Digitisation Update 3 April 2024

More than 20,000 photographs relating to the operations of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company (CSR), which formed in 1855 and is one of Australia’s oldest and most successful companies, have now been digitised. 

The photographs relate to all aspects of the company’s operations in Australia and the Pacific dating from the late 1800s to late 1900s. 

The collection provides insight into the operations of one of Australia’s longest-running companies, and more broadly, the history of manufacturing in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific across the 19th and 20th centuries. It contains a rich collection of business documents, photos of plantations, refineries, labs and offices, and advertising materials.

These photographs date from circa 1920s and highlight the activities of Corona Station, one of Australia’s largest pastoral stations near Longreach, Queensland. The station was owned by the Australian Agricultural Company from 1912 to 1980. These photographs depict the operations of the large sheep and cattle station and the lives of those who lived and worked on the station throughout the 1920s. The collection includes photos of Aboriginal stockmen and housemaids.

Annual reports from 1825 through to 1900 produced by the Australian Agricultural Company provide insight to the company’s sheep cattle and mining operations across Australia.

These reports record the business operations of Australia’s oldest continually operating company, providing details relating to Australia’s pastoral and mining industries throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.

The North Australia Research Unit (NARU) was established in 1973 to specialise in research in northern Australia and to provide a base and logistic support for ANU and other Australian and overseas institutions undertaking research in northern Australia. 328 theses relating to the research carried out by NARU have now been digitised. 

New additions to the ANU Archives collection include ANU Undergraduate Handbooks 1994-1996.