Primary contact
10/20 Young Street, Neutral BaySydney, New South Wales 2089
Identity area
Identifier
daa/606
Authorized form of name
Seaborn, Broughton and Walford Foundation Archives and Library, Sydney
Parallel form(s) of name
Other form(s) of name
- S,B&W Foundation Archives and Library SBW Foundation Archives and Library
Type
- Community
Contact area
Archivist
Type
Address
Street address
10/20 Young Street, Neutral Bay
Locality
Sydney
Region
New South Wales
Country name
Postal code
2089
Telephone
02 9955 5444
Fax
Note
Description area
History
The Seaborn, Broughton and Walford Foundation was founded in 1986 as a charitable organisation to benefit the Australian Performing Arts.
The mission of The Foundation is to promote and encourage the knowledge, understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of drama, opera, dance, mime, music, puppetry and all other forms and facets of the performing arts in all their expressions within Australia.
Its founder, Dr Rodney Frederick Marsden Seaborn AO OBE (1912-2008) was a Sydney psychiatrist and a patron of the performing arts.
When the Stables Theatre in Kings Cross, home to the Griffin Theatre Company, went up for sale in 1986 and risked possible demolition, Dr Seaborn bought it. At the same time, he established a charitable trust to benefit the performing arts, so that theatre lovers could join as Friends and assist him in his new role as a performing arts philanthropist.
He named the trust the Seaborn, Broughton and Walford Foundation, incorporating his family’s names, and invited his cousins Dr Peter Broughton and Leslie Walford onto the Founding Board.
He also created the Seaborn, Broughton and Walford Foundation Archive, Library and Performing Arts Collection.
The SB&W Foundation is custodian of a large accumulation of archives and manuscripts which are of considerable historical significance for the study of the performing arts in Australia. These archives and manuscripts were initially part of a collaborative project with NIDA, the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney, with the object of preserving them and making them accessible to the wider community through the internet.
For further information about the history, see http://www.sbwfoundation.com
Geographical and cultural context
Mandates/Sources of authority
Administrative structure
Records management and collecting policies
The scope of the archival and library collections of The Foundation are defined in broad terms and comprehend practically all aspects of the history and development of theatre and the performing arts in Australia. The Foundation’s collections embrace drama, opera, dance, ballet, mime, music, puppetry and all other forms and facets of the performing arts.
Buildings
Holdings
- John West Archives
- Marionette Theatre of Australia Archives
- Allan Lees Collection
- The James Cassius Williamson Personal Diary 1909
- Sydney George Matthew Irving Papers
- The Griffin Theatre Company Archives
- Peter Morrison Publicity Pty Ltd Archives
Finding aids, guides and publications
Access area
Opening times
Access is by appointment. Please contact archivist@sbwfoundation.com
Access conditions and requirements
Accessibility
Services area
Research services
Reproduction services
Public areas
Control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation, revision and deletion
Created 3 January 2021
Language(s)
Script(s)
Sources
Maintenance notes
Access points
Access Points
- Arts and Culture (Thematic area)