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Thursday 20 June 1929
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I THE MAN OF THE WEEK
S (1) Dr. J. S. Battye.
J Researches into the history of * f Western Australia have been al- j £ most the life-long hobby of $ ï James Sykes Battye, Litt. D., i J B-A., LLB., general secretary of * i the Public Libi'ary. Museum * { and Art Gallery ot Western J í Australia since 1912, mern- j > ber of the University Senate, Í J and vice-chairman of the Cen- í ff tenary Celebrations Executive ? { Committee. He first devoted Í í his at- 5
ten tion fl to the fl his tory fl
of the x State g when, 2 with Mr. fl Maleol m S Fraser S (the late fi Regie- 2 trar-Gen- fl eral) and fl Mr. W. S S i e ben- 2 haar (De- 2 puty Re- fl
gistrar-General), he checked the historical notes contained in the year book of Western Australia, 1902. On completing that work, which involved collection of ma- terial from the Public-Records Office (London), the Admiral- ty's journals of early sea cap- tains and the records of the Colonial Office (London), he maintained his interest in West Australian history and after 20 years' research wrote a thesis for his doctorate which was ac- cepted by the Melbourne Uni- versity. Some years ago the Government appointed a State Archives Committee, bf which he was chairman, to consider the preservation of important his- torical records, hut lack of funds retarded the work. Recently the committee was re-organised and hopes eventually to publish pub- lic and private historical docu- ments relating to the establish- ment and early history of West- ern Australia. Much of the suc- cess of the Centenary celebra- tions to date may be attributed to Dr. Buttye's untiring efforts.