A collection of newspaper articles, letters and pamphlets written by Thomas Horton James (1792-1867). Mr. James settled in New South Wales in 1824 and finally departed Australia in 1838. He founded the first tobacco manufactory in the colony and had numerous business interests, amongst which were trading as a merchant, cedar logging, fishing and farming. He was also a land agent and a developer and subdivider of real estate. Mr. James was active in colonial life and took up the causes of the day, including immigration, duties on imports, and the promotion of agriculture, notably tobacco. Although little known today, he was well regarded in his early years, being appointed as the foreman to the colony's first Grand Jury and appointed president of the Sydney Bank, a venture which ultimately failed to proceed. Eventually his business ventures failed and he returned to England.The legacy of Mr. James is in his written works. He wrote for "The Australian" and "The Sydney Gazette" newspapers and became a co-proprietor of "The Australian". He later helped establish the "Sydney Times" and the "Commercial Journal and Advertiser". He wrote under his own name, under pseudonyms (most famously as X.Y.Z and Rubio) and anonymously. His most famous written works are the "X.Y.Z. Letters" (for which he has rarely been acknowledged as the author) and he also wrote other works, including "Six Months in South Australia" and "Rambles in the United States and Canada during the year 1845". ' (Publication summary)
