Official letters from Henry and Frank Rymill to John Graham, June 1867-December 1876

Component identifier:

File 4

Content Summary:

The letters are numbered 1-127. Although they are mostly signed H. F. Rymill, they were almost all written by Henry Rymill. They deal with the engagement of the brothers as Graham's agent in Adelaide (1867), their relations with Henry Ayers, the formation of their partnership, the South Australian Mining Association, meetings of shareholders and directors, the copper market, the Burra Railway Bill, visits to Burra, mining machinery, wages, smelting operations, the future of the Burra Mine, mineral surveys and the Kapunda, Wallaroo and Moonta mines. The letters also touch on their growing pastoral interests, property transactions, Canowie and Curnamona Stations, visits to Canowie Station (1873-74), shearing, agricultural production, and the Royal Agricultural Show.

More general subjects include economic conditions in South Australia, political events, the Bank of Adelaide, the political career of Sir Henry Ayers, the visit of the Duke of Edinburgh to Australia (1868-69), the Northern Territory Company, and the shipment of goods to England. There are references to the children of Henry Ayers, the estate of Robert Rymill, Graham's family, the health and death of Louisa Graham (1870) and Graham's illnesses (he died in 1876). Among the many individuals mentioned in the letters are Frederick and John Beck, Arthur Blyth, John Darlington, Matthew H. Finniss, Charles B. Fisher, Thomas Goode (the superintendent at Canowie), J. Frederick Hayward, Sir George Kingston, William Peacock, Henry Roach and Robert Sanders.

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