• Entry type: Person
  • Entry ID: AWE4350

Mander-Jones, Phyllis

  • MBE
(1896 – 1984)
  • Born 2 January 1896, Homebush, New South Wales, Australia
  • Died 19 February 1984, Prospect, South Australia, Australia
  • Occupation Archivist, Librarian

Summary

Phyllis Mander-Jones was Mitchell Librarian from 1947 to 1957. In 1962 she became the first Australian Joint Copying Project Officer. She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1971 in recognition of her contribution to Australian history.

Details

Mander-Jones was educated at Abbotsleigh, a private girls’ school in Pymble, New South Wales. She went on to university after finishing school and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney in 1917.

Mander-Jones joined the staff of the Public Library of New South Wales in 1925 and worked her way up through the ranks. She was Mitchell Librarian between 1947-1957.

Based in the Australian High Commission in London, in 1962, she became the first Australian Joint Copying Project Officer. In 1964 she was appointed director of a survey of manuscripts in Britain and Ireland relating to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. Manuscripts in the British Isles relating to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, popularly known as the ‘Mander-Jones guide’, was published by the ANU Press in 1972.

After completing the survey of manuscripts in the British Isles, Mander-Jones remained in England for several years. She then returned to Australia and spent her last years in Adelaide compiling Catalogue of manuscripts in the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia (South Australian Branch) (1981).

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Events

  • 1971

    Appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for her service to Australian history

  • 1976

    Appointed Honorary Member of the Australian Society of Archivists

  • 1981

    Received the HCL Anderson Award, presented annually by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) for outstanding service to the library and information profession in Australia, to ALIA, or to the theory of library and information science or to the practice of library and information services

  • 1996

    The Australian Society of Archivists
    introduced the Mander Jones Awards for publications in the field of recordkeeping. The award honours Mander-Jones for her contributions to the profession

Archival resources

  • National Library of Australia, Manuscript Collection
    • Papers of Phyllis Mander-Jones 1964-1972 [manuscript]
  • State Library of New South Wales
    • Baiba Berzins - abbreviated and edited transcript of interview with Phyllis Mander-Jones, 1983

Published resources

Related entries


  • Related Organisations
    • Abbotsleigh (1885 - )