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MS 3517 PJF Coutts;
Field notes and analysis of Aboriginal Sites in the Western District of Victoria
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Scope and Content Note
Date range: 1844-1984 (bulk 1970's)
Extent: 14.4 m (8 boxes)
Excavation data, field notes and analysis of various archaeological sites in the Western District, Victoria.
For a complete listing of material by Dr Coutts that is held by the Institute, including material listed in this finding aid which is held in the AudioVisual Collection, search the AIATSIS catalogue.
Biographical note
Dr Peter John Frazer Coutts was a professional archaeologist with wide research experience in the Pacific, and a particular interest in Australian prehistory. Having completed a degree in electrical engineering, he undertook research on Aboriginal Settlement at Wilson’s Promontory in Victoria, excavating shell middens which were then carbon dated; this became his Master’s thesis, which was published by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies in 1967.
His PhD was undertaken at the University of Otago, New Zealand. He focussed on contact between the Maori and European settlers. MS 3517; PJF Coutts
Dr Coutts was also the first director of the Archaeological and Aboriginal Relics Office in 1973, and then the Victorian Archaeological Survey in 1975. The Victorian Archaeological Survey was the precursor to the Heritage Branch of Aboriginal Affairs Victoria. He embarked on long term investigations of the Aboriginal prehistory of the Western District of Victoria as part of addressing the lack of knowledge of Victorian Aboriginal heritage. Dr Coutts resigned from this position in 1984.
Collection description:
BOX 1
Item Site Descriptions
1a Western District Excavation data: 7/1/75 - 31/1/75
1b Western District Excavation data: mound site, stratigraphic plans, soil samples
1c Western District Excavation data: mound site, soil samples, cross section (Butt cross section)
1d Western District Excavation data: buckshot analysis and flow chart, soil sample analysis
1 Western District Excavation date: buckshot analysis and flow chart, soil sample analysis
2a Not identified Excavation data: mound site, spit volumes, layer diagrams. (KP/1) Photographs of burial sites at KP/1; located in Audiovisual Archives
2b Not identified Layer description. (KP/1) Fortran coding sheet
3a Willaura Mound analysis
Scatter analysis
3b Willaura Mound analysis
Maps
3c Willaura Mound analysis
3d Willaura Mound analysis
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3e Willaura Correspondence
Correspondence
11/8/77 Re: Willaura site 12/5/76 Re: Declaration of the Nareeb Nareeb axe quarry site 12/5/76 Re: Declaration of the Nareeb Nareeb axe grinding rocks 7/1/76 Re: Willaura site 24/8/74 Re: Willaura site Registration of the National Estate Nomination form (Hopkins River Area) other name (Baronga Mounds) Registration of the National Estate Nomination form (Hopkins River Area) other name (Baronga Quarry
4 Murray Valley Mound analysis in Murray Valley:
Dry Plains (DP/1) draft papers
Maps
Photographs of burial sites at DP1; located in Audiovisual Archives
Correspondence:
28/7/82 Re: Murray Valley 10/8/82 Re: Murray Valley
5 Ararat Statistical analysis
6 Gill, E. D. 1953, Geological evidence in Western Victoria relative to the antiquity of the Australian aborigines
7 Warrnambool Map sheets
8a Dry Plains (DP/5) Excavation data: 6/12/78 – 8/12/78
8b Dry Plains (DP/5) Excavation data: 8/12/78 – 20/12/78
9 Dry Plains (DP/6) Excavation data: 3/1/79 – 11/1/79
10 Willaura Site analysis
Dry Plains (DP/1) Photographs of activities done at DP/1; located in Audiovisual Archives
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BOX 2
