Kinmont Family
Theatre memorabilia
MSS 0221
Bibliographic Note
Joan Kinmont was a poet and playwright, born May 9, 1908 in Port Lincoln South Australia. She was most well known for her poem "This, My Son" written during World War II. The poem had initially started as a play, however later evolved into the poem which went on to sell over 10,000 copies, being reprinted several times and eventually going on to be republished in England in 1945. In addition to her poetry Joan wrote several plays, two of which were performed by the Australian Broadcasting Commission. Joan had three daughters, Jennifer, Meredith and Felicity. Joan passed away in London on August 17, 1985.
These papers were collected by Joan's daughter Jennifer, and contains theatre and film related scrapbooks created by Joan, along with programmes collected by Jenny's cousin Julie Pawsey and letters from friend of the family Hermia Wollaston.
Also available is a digital copy of select pages from the Kinmont family scrapbook album related to William Kinmont and can be found on our Digital Archive.
Contents
Box 1 - Ballet
Peggy Sager
- Photograph Album
Margot Fonteyn
- 1 Scrapbook Album (contains cuttings, and programmes) also includes material related to Rudolf Nureyev) –Stored in Box 14 (oversize)
- Looseleaf newspaper cuttings
- 1 Photograph of Fonteyn and Somes in Swan Lake. 1958 – Stored in Box 14 (oversize).
Borovansky Ballet
- 1 scrapbook album
- 1 photograph album
- 1 folder newspaper cuttings
- Programmes (some signed by cast)
- 2 programmes 1938
- 2 programmes 1945
- 2 programmes 1951
- 1 programme 1952
- 7 programmes 1954 (many signed by cast)
- 1 programme 1955
- 1 programme 1955-56
- 1 programme 1957
- 3 programmes 1957-58
- 1 programme 1959-60
- 1 programme 1965
Rudolf Nureyev
- Newspaper/Magazine Cuttings
- Programmes/Booklets
- I am dancer. Nureyev.
- Nureyev Festival. London Coliseum. June 10 – July 5, 1980
- The Australian Ballet. Elizabethan Theatre – New Town: April 21, 25, 28, May 25. Palais Theatre – St. Kilda: May 7, 12, 16
- London Festival Ballet. Australian Tour 1975
- Photographs
- Incl. 2 stored in Box 14 (oversize)
Royal Ballet
- Cuttings
- Svetlana Beriosova – cuttings
- Scrapbook Remnant – Stored in Box 14 (oversize)
Box 2 - Ballet, Theatre, Cinema, Opera, Music
The Australian Ballet
- Newspaper Cuttings
- Booklets/Programmes
- The Australian Ballet: Introduction of Classical Dancing
- Trust News. September 1964
- Trust News. March 1965
- Elizabethan Theatre. Gala Programme. September 29, 1964. Special Programme to mark the tenth anniversary of the formation of the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust.
- Scrapbook Remnant.
Ballet – General interest (historical)
- Misc. cuttings and programmes
British Theatre
- Cuttings
Cinema
- Magazine Cuttings
- Photographs – some unidentified
- Lewis Ayers
- Charles Farrell and Elissa Landi in Body and Soul
- Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell in The Man Who Came Back
- Charles Farrell in Liliom
- Joan Crawford
- John Gilbert
Opera - Joan Sutherland
- Loose photographs
- Loose newspaper cuttings
- Programmes/souvenir booklets/magazines etc
- Opera Australia – September 1975, no 4.
- Covent Garden Books 12
- Joan Sutherland Sings Decca – a complete catalogue of all Joan Sutherland Recordings
- Women’s Weekly Presents: a guide to the Sutherland Opera Season
- Records and Recording. December 1960.
