University of Texas at Austin

Arthur Douglas Bruce Hamilton:

A Preliminary Inventory of His Papers at the Harry Ransom Center

Creator: Hamilton, Arthur Douglas Bruce, 1900-1974
Title: Arthur Douglas Bruce Hamilton Papers
Dates: 1929-1990
Extent: 16 boxes, 1 oversize box, 1 oversize file folder (7.72 linear feet)
Abstract: The papers include materials for published works, drafts and notes of unpublished or minor works, correspondence, biographical works about his family, and personal papers including articles, biographical and genealogical information,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.
Call Number: Manuscript Collection MS-05026
Language: English
Access: Open for research


Administrative Information


Acquisition: Gift, 1999 (Gift no. 11415)
Processed by: Alex Jasinski and Liz Murray, 2003
Repository:

Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin

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British writer Bruce Hamilton span a fifty year writing and teaching career, including material for his published and unpublished works, as well as correspondence and material related to his family.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The works in Series I are arranged alphabetically and primarily include drafts and notes of unpublished or minor works, and biographical works about family members and family history.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