Outgoing letters

The ten official letter books cover two periods. The first eight, from 1817-43, with very few gaps, consist of outgoing business correspondence relating to both partnerships, Green & Hodgson, and Hodgson& Robinson. The vast majority of recipients are customers or contacts, such as Christopher and James Rawdon, the Fielden Brothers, Owen Owens, etc. Other recipients include Joseph Green, the original partner based in England; the managers of ranches owned by the firm and its associates, namely James Stewart, Thomas Quan and James Prestlin; and, occasionally, family members.

The last two letter books relate to the period when Hodgson had returned to England, but was still carrying on correspondence with contacts in Argentina, especially concerning the ranch which he owned in Cordoba province (with the Fielden Brothers and John Nicholson as his partners). Indeed, the whole of Letter Book 9 is dedicated to the establishment and administration of a sheep breeding farm on the Tambito estancia, with Hodgson writing endless letters to its manager Thomas Slatter over a period of seven years.

All of the letter books, with the exception of Number 9 (which is concerned entirely with the Tambito ranch, and only includes letters to three people: John Nicholson, Thomas Fielden and Thomas Slatter), have been indexed by recipient where this was not the case; all indexes may be found in an appendix at the rear of the list. Where possible, addresses have been included for ease of identification.