Donors to the University of Adelaide Library

Financial donations and bequests

Barr Smith Library

Robert and Tom Elder Barr Smith

During the early years of its life the University Library struggled to support the teaching and research needs of its community, with no Librarian and an average annual expenditure of £200 between 1877 and 1891.

The first significant external support came with the gift in 1892 of £1000 for the purchase of books by Robert Barr Smith, a wealthy pastoralist and a member of the University Council. Over the following years there were further gifts, totalling some £9000 by the time of Robert Barr Smith's death in 1915, and the importance of his contributions had been recognised by the naming of that portion of the collection purchased with his endowment as the Barr Smith Library. Moreover his example proved influential and even after his death the Library continued to receive generous support from the Barr Smith family.

In March 1920 his son Tom Elder Barr Smith gave £5000 "for the purpose of creating a Barr Smith Library Fund, the interest on which should be used for the purchase of books" and this was augmented the following May by a further £6000 provided by Tom Elder Barr Smith and other members of the family.

In 1927 Tom Elder Barr Smith made the further munificent offer of £20,000 to finance the construction of a separate building to house the University library.
The present Barr Smith Reading Room, was completed in 1932 at a final cost of almost £35,000, all of which was provided by Tom Elder Barr Smith.
It contains a frieze which reads:

ROBERT BARR SMITH DONIS PER SE ET HEREDES INDE AB A.D. MDCCCXCII IMPERTITIS BIBLIOTHECAM PRIOREM LIBRIS EXPLEVERAT
[Robert Barr Smith filled the earlier library with books as gifts from himself and his heirs, A.D. 1892 onwards.]

TOM ELDER BARR SMITH HANC BIBLIOTHECAM AD PATRIS NOMEN ORNANDVM SVMPTV SVO AEDIFICANDUM CVRAVIT A.D. MCMXXX
[Tom Elder Barr Smith has this library built at his own expense in honour of his father's name, A.D. 1930.]

On his own death in 1941 T.E. Barr Smith bequeathed a further sum of £10,000 to the University with the wish that it be invested and the income used for the purchase of books for the Barr Smith Library. Interest on this and the earlier fund is still producing an income that enables the purchase of items beyond the library budget.

Mitchell Family

A second series of endowments given by members of the Mitchell family in the remarkable spirit that characterised the gifts of the Barr Smiths and other families. In 1940, Sir William Mitchell, gave £5,000 to the University for the purchase of books for the Barr Smith Library. Sir William Mitchell was a son-in-law of Robert Barr Smith, Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor and Professor of English and Philosophy. In 1977 his son, Sir Mark Mitchell, former Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Biochemistry, made a similar bequest to the University, with a legacy of $10,000 for the Library. No special conditions were attached to their gifts and the interest received enables the purchase of items beyond the scope of the annual allocations.

In 1986 Mrs J.R. Thomson, sister of Sir Mark, established a further fund "for the purposes of the Barr Smith Library" with a gift of $10,000. At the discretion of the Librarian this fund is currently used to purchase journals in science and medicine.

Benham and Earl Bequests

Two further substantial endowments have been received from individuals associated with particular departments of the University. In 1969 the University received notification of a major legacy under the will of Mr Edward Warner Benham, a lawyer and part-time lecturer in the law of property from 1910-1938. In accordance with Mr Benham's wishes this endowment, valued at almost $200,000 on receipt, is used to purchase works in English literature, British history and the law of property, private international law and British legal history. This endowment has made possible some very significant purchases in English literature, notably relating to William Blake, and has enabled the library to develop a fine collection in British History, which has even been the envy of scholars visiting from the UK.

In 1977 the Library received a further unexpected bequest from Professor J.C. Earl, a former lecturer and Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Sydney who spent his earlier years in Australia on the staff of the South Australian Department of Chemistry and who on his return to Adelaide in 1967 took an active part in the seminars of the Department of Organic Chemistry. His bequest of almost $80,000 to the University for the purpose of the Barr Smith Library is to be used for acquisitions "especially in the field of history".

Sir Geoffrey Badger and A.M. Cowan Funds

Continuing in this tradition of support for the Library by former members of the University are the funds established in 1978 by Sir Geoffrey Badger, former Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Organic Chemistry, and a bequest from William Albert Cowan, former University Librarian 1933-1964, received from Mrs A.M. Cowan in 1985. The G.M. Badger Fund, established by an initial gift of $10,000 and later supplemented to almost $28,000, with a further $12,000 being received in 1989 by transfer of Sir Geoffrey's donation to an medical library appeal, has been used to purchase items for the research collections, including the Pacific Collection (an area in which Sir Geoffrey had a particular interest) and to assist a range of special purchases, as the first edition (1638) of the Discorsi e dimostrazioni matematiche of Galileo Galilei, purchased as the Library's millionth volume in 1979. Interest on the generous bequest of $20,000 received from Mrs. Cowan is spent on journals, particularly in the areas of medical and scientific research related to diabetes. More recently the Cowan Grant has established Bill Cowan Barr Smith Library Fellowship to provide financial assistance towards study for postgraduate degrees by research using the collections of the Barr Smith Library. The Cowan Grant was founded in 1994 on the estate of Marnie and Bill Cowan to provide financial assistance for students and offers a range of scholarships.

Hutchison Fund

In 1996-97 the library received $300,000 from the estate of Mr Ben Hutchison, an Adelaide bookseller, who bequeathed the bulk of his considerable estate to be divided equally between Flinders University Library, the State Library of South Australia, and the University of Adelaide Library. The annual interest on this amount is used to purchase 19th century materials and research collections.

