Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1930-1970 (Creation)
Level of description
Collection
Extent and medium
Loose papers in manila folders, 3 boxes
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Douglas Campbell Tilghman (d. 1970) served in the Australian Imperial Forces in 1917–18 and was wounded at the Battle of Hamel in 1918. Following his return to Australia, he held managerial positions in the Primary Producers’ Bank of Australia in Bega, Warwick and Dirranbandi. In 1931 he was commissioned by the Queensland Government to compile a handbook on Queensland. He later worked in local government and was town clerk of Yass from 1944 to 1951 and town and shire clerk of Bourke from 1951 to 1955. He wrote three articles on railways for the Territorian in 1965, and a report following a tour of NT in 1950 on agriculture & development, for the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture. He retired to Berry on the south coast of New South Wales. He had a strong interest in both US and Australian history and in his later years carried out research on the history of the Shoalhaven district and Bega and the lives of Hamilton Hume, Boyle Travis Finniss and Captain Daniel Woodriff. His wife Margarita Tilghman was a descendant of Daniel Woodriff. His collection of Australian books and pamphlets was bequeathed to the Moore College Library, while his Americana collection was given to the National Library of Australia
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Correspondence 1950-1968
Personal financial and other papers (some relating to Mrs Margarita Tilghman)
Orders of service 1930-1960s
Articles: American colonies, “A French Noel”, “The night the Germans bombed Abbeville and an American interlude”, On voting for Richard Nixon, New Testament portraits, “Railways for the North”, “All Saints – Good Friday 1955”
Collected ephemera and news clippings – includes issues of Grit from 1936, maps, pamphlets
Articles about (former) Rhodesia 1960s – 1 folder
Reports and circulars from the Australian Country Party 1957-1961 – 1 folder
Material on new states and decentralized government 1953-1962 – 2 folders
Files on historical figures: Captain Daniel Woodriff, Hamilton Hume, Thomas Willis Pulsford, the MacDougal family
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
None discernible
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open access