Correspondence and Papers of RH Mathews and Biographical Material Collected by AP Elkin [Adolphus Peter (AP) Elkin] (Series 730)

Due to the nature of the records, the Archives reserves the right to restrict, limit or refuse access to any item/s without prior notice, on the basis of personal privacy or out of respect for the rights and/or beliefs of First Nations people in accordance with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Library, Information and Resource Network (ATSILIRN) protocols.

Robert Hamilton (RH) Mathews was an early surveyor and anthropologist who worked mainly by corresponding with local residents and officials about the Indigenous peoples in their area. Elkin was working on a four-part article about Mathews for Oceania at the time of his death.

This series consists of typed copies of Mathews' letters, dated from 1894 to 1915, made by Elkin in the 1970s for his own research purposes, copies of Mathews' own annotated copies of his published papers, unpublished papers by Mathews, papers by other authors, copies of some of Mathews' research notes, and Elkin's own research notes on Mathews.

Contact the National Library of Australia for access to these records. Mathews papers are held in the National Library of Australia - apparently Elkin re arranged their order and did not return everything.

Note that the records were sorted by the Department of Anthropology into artificial series based on subject prior to their deposit in the Archives in 1983. See biographical note for further details.

Papers of Robert Hamilton Mathews https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-416711257/findingaid  (Accessed 27/10/2023)