Item Site Descriptions 11a Lake Bolac (LB/1 Correspondence: 4/1/80, re: Fauna of the Lake Bolac & LB/2) Site 2 (From D. C. Witter to Dr. Coutts)
Excavation data
Photographs located in Audiovisual Archives:
Portrait of Aboriginal inhabitants The Murray 27/5/1836 Piper at Benance Toombs of a tribe First meeting with the chief of the Bogan Turandurey and Ballandella Female and child of Australia felix
11b Lake Bolac (LB/1 Excavation data & LB/2)
11c Lake Bolac Excavation data (LB/1)
11d Lake Bolac Excavation data (LB/1)
11e Lake Bolac Excavation data (LB/1) Correspondence re: Lake Bolac (25/11/1975)
12a Fine Grained Excavation data Materials (FM/1)
12b Fine Grained Excavation data Materials (FM/1)
12c Fine Grained Excavation data Materials (FM/1)
12d Fine Grained Excavation data Materials (FM/1) Photographs of burial site; located in Audiovisual Archives
13a Warrnambool Western District book on Aboriginal site: draft copy
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13b Ararat Maps: Drainage division, gauging station
Sketches: Hopkins Falls
Excavation data: mound morphology
13b Warrnambool Excavation data
Arrarat Excavation data
14a Chatsworth (Ch) Excavation data: cross sections, stratigraphy, plan of graves, waste flake analysis quartz, statistical analysis
Photographs of burial sites located in Audiovisual Archives
14b Chatswoth (Ch/1) Excavation data
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BOX 3
Item Site Descriptions
14c Chatsworth (Ch) Buckshot analysis
15a Not identified Excavation data: morphology, buckshot analysis, (KP/1) stratigraphy of grave, distribution of waste flake, list of identified vertebrate remains
Distribution of waste flakes at Pits B, C and D
15b Not identified Excavation data (KP/1)
16a Not identified Excavation records (TC/1) Shell fragments: subninella undulata
16b Not identified Excavation records (TC/1)
17 Warrnambool Geology of the Tower Hill – Warrnambool area
Coastal study
18 Crocker, R. L. & Wood, J. G. 1947, ‘Some historical influences on the Development of the South Australian vegetation communities and their bearing on concepts and classification in society’, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, vol. 71, pp. 91 – 136.
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Photocopy
19 Dodson, J. R. 1975, ‘The pre–settlement vegetation of the Mt Gambier area, South Australia, Transactions of the Royal Society of Australia, vol. 99, pp. 89 – 92. Photocopy
20 Gill, E. D. & Lang, J. G. 1982, ‘The peak of the Flandrian transgression in Victoria, S. E. Australia: fauna and sea level changes’, Royal Society of Victoria Proceedings, vol. 94, no. 1, pp. 23 – 24. Photocopy
21 Gill, E. D. 1953, ‘Geological evidence in Western Victoria relative to the antiquity of the Australian Aborigines’, Memoirs of the National Museum of Victoria, Melbourne, no. 18, pp. 25 – 92. Photocopy
22a Dry Plains (DP/1) Soil analysis dated 8/12/78 – 8/1/79
22b Dry Plains (DP/1) Soil analysis dated 12/12/78 – 11/1/79
22c Dry Plains (DP/1) Excavation records dated 8/12/78 – 8/1/79
22d Dry Plains (DP/1) Excavation records dated 3/12/78 –11/1/79
22e Dry Plains (DP/1) Excavation records dated 6/12/78 –11/1/79
23 Photocopies of:
Mitchell, S. R. 1958, ‘An Aboriginal bone industry’, Mankind, vol. 5, no. 5, pp. 194 – 199 Balfour, H. R. 1951, ‘A phallic stone from Central Australia’, Mankind, vol. 4, no. 6, pp. 248 – 255 Smyth, R. B. 1857, ‘On the extinct volcanoes of Victoria, Australia’, Proceedings of the Geological Society, vol. 14, part I, pp. 227 – 235 Gill, E. D. 1952, ‘Thylacoleo and incised bones’, The Australian journal of Science, p. 201 Kenyon, A. S. 1912, ‘Camping places of the Aborigines of South – East Australia’, The Victorian Historical Magazine, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 97 – 110
