urn:taro:utexas.hrc.00201 Arthur Douglas Bruce Hamilton: A Preliminary Inventory of His Papers at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center Text converted by SPI Content Sciences Inc., July 2003. Finding aid written in English. Arthur Douglas Bruce Hamilton Papers 1929-1990 16 boxes, 1 oversize box, 1 oversize file folder (7.72 linear feet) Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, The University of Texas at Austin Hamilton, Arthur Douglas Bruce, 1900-1974 The papers include materials for published works, drafts and notes of unpublished or minor works, correspondence, biographical works about his family, and personal papers including articles, biographical and genealogical information, financial papers, notebooks, and family photographs. There is also a great deal of material covering cricket and the history of British colonies in the Caribbean, in the form of newspaper articles and Hamilton's regular world events column in the Barbados Advocate. Acquisition:

Gift, 1999 (Gift no. 11415)

 Access:

Open for research

 Processed by:

Alex Jasinski and Liz Murray, 2003

 Scope and Contents

The papers of British writer Bruce Hamilton span a fifty year writing and teaching career, including material for his published and unpublished works, as well as correspondence and material related to his family.

The collection is organized in four series: I. Works; II. Correspondence, 1929-1990; III. Personal; and IV. Family Papers.

The works in Series I are arranged alphabetically and primarily include drafts and notes of unpublished or minor works, and biographical works about family members and family history. Hamilton is known for his novels To Be Hanged; Middle Class Murder; Pro; and So Sad, So Fresh; the biography of his brother Patrick, The Light Went Out; and the play The Home Front which he wrote with his sister Helen. While the collection contains only associated material for some of these published works, it does include typescript drafts for the early years of his autobiography; an article on his father Bernard; a novel about his brother Patrick, A Case for Cain; a book on Shelley and Elizabeth Hitchener; as well as articles, plays, and poems. Hamilton's literary career was also devoted to cricket coverage and the history of British colonies in the Caribbean, especially during his thirty-five years in Barbados. Much of this material is present in the form of newspaper articles, as well as Hamilton's regular world events column in the Barbados Advocate.

The personal correspondence of Hamilton and his wife Aileen is found in Series II, especially letters exchanged throughout their marriage. Letters from other family members, friends, and publishers are also present.

Series III contains Hamilton's personal papers including articles about him, biographical and genealogical information, financial papers, notebooks, and family photographs. Material on Hamilton's 1964 appointment as a Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is found in this series.

The family papers in Series IV include considerable material on Aileen's artistic career as well as her daybooks from 1968-1984. Material on Hamilton's brother Patrick and sister Helen, a writer and an actress known by her stage name Diana, is also present.

Several of Aileen Hamilton's sketches were transferred to the HRC Art Collection.

 Bruce Hamilton Papers--Folder List I. Works 1 1 Autobiography, childhood years, typescripts and notes 1 2 Bernard--A Tragi-Comedy, article on Hamilton's father, typescript draft A Case for Cain, novel 1 3-5 Handwritten draft 1 6-7 Typescript 2 1-2 Typescript, carbon 2 3 Typescript, photocopy, through p.218 Destroying Angel and Brown Demon 2 4-6 Typescript copies with corrections 2 7 Notes on P. B. Shelley and Elizabeth Hitchener 3 1 Director of Education, handwritten draft 3 2 Gettysburg Night, play, printed and typescript versions 3 3 The Hanging Judge, play based on novel, adapted by Raymond Massey 3 4 Holland House, typescript, notes, and photograph of Holland House cadets 3 5 The Home Front, programs for play written with Diana Hamilton 3 6 The Home Magazine, juvenilia 3 7-8 Keats, corrected typescripts and notes 3 9 The Last Order, typescript 3 10 Lectures The Light Went Out: The Life of Patrick Hamilton 3 11 Handwritten and typescript draft fragments 3 12 Fan letters 3 13 Publicity photos 4 1 The Lost Tests, typescript 4 2 Middle Class Murder, novel, Tauchnitz edition 4 3 Nor This the Only Time, playscript with corrections 4 4 A Plan for Smoking: How to Cut DOWN Cigarettes, typescript draft 4 5 Plays for radio, A Lost Love and The Two Captains, with correspondence 4 6 Reviews of plays and the Bridgetown Players 4 7-8 Russia To-Day, April and May 1934 issues containing Hamilton's articles; handwritten diary of a trip to Russia and a notebook in Russian 4 9 Sago Pudding, typescript 4 10 700 Yaw, handwritten draft Short Dictionary of English History 4 11 Handwritten draft and notes 4 12 Typescript 4 13 Smarty Outsmarted, play 4 14 Triptych, poem, printed copies 5 1 Twelve Famous Tests, typescripts 5 2-4 Newspaper articles, primarily for the Barbados Advocate 5 5-9 Handwritten and typescript fragments, unidentified works II. Correspondence, 1929-1990 6 1 Condolences, on Bruce's death 6 2 Emtage, Joyce Hamilton, Aileen to Bruce Hamilton 6 3 1929-40 6 4 1941-47 6 5 1955-74 Hamilton, Bruce to Aileen Hamilton 6 6 1933-47 6 7 1952-56 6 8 1957-68 and n.d. 7 1 Hamilton, Ellen 7 2-4 Hamilton, Helen 7 5 Hamilton, Patrick 7 6 Mackehenie, Charles 7 7 Martin, Lois M. Publishers and agents 7 8 1947-74 7 9 1974-90 8 1 Queree, Enid 8 2 Robinson, Kenneth General Correspondence 8 3 A-C 8 4 D-E 8 5 F-G 8 6 H-K 8 7 L-P 9 1 R-Z Unidentified, by first name 9 2 A-G 9 3 H-N 9 4 O-Z 9 5 Unidentified 10 1 Unidentified, cont'd III. Personal 10 2 Articles about Bruce Hamilton 10 3-4 Articles about works of Bruce and Patrick Hamilton [scrapbook removed to oversize box 17] 10 5 Biographical material and obituaries 10 6 Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, 1964, appointment papers and correspondence 10 7 Diary and notebook 10 8 Financial papers 10 9 Genealogy, including Aileen Hamilton's family 11 1 Notebooks 11 2 Personal documents 11 3-6 Photographs, family 11 7 Stamp collection IV. Family Papers Aileen Hamilton 12 1 Articles about 12 2 Artistic career 12 3 Chalky Mount, property in Barbados Daybooks 12 4 1968-69 12 5 1970-73 12 6 1974-78 13 1 1979-84 13 2 Diary, 1975-77 13 3 Exhibitions 13 4-5 Financial papers 13 6 Notes and miscellaneous material 14 1-5 Notes and miscellaneous material, cont'd 14 6 Passover, poem 15 1 Sketches and photographs of paintings 15 2 Will 15 3 Hamilton, Bernard 15 4 Hamilton, Ellen Hamilton, Helen 15 5 Articles about 15 6 Correspondence 15 7 Diaries 15 8-9 Middle Class Murder, radio script adaptation Hamilton, Patrick 15 10 Articles by and about 15 11 Obituaries 15 12 Will 15 Hamilton, Walter, Rev., commemorative retirement book, 1898 [removed to oversize box 17] 15 13 Wildman, Edward, papers re: Bruce Hamilton's great grandfather 16 1-6 Print material [oversize material removed to oversize flat folder] 17 Oversize