VPRS 16807 General Correspondence Files

According to the Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) Archives Department the files within this series represent the only general correspondence files for the Royal Children's Hospital known to be extant for the period 1896-1984. They represent a sample/example only of the correspondence and business of the RCH.While the provenance of the files is mixed, the majority of the files were most likely maintained by the three RCH Managers: William ('Dick') C. Feint, 1954-1970; E. Gordon Chislett 1967-1968; and Murray C. Clarke 1971-1981. Another possible partial provenance is that of the Medical Director, Dr. L.E.G. Sloan (a card attached to a file had a note to a secretary which was signed 'S').Most of the correspondence is inward with some outward replies. Correspondence is arranged in manila folders. Folders are arranged alphabetically. Nothing is known about the original filing system in the Manager's office, but there are reference numbers at the top of outward correspondence and a 'date received' stamp is evident on many inwards papers. The original filing system has been disturbed.The Accessions Register maintained by the RCH Archives Department records that the original files were previously culled by volunteer historical room attendants and artificially arranged by subject. It is not known what criteria were used for retaining material.Prior to transfer to Public Record Office Victoria, the records in this series were maintained as part of the RCH Archives. They were part of RCH accession number 2006/008.

据皇家儿童医院（Royal Children's Hospital，简称RCH）档案部门资料表明，本系列档案为1896年至1984年间该医院现存的唯一通用往来函件档案，仅为皇家儿童医院业务与函件档案的抽样样本。尽管本批档案的来源混杂，但绝大多数档案极有可能由三位RCH经理负责管理：1954年至1970年任职的威廉·（‘迪克’）C·费恩特（William ('Dick') C. Feint）、1967年至1968年任职的E·戈登·奇斯利特（E. Gordon Chislett），以及1971年至1981年任职的默里·C·克拉克（Murray C. Clarke）。另有部分档案的可能来源为时任医务主任L.E.G.斯隆博士（Dr. L.E.G. Sloan）——某档案附有的卡片上留有一封落款为‘S’的致秘书便签。本批函件以收文为主，附带部分对外回复函件，均收纳于马尼拉文件夹（manila folders）中，且文件夹按字母顺序排列。目前无从得知经理办公室原有的归档体系，但对外函件顶部标注有归档编号，多数收文文件上盖有“收件日期”戳记，原归档体系已遭破坏。皇家儿童医院档案部门维护的入藏登记册（Accessions Register）显示，本批原始档案曾由志愿历史室管理员进行筛选，并按主题人工分类整理，目前尚未明确当时筛选留存档案所依据的标准。在移交至维多利亚公共档案办公室（Public Record Office Victoria）之前，本系列档案曾作为皇家儿童医院档案的一部分进行保管，其入藏编号为RCH 2006/008。