24 Hinde, S. I. ‘The thermoluminescence dating of volcanic residues’.
Tower Hill Beach: data
Thunder Point Excavation records: layer description, mollusc analysis, (TP) skeletal remains, lithic materials, structural evidence,
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soil analysis, faunal analysis
Armstrong Bay Excavation records: faunal analysis, mollusca, skeletal (AB) remains, lithic analysis
Historical vegetation descriptions (Extract from Western District Study, vol. 1)
25 TP/1, TC/1 & Excavation records AB/1
26 Warrnambool Table of vegetation structures
Graph of predictions of site density per landform by site type
Maps
Excavation notes
Notes on the use of Victoria Archaeological survey’s sample unit; Cards
27 Dry Plains (DP/5) Field notes
28 Dry Plains (DP/1, Excavation records 6, 7, 8) Faunal material Fine Grained Metal (FM/1)
29 Dry Plains (DP/8) Excavation records: auger analysis, stratification, mound and spit levels, location diagrams
30 Dry Plains (DP/7) Excavation records
31 Dry Plains (DP/3) Excavation records
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BOX 4
Item Site Description 32 Willaura Topographical map
Avondale Excavation records
Avonlea, Photographs of Warrnambool location; held in Baronga, Audiovisual Archives
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Berreich, Bolangum, Boorook, Calrossie. Corra, Dunvegan, Haeremai, Kame, Moaskar, Philwayne, Williamson, Yamba. Warrnambool
33 Cluster analysis
Characteristics of the stone tool assemblages
34 Cluster analysis
Legal services data
Plotting with Clustan IC (graphs)
Clustan: simple binary coefficients of similarity
The representation and analysis of multiple response data
Photocopies of:
Kintgh, K. W. 1984, ‘Measuring archaeological diversity by comparison with simulated assemblages’, American Antiquity, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 44 – 54 Everitt, B. S. ‘Cluster analysis’, pp. 63 – 88
35 Corra 1 & 2 Excavation records
36a Willaura Analysis of the Aboriginal sites on
Willaura map sheet
36b Willaura Analysis of the Aboriginal sites on
Willaura map sheet
37 Warrnambool Analysis of the Aboriginal sites
38 Photocopies of:
Hope, G. S. 1974, ‘The vegetation history
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from 6000 B. P. to present of Wilsons promontory, Victoria, Australia’, New Phytol, vol. 73, pp. 1035 – 1053 Gill, E. D. 1947, ‘Some features of the coastline between Port Fairy and Peterborough, Victoria’, Proceedings of Royal Society Victoria, vol. 58, pts. I – II, pp. 37 – 43 Tower Hill Gill, E. D. 1972, ‘Holocene sea levels in eastern Australia: a discussion’, Marine Geology, vol. 12, pp. 223 – 232 Thom, B. G. … [et. Al] 1972, ‘Postglacial sea levels in Eastern Australia’, Marine Geology, vol. 12, pp.233 – 244 Lampert, R. J. & Hughes, P. J. 1974, ‘Sea level change and Aboriginal coastal adaptions in Southern New South Wales’, Archaeological and Physical Anthropology in Oceania, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 226 – 235 Gill, E. D. ‘Qualification of coastal processes as a basis for coastal management and engineering’, Research paper, no. 325, Division of Applied Geomechanics, Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation Dodson, J. R. 1974, ‘Vegetation and climatic history near Lake Keilambete, Western Victoria’, Australian Journal of Botany, vol. 22, pp 709 – 717 Dodson, J. 1977, ‘Late quaternary palaeoecology of Wyrie Swamp, South – eastern South Australia’, Quaternary Research, vol. 8, pp. 97 – 114 Dodson, J. R. 1974, ‘Vegetation history and water fluctuations at Lake Leake, South – eastern South Australia: Pt. I, 10,000 B. P. to present’, Australian Journal of Botany, vol. 22, pp. 719 – 741 Dodson, J. R. & Wilson, I. B. 1975, ‘Past and present vegetation of Marshes Swamp in south – eastern South Australia’, Australian Journal of Botany, vol. 23, pp. 123 – 50
‘Guide for authorised visitors to Lady Julia Percy Island Faunal Reserve’, Ministry for Conservation, Fisheries & Wildlife Division, Victoria
Plants for Tower Hill State Game Reserve (Pamphlet).
Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve (Booklet)
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Photographs located in Audiovisual Archives
Photocopies of:
Dodson, J. R. 1975, ‘Vegetation history and water fluctuations at Lake Leake, South–eastern South Australia: Pt. II 50,000 B. P. to 10,000 B. P.’, Australian Journal of Botany, vol. 23, pp. 815 – 31 Gill, E. D. ‘Evolution of the Warrnambool–Port Fairy Coast and the Tower Hill eruption, Western Victoria’, pp. 341 – 364 Gill, E. D. ‘Radiocarbon dating of the volcanoes of Western Victoria, Australia’,Victorian Naturalist, vol. 95, pp. 152 – 158 Gill, E. D. 1963, ‘The Australian Aborigines and the giant extinct marsupials’, Australian Natural History, vol. 14, no. 8, pp. 263 – 266
39 Thunder Point Excavation records: location map, mollusc analysis, (TP/1) shell density, soil tests.
Photographs of the midden at Tower Hill beach, Stanhope Bay, Western Victoria located in Audiovisual Archives
Correspondence:
Re: Explanation of photos of midden at Tower Hill (12/9/79) Re: Results of the borings in Lake Pertobe at Warrnambool (5/6/79)
Excavation data: fauna, taxonomic list, radiocardon Armstrong Bay dates, mollusc analysis. (AB)
40 Slides of Ruapuke Island located in Audiovisual Archives
41 Building industry in Southern New Zealand (Typed notes)
42 Building industry in Southern New Zealand (Typed notes)
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BOX 5
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Item Site Descriptions
43 Karland Excavation records
44 Fine Grained Excavation records: stone tool analysis, burial sites, Materials (FM/1) stone structures, stratigraphy
45 Fine Grained Radiocarbon sample report sheets Materials (FM/1) and Chatsworth (Ch)
46 Corra Excavation records
Photograph of rock located in Audiovisual Archives
47 Berrnambool Excavation records
48 Lake Bolac Excavation records
49a Ararat, Willaura Western District book & Willaura
49b Tables
50 Building industry in Otago, New Zealand
51 Building industry in Otago, New Zealand
52 Building industry in Otago, New Zealand
53 Building industry in Otago, New Zealand
54 Narrapumelap Correspondence on presence of quartz flakes and tools (NAR/1) on the southern part of Crown Allotment 54A. (15/12/1984) Fine Grained Materials (FM/1)
Corra 3
55 Not identified Soil analysis (KP-1)
Fine Grained Materials (FM-1)
Lake Bolac (LB- 1)
Chatsworth (Ch)
56 Narrapumelap Site analysis
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(NAR)
57 Photocopies of:
Mitchell, S. R. (1955) ‘Comparison of the stone tools of the Tasmanian and Australian Aborigines’, Journal of Royal Anthropological Society, vol. 85, pts. I & II, p. 131 – 139 Mitchell, S. R. (1931) ‘At lower tarwin’, Victorian Naturalist, vol. 48, no. 8, p. 161 – 163 Gill, E. D. (1955) ‘Aboriginal midden sites in western Victoria dated by Radiocarbon analysis’, Mankind, vol. 5, no. 2, p. 51 – 55 Mitchell, R. S. (1962) ‘Analysis of some Australian Aboriginal surface sites’, Mankind, vol. 5, no. 11, p. 466 – 470. Gill, E. D. (1972) ‘Eruption date of Tower Hill volcano Western Victoria, Australia’, Victorian Naturalist, vol. 89, no. 7, p. 188 – 192 Gill, E. D. (1971) ‘Applications for radiocarbon dating in Victoria, Australia’, Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, vol. 84, pt. 1, p. 71 – 85 Gill, E. D. (1965) ‘Quaternary geology, radiocarbon datings, and the age of Australites’, Geological Society of America, Special Paper 84, p. 415 – 432 Gill, E. D. (1954) ‘Aboriginal kitchen midden and marine shell beds’, Mankind, vol. 4, no. 6, p. 249 – 253 Gill, E. D. & Gill, K. W. (1973) ‘The geology of Port Fairy, Western Victoria, Australia’, Victorian Naturalist, vol. 90, no. 9, p. 251 – 255 Gill, E. D. (1977) ‘Constraints imposed by the earth sciences on the interpretation of the Warrnambool "Mahogany Ship" wreck site’, The Artefact, vol. 2, no. 1, p. 9 – 17 Gill, E. D. & Gibbons, F. R. (1969) ‘Radiocarbon date related to volcanism and lake deposits in Western Victoria’, Australian Journal of Science, vol. 32, no. 3, p. 109 – 110. Gill, E. D. (1943) ‘The geology of Warrnambool’, Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, vol. 55, pt. II, p. 133 – 154 Gill, E. D. (1947) ‘An hypothesis relative to the age of some Western District volcanoes, Victoria’, Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, vol. 60, p. 189 – 194
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Gill, E. D. (1967) ‘Evolution of the Warrnambool – Port Fairy Coast and the Tower Hill eruption, Western Victoria’, Landform Studies, p. 341 – 363 Gill, E. D. (1975) ‘Calcrete hardpans and rhizomorphs in Western Victoria, Australia’, Pacific Geology, vol. 9, p. 1 – 16
58 Berrambool Site analysis data (BERR)
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BOX 6
Item Site Descriptions
59a Lake Bolac (LB) Excavation data Willaura
Willaura Surface collection map sheets
‘Potential contribution to local cultural history. Handwritten notes
‘Significance of the archaeological resources’. Handwritten notes
‘Archaeological studies in the Central Western District of Victoria: Part I site surveys and cultural resource management’. Draft copy
59b ‘Archaeological studies in the Central Western District of Victoria’. Handwritten
60 Coutts, P. J. F. . . . [et. Al.] ‘The late quaternary history of man and environment around lake Bolac, Western Victoria’
Photocopies of:
Coutts, P. J. F. ‘An archaeological perspective of the Western District, Victoria’, Settlement of the Western District: from prehistoric times to the present. Sherwood, J. . . . [et. Al.] eds. Proceedings of a Public lecture series held in Warrnambool, 3rdNov. 1984
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61 Photocopy of P.J.F. Coutts, ‘An archaeological perspective of the Western District, Victoria’
Maps, sketches, pictures on Western District.
