Papers of Brian Beddie
MSS 371
Collection Title
Papers of Brian BeddieCollection Identifier
MSS 371Inclusive date(s)
1900 to 1991Extent and Medium
Creator(s)
Category
Subject: Terms(s)
Subject: Person(s)
Subject: Organisation(s)
Collection Description
Papers and reference material assembled by Professor Brian Beddie relating to Australian defence policy and administration.
Administrative / Biographical history
Brian Dugan Beddie (15 November 1920 – 26 February 1994) went to the University of Sydney in 1938, studying Philosophy under Professor John Anderson. He then commenced law studies but after the bombing of Pearl Harbour enlisted in the army as a gunner.
In May 1944, he joined the Department of External Affairs as a diplomatic cadet. After accompanying Sir Keith Officer on short-term missions to Indonesia and Thailand and a posting in Singapore, he returned to External Affairs in Canberra at the end of 1946. He left the Department to join Canberra University College in 1948, where he lectured in politics. When the college closed in 1952, he went to the London School of Economics on a Rockefeller Scholarship where he started his PhD supervised by the political theorist, Michael Oakeshott.
In 1955, Beddie returned to Australia to take up a senior lectureship at the Australian National University. There, with Professor L F Crisp, he established a department of political science. He left ANU in 1970 to take up the foundation Chair in Government at the University of New South Wales at RMC Duntroon. There he was Professor of Government and for a time Dean of the Faculty of Military Studies. He retired in 1984 just before the new ADFA campus opened. He was made a Professor Emeritus by UNSW https://www.unsw.edu.au/about-us/emeriti/list-emeriti. There is an annual prize awarded in his name at UNSW Canberra for the best performance in final year International and Political Studies.
Beddie served two terms as editor of Australian Outlook and was for seven years Research Chairman of the Australian Institute of International Affairs. He was a member of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.
Acquisition Details
Scope and Content
This collection comprises notes, copies and press clippings, collected and arranged in a logical way by Professor Brian Beddie and related to books he authored which are considered to be seminal works: 'An education for officers' and 'Some aspects of aid to the civil power in Australia'. The collection reflects his research interests and breadth of scholarship.
Access Restrictions
Other
Access: Open access
Copying: Copying of material written by Brian Beddie approved. Copying of other material subject to standard terms of the Copyright Act.
Existence and Location of Orginals
Disclaimer
This collection contains a variety of copyright material. Copyright is held by the creator of each item. Specific conditions for this collection are listed above. If no conditions are stipulated then the standard terms of the Copyright Act apply for published and unpublished items. Digitised material from manuscript collections is provided to clients by UNSW Canberra in good faith for private study and research only, and may not be published or re-purposed without the express and written permission of the individual legal holder of that copyright. Refer also to the UNSW copyright, disclaimer and takedown policy.