Robert Menzies Notebook Collection

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Collection Description

This collection, part of the Robert Menzies Collection at the University of Melbourne, comprises a set of notebooks mainly covering the period 1913 to 1930, when Menzies was a student at the University of Melbourne and a barrister. This incomplete collection contains handwritten lecture notes made by Menzies as an undergraduate student; handwritten lecture notes made by Menzies as a sessional law tutor; handwritten lists of Menzies’ clients and fees; and handwritten legal notes by Menzies as a barrister at Selborne Chambers. Some notebooks contain loose enclosed documents mostly relating to law and cases, plus miscellaneous material dating from Menzies’ student years. Some later notebooks relate to Menzies’ early political career.

Biographical Note

Robert Gordon (Bob) Menzies (1894-1978) was Prime Minister of Australia, politician and barrister. Menzies studied Law at the University of Melbourne from 1913 to 1916. Menzies served for two years as president of the Law Students’ Society and was a founding member of the Historical Society. In 1916, he was elected president of the Students’ Representative Council and was appointed editor of the Melbourne University Magazine (MUM). Admitted to the Victorian Bar on 13 May 1918, Menzies became a tenant of Selborne Chambers, the established home of the Victorian Bar. He built a successful practice with an interest in constitutional law. Menzies’s political career began in state politics, when he entered the Victorian Legislative Council in 1928. In 1929, he stood successfully for a seat in the Legislative Assembly at the Victorian general elections. Menzies made the move from state to federal politics in 1934, whereupon he served as Commonwealth Attorney-General (1934-39). Menzies first served as Prime Minister from 1939 to 1941. In 1944, he formed the Liberal Party of Australia. Menzies’s second term as Prime Minister lasted from 1949 to 1966. Menzies held the federal seat of Kooyong until his retirement from politics in January 1966. After politics, he served as Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, from 1967 to 1972. Menzies died in 1978. In 1976, he offered his personal library to the University of Melbourne. The collection was installed in the Baillieu Library in 1980.

Acknowledgement

This digitisation project was supported by the Friends of the Baillieu Library

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 20
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    Robert Menzies' student notes: Psychology, logic and ethics
    Menzies, Robert Gordon (1913)
    Notebook
    Handwritten notes made by Robert Gordon Menzies for the subject Psychology, Logic and Ethics [sic] in the first year of his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) at the University of Melbourne. Inscribed on fore-edge: 'Psychology, Logic, Logic vol. 1'. Inscribed on first page: 'Psychology, Logic, and Ethics. R.G. Menzies 1913. University Lectures (Prof. Boyce Gibson)'.
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    Robert Menzies' student notes: Political economy [volume 2]
    Menzies, Robert Gordon (1914)
    Notebook
    Handwritten notes made by Robert Gordon Menzies in the second year of his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) at the University of Melbourne. Inscribed on fore-edge: 'POL. ECON. VOL. II'. Inscribed on first page: 'Political Economy: Notes 1914' and 'R.G. Menzies, 2nd year Laws'.
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    Robert Menzies' student notes: Property [volume 4]
    Menzies, Robert Gordon (1915)
    Notebook
    Handwritten notes made by Robert Gordon Menzies in the third year of his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) at the University of Melbourne. Inscribed on fore-edge: 'Transfer of Land Act'. Inscribed on first page: 'Property. Volume 4' and 'Robert G. Menzies, 3rd yr Laws 1915, Melb. University'. Handwritten pages numbers from 386 to 401.
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    Robert Menzies' student notes: Equity [volume 2]
    Menzies, Robert Gordon (1916)
    Notebook
    Handwritten notes made by Robert Gordon Menzies in the fourth year of his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) at the University of Melbourne. Inscribed on fore-edge: 'EQUITY VOL. II'. Inscribed: 'Robt. G. Menzies, 4th year LL.B. 1916'. Some notes written by someone other than Menzies.
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    Robert Menzies' student notes: Equity [volume 3]
    Menzies, Robert Gordon (1916)
    Notebook
    Handwritten lecture notes made by Robert Gordon Menzies in the fourth year of his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) at the University of Melbourne. Inscribed: 'Robert G. Menzies, 4th yr LL.B. 1916'.
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    Robert Menzies' student notes: The law of wrongs, civil and criminal
    Menzies, Robert Gordon (1916)
    Notebook
    Handwritten notes made by Robert Gordon Menzies in the fourth year of his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) at the University of Melbourne. Inscribed on fore-edge: "LAW OF WRONGS VOL. I'. Inscribed on first page: 'The Law of Wrongs, Civil and Criminal' and 'Robt. G. Menzies, 4th yr LL.B. 1916'.
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    Robert Menzies' student notes: Equity [volume 4]
    Menzies, Robert Gordon (1916)
    Notebook
    Handwritten notes made by Robert Gordon Menzies in the fourth year of his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) at the University of Melbourne. Inscribed on fore-edge 'EQUITY VOL. IV. Inscribed on first page: 'Equity Volume IV. 'Robert G. Menzies 1916, University'.
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    Robert Menzies' student notes: The law of procedure and evidence
    Menzies, Robert Gordon (1916)
    Notebook
    Handwritten notes made by Robert Gordon Menzies in the fourth year of his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) at the University of Melbourne. Inscribed on fore-edge: 'PROCEDURE'. Inscribed on first page: 'The Law of Procedure & Evidence' and 'Robert G. Menzies, 4th yr LLB, 1916'. Handwritten page numbers from 1 to 116.
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    Robert Menzies' student notes: Equity [volume 1]
    Menzies, Robert Gordon (1916)
    Notebook
    Handwritten notes made by Robert Gordon Menzies in the fourth year of his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) at the University of Melbourne. Inscribed on fore-edge: 'EQUITY VOL. I'. Inscribed: 'Robert G. Menzies, 4th yr LL.B. 1916'. Includes some notes in another hand from 1919.
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    The Law of Property in Land & Conveyancing: Special Course of 12 lectures delivered 1919 to Returned Soldiers of Law School, Melbourne University, vol. 1.
    Menzies, Robert Gordon (1919)
    Notebook
    Handwritten notes made by Robert Gordon Menzies for a series of lectures on property law and conveyancing presented to returned soldiers at the University of Melbourne in 1919. Inscribed on first page: 'The Law of Property in Land & Conveyancing: Special Course of 12 [sic] lectures delivered 1919 to Returned Soldiers of Law School, Melbourne University, vol. 1'. Stamped: 'Robert G. Menzies, Barrister-at-Law'. Lecture 1 (18 June 1919) to Lecture 14 (8 August 1919).