Album containing 20 menus, 12 seating plans and 23 photographs from Parliament House in Canberra, dating from 1927 to 1944

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Type: Albums
Date: 1927 - 1944
Place: Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia; Old Parliament House, Parkes, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Materials: Cardboard, Ink, Paper, Textile - non specific
Collection: Betty Hall collection
Accession number: 1996.0034.0002.001

Description

A green album of 41 pages. The cover of the album is stained and worn and is tearing around the edges and on the corners. The paper inside the album is extremely brittle and fragile. This album contains 20 menus, 12 seating plans and 23 photographs from Parliament House in Canberra, dating from 1927 to 1944. It includes material relating to General Macarthur's visit to Australia, Eleanor Roosevelt's visit, WM Hughes, JB Chifley, Baron Gowrie and John Curtin.

About the collection

The Betty Hall Collection represents a unique collection of material relating to the history of the Parliamentary Dining Rooms in the Provisional Parliament House. This collection was put together by Mr H L Napthali who worked as the Chief Steward in the Parliamentary Refreshment Rooms from 1939 - 1945. He moved to Canberra in 1939 after having worked in the NSW Parliamentary Refreshment Rooms. While at Provisional Parliament House Mr Napthali supervised a staff of fifty people and was responsible for purchasing as well as servicing the various bars and dining rooms within the House. He was also responsible for organising special dinners for commemorative occasions and for overseas visitors. Mr Napthali accumulated material relating to the history of the Federal Parliament both when worked in the NSW Parliament and in the Federal Parliament.

Read live from the Museum's Collection API (12/11/2026, 4:58:32 am). Record last updated by the Museum 2025-09-11. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.