An autograph letter (Adelaide, 12 May 1851) signed by Henry Ayers in his capacity as secretary of the South Australian Mining Association
Small quarto, 2 pages (the first leaf of a bifolium).
Horizontal and vertical creases where folded for posting; last (blank) page a little marked; in excellent condition.
The letter is addressed to James Charles Coke, then the company's mine storekeeper at Burra, and relates to procedures for the 'sampling, weighing, taking water weight etc.' of copper ores. It is accompanied by a second document in Ayers' hand, also signed by him (4 pages, a uniform bifolium), copying 'a detailed statement of the system adopted here in sampling, drying for water weight &c. &c. of ore' from Messrs. Leach, Richardson & Co., copper merchants in Swansea, Wales. 'The Ayers and Cokes had emigrated on the same ship, the former in Steerage and the Cokes in the Cabin ... James [Coke] was well placed to fill the gaps in Henry's knowledge in this new sphere of activity. Coke's brother-in-law, the well-credentialed Captain William Llewellyn Powell ... maintained a faithful correspondence during the years of James' absence in the colony. He supplied James with both merchandise for selling in Adelaide and inside information on James' parent merchanting house in Swansea: Leach, Richardson and Company' (Jason Shute: 'Henry Ayers: The Man Who Became A Rock'). The relationship, initially occasionally fraught, became increasingly fruitful. In October 1849 Coke accepted a post as the SAMA's mine storekeeper at Burra. The 'Australian Dictionary of Biography' describes Sir Henry Ayers (1821-1897) as a 'legislator and businessman'; the details are a great deal more interesting than that. 'He emigrated, as a carpenter, with free passages for himself and his bride, and arrived in 1840 in Adelaide. He worked as a law clerk in the office of (Sir) James Fisher until 1845, when he was appointed secretary of the South Australian Mining Association; its copper mines at Burra Burra yielded fifteen dividends of 200 per cent each in the next five years. Ayers had bought forty-five of the original £5 shares, and by 1850 controlled sufficient votes of absentee shareholders to be elected managing director of the association.... On 9 March 1857 Ayers entered the first Legislative Council under responsible government in South Australia, the youngest member elected. Though still fully occupied with his own and his clients' lucrative business, he soon made his mark as a forceful politician': not least, he was Premier of SA for a record seven times between 1863 and 1873 ... [2 items].
Item #121973
Price (AUD):
$750.00