Jones Collection

The Jones Collection brings together over 4,000 photographs, negatives and transparencies of motorcycles, races and vintage cars. It also includes personal papers, books, serials and 17 oral history interviews. The material spans the history of motorcycles in Australia, with a strong focus on racing, riders and the annual Bathurst events.

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Key items in the collection

The Jones Collection covers all aspects of motorcycles, such as their history, models and makes, road racing, trials, scrambles, hill climbing, speedway, quarter mile racing, tourist trophy, clubs and biographies of riders. There is a strong focus on the annual Bathurst events.

The manuscripts and papers relate largely to the history of motorcycle racing in Australia and the research undertaken by Jones for his book Historic Motor Cycling. They are arranged in the following series:

Correspondence, 1974–85
Manuscripts and notes
Subject files, 1900–72
Competitions — Bathurst, 1931–80
Competitions — general, 1929–80
Clubs, 1948–82
Photographs
General printed material
Press cuttings, 1908–69
Miscellaneous

The oral history component of the collection comprises 17 reels and three cassettes. The condition of some of them is poor.

The collection contains 83 Australian and 95 overseas serials, and 23 Australian and 67 overseas books. A majority of the serial titles comprise five issues or less and no runs are complete. Among the more substantial runs are:

Australian Motorcycle News (Melbourne) 1967–79
Australian Motorcycle Action (Melbourne) 1972–75
Motor Cycle Mechanics (London) 1963–74
The Motor Cycle (London) 1933–38 and 1950–67
Revs (Sydney) 1967–70
Two Wheels (Melbourne) 1969–82

About Peter Jones

Peter Jones, who was born in England, was a joiner, cabinet maker and boat builder.

Career in writing

In the late 1960s he began to write feature articles for Australian motorcycle magazines, such as Two Wheels and Revs, and he eventually became a full-time writer. He developed a special interest in the early history of motorcycling in Australia and accumulated a great deal of research material and memorabilia on the subject.

Contributions to motorcycling history

He was President of the Historic Racing Register. His book Historic Motor Cycling was published in 1978. He also compiled The Classic Age of Motoring (1980), a pictorial work to commemorate the holding of the 1978 International Veteran and Vintage Motor Rally on the eastern coast of Australia.

Background to the collection

After 1980, Jones’ interest in motorcycling declined, and he offered his collection of books, magazines, manuscripts, photographs, posters and sound recordings for sale. The Library acquired it in 1986.

The Jones Collection manuscripts, papers and photographic prints are kept together in the Manuscripts collection. Use the finding aid.

The slides, transparencies and negatives are kept in the Pictures collection. There are no listings.

The oral history recordings are kept together in the Oral History and Foklore collection at TRC 2469. They have not been individually catalogued.

The books and serials have been integrated into the Australian and general collections.