In 2002 the library received a bequest of $10,000 from the estate of Mr Ken L. Berndt, a former lecturer at Adelaide Teachers' College. Discussions with his family revealed that his interest included mathematics and mathematical games, opera, and detective fiction. The library has a long tradition of collecting crime fiction, so much of the bequest went towards enhancing our holdings in that area. Inspired by this, Maureen Bell has created a library web page entitled Murder in the Library to assist those wanting to further explore this genre. The library has subsequently, in 2007, received a donation of several hundred historic detective fiction books from Mr J.O.C. Fellows, a solicitor of Sydney.

Tim Mares and Robin Eaden, formerly of the English Department, were tragically killed in a road accident in 2003. Robin left a bequest of some $16,000 which has been used to purchase books on gardens and cookery, and for conservation projects in Special Collections.

Miss K. Lillemor Andersen worked at the Barr Smith Library for 42 years and upon her death in 2006, left generous bequests to the Elder Conservatorium of Music, The Art Gallery of South Australia and the Barr Smith Library. Interest on this fund will be used to purchase books for the library.

Joanna Simpson (great granddaughter of Robert Barr Smith and granddaughter of William Mitchell) 2007 legacy of $100,000 to the Barr Smith Library to be used for resources in the literature and structure of languages other than English. This amount has been further increased by gifts from family and friends.

Throughout the history of the Barr Smith Library, a number of other smaller, but nonetheless very welcome, monetary donations, have been received:

1918
A donation of £500 by Mrs A.M. Simpson in 1918 enabled the establishment of the A.M. Simpson Library in Aeronautics in memory of her late husband, Alfred Muller Simpson, son of the founder of A. Simpson and Son Ltd. and a successful businessman and administrator keenly interested in aviation.

1924
The Elizabeth Jackson Memorial Fund, established in 1924 by a gift of £650 raised by public subscription and a £100 donation by Methodist Ladies College Old Scholars' Association, enabled the foundation of a library collection in child psychology in memory of Sarah Elizabeth Jackson, a former assistant lecturer and tutor in philosophy at the University who died in 1923 at the age of 32.

1952
The balance of the sum of £256 (increased to £456 in 1952) raised by public subscription in 1948 to found the Violet de Mole prize and library in French in honour of Miss de Mole, a teacher and University examiner in French, has been used to purchase works for the Library on French language and literature

1954
Mrs A.L.C. Shorney's gift of £1,000 in 1954 endowed the Henry Shorney Memorial Library as a memorial to her husband, with interest on this sum being used to purchase major texts on ophthalmology and otorhinolaryngology

1957-1966
Elizabeth Mills bequest.

1961-1969
Georgina Mills Estate for purchase of materials about Indian history.

1969
$500 left to the University by Sir Henry Simpson Newland on his death was spent on the purchase of items on the history of medicine.

From the 1960's
AJ Schulz fund was used to purchase material for the Schulz Library in the Dept of Education but 'a copy of each book must be available for general use in the Barr Smith Library'.

1965
The Australian Planning Institute began supporting the town planning collection with a donation of 500 pounds.

1977
The library's Special Collections was allocated a substantial sum from the University's centenary Appeal.

1970's-80's
The library received an annual donation from the Adelaide University Book Exchange.

1980's
Animal Products Research Fund was used, in a pre-electronic age, to ensure the quickest dissemination of scientific information by paying the airmail postage on a number of scientific journals for the Waite Library, Medical Library and Biochemistry Department.

1985
An anonymous donation of $10,000 for the Biological Science Texts Fund to be used for Australian flora and fauna texts and ecological texts

1987
Mrs Joyce Batty and her sons made a donation to provide for the annual purchase of a reference work in engineering in honour of her late husband, Len Batty D.C.M, and "as encouragement for students to achieve their ambitions".

1994
$13,5000 from the University's Alumni Association.
$2,400 from the Friends of Charles Rischbieth Jury.

Branch and Campus Libraries

The branch and campus libraries of the University have also had their generous benefactors.

Roseworthy Campus Library

The collections of the Roseworthy Campus Library have greatly benefited from the bequests of E.G. Stephens, made in memory of his brother, C.F. Stephens, a gold medallist at the College in 1916 who was killed in action in World War I. Mr. Stephens' initial bequest of $11,000 in 1976 was expended in purchases for the College Library, particularly reference works, and in investments returning annual income for further purchases. In his will Mr Stephens made a further magnificent bequest of $100,000 to the College, which is also being used to extend the research collections of the Library.

Roseworthy library also benefited from a donation from the Barons of Barossa Oenological Foundation of $4,600 in 1983, the College's Centenary year.

Library of the Waite Agricultural Research Institute

The Waite Library is indebted to the generosity of Dr Clarence Sherwood Piper, an eminent soil scientist and member of the academic staff in the Department of Agricultural Chemistry from 1925 to 1956, and Mrs. Sheila Piper, who made separate bequests to the Library in 1988. The income from their bequests, which total more than $389,000, is used to purchase, and bind where necessary, books, journals and other works on pure chemistry, soil chemistry and plant nutrition.

Law Library

The Law Library, in a scheme initiated during celebration of the Law School centenary in 1983, received annual sponsorship of particular journal titles from a number of law firms, barristers' chambers and individual lawyers. Although the number of sponsors has diminished, the amount was about $9,000 in 2008.
It also shares in the EW Benham bequest.