Halfway round the harbour : an autobiography. Draft of Chapter 11., ca 1987-1993.

The Library has several other collections of papers and records associated with Sir Keith Sinclair. Most of these pertain to his research and writing for publication and include resources for A history of the University of Auckland, 1883-1993. This collection differs in that it contains personal, literary and academic papers.

Correspondence comprises Series 1 and, being the largest part of the collection, is divided into 6 subseries. Included are letters from female friends, literary acquaintances, fellow-historians, politicians, and communications pertaining to Sinclair’s positions at the University. Sinclair’s war-time correspondence with his parents and siblings, although censored, is particularly significant. Much detail of his daily life in included along with sketches and stories for his younger siblings.

Series 2 documents aspects of Sinclair’s childhood and teenage years; primarily, schooling and education. Along with his enthusiasm for pigeon breeding, an early interest in reading, writing and literature is clearly evident, and exemplified in The Ascot, a handwritten magazine (Item 2/1).

Papers pertaining to Sinclair’s academic work comprise Series 3. They are largely lecture notes for university courses on New Zealand history, but also include research resources and some correspondence. A similar, but broader, range of materials and subject matter is found in Series 4. Included are notes for radio broadcasts, draft articles, lectures, speeches and talks.

Documents pertaining largely to Sinclair’s naval service in WWII are found in Series 5. They include items pertaining to call-up and discharge, promotion, finances, entertainment, and correspondence in 1985 regarding eligibility to be awarded the Defence Medal.

Series 6 and 7 contain evidence of Sinclair’s literary and publication pursuits in the form of drafts of poems, short stories, plays, novels, and books. Features of some of Sinclair’s poem drafts are elaborate doodles around the margins, metre annotations and the use of armed forces and New Zealand Railways forms and paper. Series 6 includes material for Strangers or beasts : poems (NZP 821.91 S61st), Moontalk : poems new and selected (NZP 821.91 S61m), and The Firewheel tree (NZP 821.91 S61f). It also includes notebooks of Sinclair’s personal reflections. Much of Series 7 consists of drafts for each chapter of Halfway round the harbour : an autobiography, along with resources and proposals for other publications. It complements other papers pertaining to Sinclair’s publishing activities, in particular, those held in MSS & Archives 96/2 that were assembled for A history of the University of Auckland, 1883-1993. Series 6 and 7 both contain correspondence related to publication.

Series 8 comprises forty-six small diaries arranged in bundles for each decade, which cover 44 years. Two large books of clippings from newspapers and other periodicals, spanning several decades, make up Series 9. Additions to the clipping books that include obituaries for Sinclair and his contemporaries, and book reviews, continue posthumously until 2004.

This collection, which was received largely arranged in labelled suspension files, was donated by Professor Raewyn Dalziel in 2009.