Samuel Walker Griffith

Abstract

PREFACE n I first tasted the richness of the papers of Samuel Walker Griffith in then1960s when I was writing the biography of one of his closest friends,nWilliam MacGregor. Since that date, Griffith has increasingly become anpart of my life. I owe the idea of this biography to John La Nauze who,nwhile giving a lecture on federation to my Australian History class atnQueensland University in 1968, complained of the lack of a complete studynof this qstrangeq founding father. While he recognised that John Vockler'snmammoth undergraduate honours thesis was a considerable contributionn- a view with which I emphatically agree - he thought that more wasnneeded.n n The search for qmoreq has taken me repeatedly to the main repository ofnthe Griffith papers, the Dixson Library, and to the material, later acquired,ndownstairs in the Mitchell. Other Australian sources I consulted includenmaterials in the Queensland State Archives and the Oxley Library innBrisbane, and papers held by the family, particularly Thomas Brown andnOwen Griffith (whose interest and that of other relatives has been much appreciated).nOn sabbatical leaves in 1970 and 1978, I searched records innEngland, notably in the Public Records Office, as well as visiting his earliestnhomes: in Merthyr, Portishead and Wiveliscombe. In the United States, Inused the Musgrave papers in the Duke University Library.nMy Australian and overseas travel would not have been possible withoutnthe aid of research funds. I express my gratitude to Queensland, La Trobe,nGriffith and Duke Universities, and to the Australian Research Grantsnscheme.n n Regretfully, I was not able to spend an uninterrupted period in researchnor writing about Griffith. The initial sabbatical was followed by a fruitfulnperiod from 1971 to 1974 while I was teaching at Queensland University. Innthose years, research assistants gave me essential aid in exploring the massnof relevant material. Pioneer work was done by James O'Dwyer in thenQueensland State Archives. Nigel Sabine was a full-time worker on Griffithnfor some three years; his meticulous coverage of the archives material, hisnhelp in visits to Sydney, and his enthusiasm were invaluable. SubsequentlynKay Saunders, David Joyce and Ann Carrick assisted, particularly withnnewspaper references. Historians working on cognate topics aided me; JacknArnold and Allan Martin for instance. I presented some of my thoughts onnGriffith in an ANZAAS Paper at Perth in 1973. Already the dominance ofnthe law in his life had become clear.n n My move to Melbourne in 1975 meant I had even less time to work onnGriffith, although La Trobe University research funds enabled me to visitnSydney and Brisbane at least twice each year from 1975 to 1977. La Trobenhistory department's research assistant, Nicholas Dawes, helped sort andnindex my holdings. Six months of sabbatical leave in 1978 enabled me toncomplete the overseas work I had begun in 1970.n n Surrounded by piles of notes in my study (my wife, Barbara, called it thenGriffith room), I began writing in November 1978. Teaching, administrationnand other research projects continued, yet progress in writing wasnsteady. My work was stimulated by my being made a Research Fellow ofnGriffith University, where I visited regularly and addressed various groups.nI am especially grateful to Jim Walter and to Raija Nugent (who helped tienup loose research ends and uncover new lodes of material).n n I completed other studies on Griffith: in 1980 an analysis of hisnQueensland political achievements; in 1981 an exploration of hisnadolescence; in 1982 a summary of his life in 6000 words. Griffith alsonfigured in my work on the origin of modern political parties and on thenhistory of the Queensland labour movement.n n By March 1982 I had completed a first draft, a massive 780,000 words (inna handwriting even worse than Griffith's, which was devotedly translatedninto legible typescript, mainly by Brenda Joyce). This first draft includednvoluminous detail which even I, as a most enthusiastic Griffithophile, didnnot expect to be published. This is not the day of the Victorian multivolumenbiography in which no action of the subject was omitted. After completingnthe first draft, I began to select more rigorously, notably from his manynlegal cases, as well as to summarise details so painstakingly acquired. Inreduced the manuscript to 442,000 words by September 1982, and submittednthis version to the University of Queensland Press. To my chagrin -nbut with justification - the publisher thought the manuscript was still toonlong.n n At this stage I found help. Suggestions for further reductions, leaving thenmore significant material, were made by Heather Radi. Using thenguidelines from her skilled study of the manuscript, I reduced it betweennDecember 1982 and March 1983 to close to its present length of 200,000nwords. Uncomplainingly, Brenda yet again re-typed seemingly endlessnchanges. For the final process of editing by the press, I record my gratitudento Vivienne Dickson, who little realised the painful scars reopened by somenof her suggestions and questions. n After all these vicissitudes, I accept full responsibility for this publishednversion. It contains what I see as the essence of Griffith's involved politicalnand legal career. No biography can be definitive, and much more could benwritten on Griffith. I believe there is enough here to show the public mannand the times in which he worked, even if his inner self remains partlynhidden. I am not certain if I fully understand the qstrangeq man with whom Inhave been living so long. I regret that unifying interpretations have notnemerged from my La Trobe psycho-biography courses, despite the stimulation from Angus Maclntyre, as well as Dick Trahair and successive years ofnstudents. Intimations survive mainly in the footnotes. n I have had fluctuating concerns in Griffith: sometimes his major publicnachievements seemed vital; at others the details of his private life. I cannotnsolve the age-old riddle of the particular and the general, although I confessnto finding more and more appeal in unique experiences. To me, Griffith is anfascinating multi-faceted person: involved in so much (he has been called anRenaissance man), with a passionate inner life often far removed from thencold outer existence imposed by his master, the law. Certainly, my life hasnbeen enriched through my acquaintance with him.n