James Graham was described by the late Professor Manning Clark as 'one of those thoroughly decent bourgeois merchants who set the tone of Australian city life for generations to come'. He was one of the early pioneers to settle in Melbourne and, over a period of sixty years, wrote an enormous number of lively, detailed letters which paint a vivid picture of life in the growing town. Graham was well-known to many of the pioneers of early Melbourne including Charles Joseph La Trobe, Redmond Barry, Georgiana McCrae and William Clark Haines. His letters describe such high-profile contemporary events as the Eureka Stockade, the opening of Melbourne's first railway line, Sir Charles Hotham's first Ball and Supper at Government House, the arrival of the All-England Cricket team and the escape of the bushranger Melville.