Stanley Melbourne Bruce – Fact sheet 74

Stanley Melbourne Bruce (NAA: A6180, 20/5/74/41)

Prime Minister of Australia 1923–29

Born in Australia in 1883 and raised in Melbourne, Stanley Melbourne Bruce studied at Cambridge before settling in London in the years before World War I. During the war he served with the British Army in Egypt (where he was awarded the Military medal) and Gallipoli (where he was awarded the French Croix de Guerre). Wounded at Gallipoli in 1915 he was invalided to London. In 1917 Bruce returned to Australia to join the family importing firm of Paterson, Laing and Bruce.

Bruce entered the House of Representatives in 1918, winning a by-election for the seat of Flinders. He served as Treasurer (1921–23) in the Hughes Nationalist Government, and became Prime Minister in 1923 when new coalition partners, the Country Party (led by Earle Page), would not accept Hughes as Nationalist Party leader. As well as Prime Minister in the Bruce–Page Government, Bruce also held the portfolios of External Affairs (1923–29), Health (1927–28), and Trade and Customs (1928).

Legislation designed to return responsibility for conciliation and arbitration to the states caused the downfall of Bruce’s Government in 1929 when Hughes and a number of his colleagues who had defected from the Labor Party in 1917 voted with the Opposition to defeat the bills. Bruce lost his seat in the subsequent election and, although he regained it in 1931, he resigned from parliament in 1933 to take up appointment as (Australian Minister (later High Commissioner) in London. As well as serving as High Commissioner from 1933 to 1945, Bruce also represented Australia at the League of Nations during the 1930s.

Records of Stanley Melbourne Bruce held by the National Archives

The National Archives holds a comprehensive collection of records created and accumulated by Stanley Bruce. These include private records covering his personal achievements, but also records relating to his period as Prime Minister, minister and member of parliament, and his long period of service as High Commissioner in London.

Memento, Issue 24 – 'An officer and a gentleman' (pdf, 980kb)

Research guide – Stanley Melbourne Bruce: Guide to the Archives of Australia's Prime Ministers

In the tables below, reference numbers direct you to the item or series in RecordSearch.

Stanley Melbourne Bruce's records held in Canberra

	Series title	Date range	Series number
	Stanley Melbourne Bruce's records held in Canberra	1906–46	A1487
	Parliamentary Debates, 1917–29	1917–29	AA1970/67
	Decorations, insignia, presentations and other objects	1919–57	AA1970/557
	Miscellaneous official and private papers	1918–67	AA1970/555
	Election pamphlet for Nationalist candidate Captain Bruce	1919	A1495
	Notes of deputations to the Prime Minister	1919–29	CP362/2
	Correspondence with Rt Hon. WM Hughes, MP	1921–23	A1492
	Books from the personal library of SM Bruce	1921–62	AA1970/558
	Documents concerning the Hughes Cabinet	1922	A1494
	Volume of press cuttings relating to Imperial Conference	1923–24	A1486
	Negotiations between the Nationalist and Country Parties	1923–57	A1493
	Speeches and articles written by SM Bruce	1923–24	A1489
	Speeches by the Prime Minister	1923–28	CP362/3
	Personal papers of the Prime Minister	1923–28	CP362/4
	Papers accumulated by SM Bruce	1923–45	AA1970/559
	Correspondence with External Affairs Liaison Officer, London	1924–29	A1420
	File of carbon copies of speeches on economic issues	1924–26	A1490
	Printed copies of addresses	1924–25	A1491
	Correspondence with Senator RV Wilson	1924	A1496
	Correspondence with Frank Lidgett McDougall	1924–29	M111
	Folders of annual correspondence	1926–64	M104
	Papers relating to visit to London	1926–27	CP362/5
	Travel and appointments diaries of SM Bruce	1930–40	M113
	Binders of debt conversion notes, cables and correspondence	1932–33	M110
	Folders of official papers and correspondence, London	1932–45	M2236
	Correspondence with RG Casey	1933	A1421
	Photograph album of Conference de Montreux 1936, Montreux Palace	1936	M112
	Photograph album of High Commissioners for the Dominions and for India and Ambassadors to the Court of St James, London	1937	M114
	Supplementary war files	1938–43	M103
	Monthly war files	1939–45	M100
	Subject index to monthly war files	1939–41	M102
	Detailed name and subject index to monthly war files	1939–45	M109
	Name index to monthly war files	1943–45	M101
	Copies of Citations on Award of Honorary Degrees and Freedom of Cities	1967	A1488