomas Walker Convalescent Hospital, 21 Sept 1893. Detached cover
Card inscribed ‘May every coming year link closer the golden chain of love, 1894’. Inscribed on verso ‘To Mr & Mrs Sulman with every good wish from John Sulman, Annie E. Sulman, Florence Sulman, Edith Sulman, Arthur Sulman, Geoffrey Sulman’
Invitation to Sir John and Lady Sulman to attend the ceremony for the establishment of the Parliament at Canberra, 1927, with instructions for acceptance of invitation
Blank award certificate for the University of Sydney’s School of Architecture Sir John Sulman Prize for the study of the rational design of modern structures, 193-
Complimentary dinner to Mr Henry Livingstone Sulman, 1932. Menu, printed copy of address
Barker College, Hornsby, flyer with details of scholarships including the L.A. Sulman Scholarship, ca. 1948


BOX 2

F. SCHOOL RECORDS

Folder 9
Greenwich Proprietary School certificates awarded to John Sulman, 1856-1863. 21 certificates
Science and Art Department of the Committee of Council on Education certificate awarded to John Sulman in the freehand and model drawing exercises, 1869

G. PRINTED MATERIAL

Folder 10
Town planning for Australia / by George A. Taylor ; introduction by John Sulman, 1914
Town planning : a sketch in outline / by John Sulman, 1919
Architects Act, No. 8, 1921, Architects Roll of New South Wales for the year 1925
Town planning in Great Britain, Europe and America, 1925. Reports (3) of Sir John Sulman, Honorary Commissioner for New South Wales at the International Town-Planning Conference held at Amsterdam, July 1924
Commission government in America, 1925. Report and appendices by Sir John Sulman, Chairman, Federal Capital Advisory Committee
The traffic problems of Sydney / by Sir John Sulman, 1927
Edinburgh : official guide issued by the Corporation, 1927

H. ANNIE SULMAN PAPERS

Folder 11
Annie (Masefield) Sulman diaries: 1882 (London); 1883-1886; 1886-1887; 1887-1889; 1890-1891; 1893

Folder 12
Annie (Masefield) Sulman diaries: 1894; 1895 (includes some 1917 entries); European trip, 1896-1897; 1934
Annie Sulman notebook used as commonplace book, ca. 1906. Includes interleaved letter from Lady Davidson, 1922
Annie Sulman scrapbook of birth, marriage, death and memorial notices, 1901-1939


BOX 3

I. PHOTOGRAPHS

Folder 13
Sarah Redgate, Edith, Florence, Arthur, ca. 1883 / R.V. Harman, Bromley, Kent. Albumen cabinet card
[John Sulman], ca. 1902 / Mendelssohn, Melbourne. Albumen cabinet card
Mr & Mrs John Sulman, Florence, Arthur, Edith, Geoffrey, Joan & Tom, John not born yet / The Swiss Studio, Sydney. Photographic print
Sulman family photographs. Subjects include: ‘Ingleholme’, the Sulman family home at Turramurra from 1897; ‘Kihilla’, the Sulman family’s country retreat at Lawson from 1913; Kosciusko Chalet; John, Annie and Tom Sulman at ‘Burrangong’, the family home at McMahons Point from 1914; Annie Sulman at Palm Beach; Geoffrey Sulman in England during World War I; ‘Euthalla’, Florence Sulman’s residence at Collaroy, ca. 1923; John Sulman; Our Jack, no date (possibly John Sulman Jr); John Sulman certificate as Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects. 36 photographic prints
Album of untitled photographs of various Sulman family members, probably taken at ‘Kihilla’. 19 photographic prints

Folder 14
Album of photographs and a plan of ‘Ingleholme’. Includes: floor plan showing chronology of additions and alterations; rear of house, with family; playroom. 4 photographic prints

Folder 15
Portrait of Sir John Sulman / print by Hartland & Hyde, 49 Clarence St, Sydney. 8 printer’s progress proofs of oil painting by John Longstaff, 1931
Lake Como, Italy. Folder of 3 commercial photographs

Folder 16
Photographs of Canberra and the Murrumbidgee River, 1920s. Subjects include: Federal Capital Commission houses; Ainslie Public School; Government Savings Bank of N.S.W.; Australian Institute of Anatomy; The Swimming Pool; ‘Grassy House’; main hostel under construction; temporary buildings at Acton; Civic Centre cottage; temporary administrative building; view from Red Hill; [Kingston] Powerhouse; Cotter Dam; [Cotter] Pumping Station; Cotter River; Murrumbidgee River; Paddy’s River; Mount Stromlo; bridge over Murrumbidgee River. 41 photographic prints
Photographs of Sydney Harbour Bridge under construction. 4 photographic prints


BOX 4X

J. OUTSIZE MATERIAL

Folder 17
Science and Art Department of the Committee of Council on Education certificate in the second grade for freehand drawing, practical geometry, linear perspective and model drawing, 1871
Sydney International Exhibition commendation for architectural designs, 1879
Centennial International Exhibition, Melbourne, second order of merit for architectural drawings and designs, 1888
Certificate of membership of the Town Planning Institute, 1916
Honorary membership of the Institute of Architects of New South Wales, 1919
Registration certificate for the Board of Architects of New South Wales, 1923
Associate membership of the Institution of Engineers, Australia, 1923

Folder 18
John Sulman, 1902 / photograph by Talma, Sydney. 38 x 30 cm on mount 61 x 48 cm

Folder 19
Redgate ancestors / photograph by Henry Dixon & Son, 112 Albany St, London. 22 x 19 cm on mount 38 x 31 cm. ‘The portraits of Mr & Mrs Harrison & their eldest daughter Sarah Penelope Gardiner Harrison who married Mr John Clark. They were the great grandparents & grandmother of Mrs John Sulman, née Sarah Clark Redgate, who was the mother of Florence, (Edith d. 1904) & Arthur Sulman. In 195- they sent the original oil painting to their cousin Geoffrey Clark Linden of Durbanville, Cape Province, South Africa’ – in ink on verso

Folder 20
[Unidentified wedding party] / photograph by Kerry & Co, 308 George St, Sydney. Photocopy

Folder 21
Family register, 1826-1994. Decorated sheet with manuscript details of family births, marriages and deaths
Letter of introduction for John Sulman and his wife from the Foreign Office, London, 1877
Principal office, Mutual Life Association of Australasia – Messrs Sulman & Power, Architects / Sprague & Co, photographers ; reprinted from ‘The Builder’, 21 January 1893
Australia builds a capital in the bush. Clipping from ‘The New York Times Magazine’, 30 May 1926
Suggested new scheme for the Circular Quay Station of the city railway. Article and plan reprinted from the ‘Sydney Morning Herald’, 9 March 1928
The day Sydney nearly had two tunnels. Clipping from ‘The Sun’, 20 May 1987
Royal Commission on Sydney Improvement Plan No. 2 Mr John Sulman’s proposals, [1909]. Annotated map

Folder 22
Sulman family tree, including the Andrews, Aspray and Bass families, ink on cloth-backed paper, 69 x 104 cm

Out of copyright: Applies to photographs created before 1955
Copyright status:: In copyright - This collection has multiple rights owners (applies to manuscripts)
Research & study copies allowed: Applies only to material in which the author has been deceased for more than 50 years
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and Courtesy copyright holder