• FULL TITLE: ‘The Coming Commonwealth. An Australian Handbook of Federal Government’
  • Published by Angus and Robertson, Sydney, 1987 (1st edition).
  • Octavo, 192, 16 (publisher’s advertisement) pages.
  • The Author: [Sir] Robert Randolph Garran (1867-1957) was a lawyer and in the 1890s a dedicated worker for the Federation movement. In 1901 he was appointed the first Commonwealth public servant as Secretary of the Attorney-General’s Department, and parliamentary draftsman.’ (ADB)
  • PROVENANCE: Contains the bookplate of [Sir] Josiah Henry Simon, ‘Manoah’.
  • Sir Josiah Henry Symons (1846-1934) was a South Australian lawyer and politician who heavily influenced both the timing and formulation of the 1901 Commonwealth of Australia. ‘His major contribution to Australian politics related to Federation. Symon opposed the Federal council bill in 1884, arguing that it would delay or prevent the attainment of a real Federation and endanger responsible government. Already in touch with (Sir) Edmund Barton and inclined to question the Federal commitment of South Australia's premier Charles Kingston, Symon became president of the Australasian Federation League of South Australia in 1895, and later of the Commonwealth league. He brought the popular Federal movement to life in the colony. He aimed, as well, to win the support of newly enfranchised women in South Australia for the Federal movement.’ (ADB)
  • Federal Attorney-General: ‘ Symon was attorney-general in the Reid-McLean government of 1904-05’. (ADB)
  • Library at Manoah: ‘The library at his Upper Sturt estate, Manoah, grew to be one of the best in the country: consisting of some ten thousand volumes … He bequeathed his legal books to the university and the remainder (especially rich in English literature) was given to the Public Library of South Australia where it is retained as a separate collection.’ (ADB) 
  • KCMG: ‘In January 1901 Symon was appointed K.C.M.G. [Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George] for services to the cause of Federation.’ (ADB)
  • Scotch College Adelaide: In 1930 Symons gave £1000 to Scotch College, Adelaide, for an English literature scholarship.
  • Other Philanthropy: His charitable donation and practical assistance included Aboriginal health (establishing the Eleanor Symon Hospital at Innaminka) , women (‘he donated £10,000 for a Women's Union (the Lady Symon Building) and insisted that it be managed by university women’) and assisting the intellectually disabled (Minda Home). (ADB)