- Records and Recording. May 1965. Volume 8, Number 8
Music - General
- Cuttings (including Richard Tauber, Dame Nellie Melba, Philip Hargreaves, Eileen Joyce and others)
- LP recording – Si mes vers avaient des ailes sung by Nellie Melba. March 1904 London - Stored in Box 14 (oversize)
Miscellaneous
- Gallery First Nighter’s Club Souvenir – contains signatures
- Mounted Photograph of Kathleen Gorham in “Les Sylphides”
- Misc. Newspaper cuttings
- Cuttings of photographs from newspaper mounted in decorative wooden frame – Stored in Box 14 (oversize)
Box 3 - Allan Wilkie, William Kinmont and Scrapbooks
For more Wilkie Material see Allan Wilkie Papers
Wilkie material collected by Joan Kinmont
- Photographs
- Cuttings
- Actors Photographs
Wilkie material collected by Hermia Wollaston.
- Scrapbook. Contains some signed photographs
- Souvenir of the Shakespearean Season
- Photographs from 1948 onwards
- Letters
- Newspaper cuttings
Programmes/booklets collected by Julie Pawsey (Jenny Kinmont’s Cousin)
- Shakespearean Quarterly
- Volume 1, No. 1
- Volume 2, No. 1 – No. 4
- Volume 3, No. 2 – No. 3
William Kinmont
In 1891 the 24-year old William Kinmont left his native Scotland to try his luck in the dominions. In October 1893 he started working as Private Secretary to Sir Thomas Elder. In December 1893 Kinmont was thrown from his horse while riding on Glen Osmond Road near Birksgate and he died some weeks later from his injuries. Sir Thomas obviously thought a great deal of him, the funeral leaving from Elder’s house, the Pinnacles, before William being buried at Stirling Cemetery. William’s possessions must have been returned to his family after his death, including a transcript of Elder's “Notes from a Pocket Journal: A Trip to Lake Hope” in William’s handwriting, and a journal in Thomas Elder’s hand containing an unrecorded lecture delivered to a working men’s organisation during a trip to England. These have been transferred to the Sir Thomas Elder Papers
- MS 'Common-Place Book' Hynam 1891.Includes attendance record at Hyam Sunday School, hymns and extracts from magazines etc. [Kinmont was tutor to the children of Adam Smith of Hyam, Narracorte in 1891]
- MS declaration of commitment to appear in "The Hyam School Dramatic Co." proucyion 28th June 1892 and MS transcript pf "A Clever Catch: a new and clear tragedy in two acts" by Alex. Vere de Vere.
- Letters to Kinmont from Lenore Smith of Hyam, 1/10/1893
- Invitation card from Mrs Barr Smith 'At Home' Saturday afternoon October 7th [189 or 3] Torrens Park.
- MS "Address to Children: Learn of Me - Follow Me" Mt Barker, SA. 3rd January 1892 / W. Kinmont.[4] p.
- Newspaper Cuttings, including Kinmont's obituary
- Photographs
- Application to University of Tasmania as candidate for the lectureship in classics and English literature with references
- Material related to Adelaide Detchon [According to family history, William was rather taken with the American born lyricist and poet, Adelaide Detchon, and assisted in organising her Edinburgh concerts. Unfortunately, Adelaide was keener on her career than she was on William, and he made the decision to emigrate to South Australia.]
Box 4-13 - Scrapbooks made by Joan Kinmont
Featuring actors, ballet, screen actors, other personalities, fashion & art photography. Dated approximately 1930-1940.
Boxes 4-6
Scrapbooks A – F, H (7 Books)
Boxes 6-8
Scrapbooks numbered 1-5, 7, 10, 12 (8 books)
Boxes 9-12
“Screen” Books numbered 12-24 (12 books)
Box 13
Incomplete or damaged scrapbooks. Loose Scrapbook material
Box 14 - Oversize material
- 1 Scrapbook Album (contains cuttings, and programmes) also includes material related to Rudolf Nureyev)
- 2 Photographs Rudolf Nureyev
- Royal Ballet Scrapbook Remnant
- LP recording – Si mes vers avaient des ailes sung by Nellie Melba. March 1904 London
- Cuttings of photographs from newspaper mounted in decorative wooden frame
- 1 Photograph of Fonteyn and Somes in Swan Lake. 1958.
| Page from Joan's Scrapbooks | ||