Photographs located in Audiovisual Archives
George Camperdown tribe – people fishing Aborigines with hunting gear
62 Photocopy of R. P. Cooper (1970) ‘The sanderling on Wilson’s promontory’, The Australian Bird Watcher, vol. 3, no. 8, p. 247 – 251
Newspaper clippings
Correspondence on 16/6/1970 Re: Newspaper clippings and enlarged photos to Peter from Bill Thomson
Photograph of White settlers located in Audiovisual Collection
63 Lake Bolac Statistical analysis
Sketches, graphs, diagrams
64 Mr Tuckett’s diary 1844
65 Coutts, P. J. F. (1984), ‘Archaeological studies in the Central Western District of Victoria: Part I site surveys and cultural resource management’, Records of the Victorian Archaeological Survey, Ministry for Planning and Environment, Melbourne, Victoria
Not identified Photographs located in Audiovisual collection (KP/1) & Chatsworth (CH/1)
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BOX 7
Item Site Descriptions
66 Campbell 10 Excavation notes
67 Reamur Rocks Excavation notes (RR)
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68 Armstrong Bay, Field notes, September 1979 Lake Bolac, Reamur Rocks, Campbell, Griffith Island, Appollo Bay
Warrnambool
69 Not identified Excavation data (TC/1)
70 Campbell Analysis of surface material
Warrnambool Coastal survey, Thunder Point area, 4 /6/79
71 Diary
72 Campbell 10 Stone analysis information (cards)
73 Campbell 9 Bone analysis (cards)
74 Campbell 10 Charcoal analysis (cards)
75 Campbell 10 Soil analysis (cards)
76 Campbell 10 Crustacean anal, seed, eggshell analysis (cards)
77 Campbell 10 Shell analysis (cards)
78 Reamur Rocks Stone analysis (RR)
79 Reamur Rocks Bone, charcoal, wood analysis (RR)
80 Reamur Rocks Shell analysis (RR)
81 Reamur Rocks Rock analysis (RR)
82 Berrambool Excavation data, maps (BERR)
83a Dry Plains (DP/1) Information on Pits D, F
83b Dry Plains (DP/1) Information on Pit E
83c Dry Plains Excavation and field notes
83d Dry Plains Information on Pits G, E
84 Excavation methods
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BOX 8
Item Site Descriptions 85 Errata: ‘The archaeology of Wilson’s Promontory’, vol. 1
Bibliography: List of publications
Examiners report on the thesis ‘The archaeology of Wilson’s Promontory’
86 Darby River Field notes and excavation data
87a Chatsworth (Ch) Excavation data
87b Chatsworth (Ch) Excavation data
88a Ararat Mound analysis, scatters analysis
Sample unit cards tabulated by landform and hydrological regime raw data
Update of locational analysis: raw data
Update of locational analysis: graphs
Calculation of hydrological regime
88b Ararat Summary of statistics for programming
Mound samples and transect
Density figures for interview method
Collection of raw data from site gazetteer
Background data and worksheets
89 Death certificate of Abraham Western Chapman
Information on the baptisms of children of Abraham and Hannah Chapman
Sydney Morning Herald: Friday April 1, 1892. Death notice of Chapman.
Photograph of Abraham Western Chapman’s grave located in the Audiovisual Archives
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90 Chatsworth (Ch) Photographs located in the Audiovisual Archives: & Not identified (KP) Excavation sites Aboriginal paintings on cave walls
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BOX 9
Bundles of index cards. The arrangement is unclear; the bundle is therefore titled according to the information on the top card in the bundle.
Item
91 KP/1 I94 Sp 3. Jan 7 approx. 40 cards
92 KP/1 716 Quartz B/F approx. 50 cards
93 FM1 SQA4, SP3, PT3 January 21st (Layer 2) approx. 10 cards
94 FM1 SQA-3, SP2, PT2, January 27th (Layer 3B) approx. 15 cards
95 FM1 SQA3, SP3A PT2, LY4A, Jan 31, Balk, Grey approx. 10 cards
96 FM1 SQ A-4, SP11, PT1, January 26th (Layer 4A) approx. 20 cards
97 FM1 SQ A2, SP5, PT1, LY4D, Jan 22 approx. 30 cards
98 FM1 SQA4, SP8, PT2, LY5A Jan 25 approx. 10 cards
99 FM1 SQB4, SP6, PT5 1-3, LY7A Jan 31, Balk Burial 4 cards
100 FM1 SQ A-4, SP11, PT3, January 26th (Layer 7C) 3 cards
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101 KP/1 H83, Sp 13, Jan 30. approx. 40 cards
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Finding Aid converted for web site by J. Churches, November 2002
Updated April 2018, F Blackburn
COLLECTIONS | CATALOGUE | MANUSCRIPT FINDING AIDS
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