Claasz Collection

The Claasz Collection includes papers, books, maps and ephemera on Ceylon, with a focus on the tea industry including its history, politics, botany, ancient cities, and arts collected by Manfred Claasz.

Asia Food and drink

Key items in the collection

Highlights from this collection demonstrate its historical significance and variety.

The Manfred Claasz Collection comprises about 200 books and pamphlets and 73 serial titles. Most of the works were published in Ceylon or relate to Ceylon, including its history, politics, botany, fauna, national parks, the tea industry, ancient cities, paintings and other arts. There are several tourist guides and similar publications. The serials include:

Tropical agriculturist (1883-86)
Royal College magazine (1953-60)
Journal of the Dutch Burgher Union of Ceylon (1908-33),
Bulletin : the journal of the Ceylon Planters' Society (1948-72)
Tea quarterly (1933-38, 1967, 1975-84).

The Collection includes a number of manuscripts and archival records of the tea industry in Ceylon and particularly the estates of the Scottish Tea and Lands Company of Ceylon. There are also extensive records of the ANU Press, the National Gallery of Australia and the Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation.

Of particular interest is an ola (palm leaf) manuscript which a friend of Claasz had found in an antique shop in Colombo. Almost certainly written in a Buddhist temple in the early nineteenth century, it is in old Singhala and deals with the casting of horoscopes.

The collection contains 11 maps (35 sheets) of Ceylon. They comprise several maps issued by the Survey Department of Ceylon, including one of Haputale (1966), and two British Admiralty charts of coasts of Ceylon (1910, 1913). There is also a diazo print of factory plant at Haputale.

From an early age, Claasz created and accumulated personal papers and the collection documents in great detail his life from his schooldays in Ceylon until about 1990. The papers include school reports, certificates, family letters, diaries, notebooks, general and personal correspondence, job applications, scrapbooks, newspaper cuttings and photographs.

About Manfred Claasz

Early life and work in Ceylon

Manfred Hans Claasz (1942-2024) was born in Ceylon and educated at the Royal College, Colombo. From August 1962 to March 1972, he was employed by the Scottish Tea and Lands Company of Ceylon. He worked initially at the Plaiderie Division of Sarnia Group, Kandegedera, and later at Mahadowa Division, Mahadowa Group, Madulsima. He spent 5 years as Superintendent and Manager of Haputale Estate, Haputale. He was a member of the Dutch Burgher Union of Ceylon.

Migration to Australia and professional career

In April 1972, Claasz emigrated to Australia. He first lived in Sydney and married Christine Margaret Thorpe in January 1973 before moving to Canberra in 1975. He was the Finance Officer at the ANU Press from 1976 to 1980, during which time he completed a Bachelor of Economics at the Australian National University. He also worked as Assistant Business Manager of the Research Schools of Social Sciences and Pacific Studies.

From 1982 to 1987, Claasz served as Financial Manager at the Australian National Gallery. He later moved to Cooma to become General Manager, Corporate Services, at the Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation. Between 1992 and 1994, he was Head of Corporate Services at the Australian Institute of Marine Science in Townsville. In later years, he worked for several other organisations.

Collecting interests

As a young man, Claasz acquired books, pamphlets, maps and ephemera relating to the Ceylon tea country. He wrote that ‘I used the books to educate myself about the archaeology, history and geography of the tea country; I incorporated parts of the histories into my diaries’.

Background to the collection

In 1984, the first instalment of the collection was donated by Claasz under the Taxation Incentives for the Arts Scheme. He donated a second instalment in 1993.

The printed materials in the Claasz Collection are catalogued individually and kept together in Asian Collections.

The maps are catalogued individually in the Maps Collection.

The manuscripts and personal papers are kept together within the Manuscripts Collection. The papers have only been roughly organised and access to them is restricted. Use the finding-aid.

This guide was prepared using these references: