Historical information

This is an original letter written by Peter Adam to Edward Vidler in 1907. Peter Adam was a pioneer settler in the Warrnambool district and the letter records his life beginning with his arrival in 1854 and concluding with his connection with the Kinnear family who acquired the historic property of Allandale in 1906. The letter also refers to the sending of a photograph and a sum of money for the right to have the photograph included on Warrnambool’s Pioneer Honor Board. The recipient of the letter, Edward Vidler, was Secretary of the Warrnambool and District Progress league and Secretary of the Warrnambool Chamber of Commerce and Manufactures in 1907 and he proposed producing a Pioneer Honour Board as part of Warrnambool’s 60th anniversary celebrations. He contacted many of the pioneers or their families and asked for a photograph, a fee and a biography and had the Boadrd made. For many reasons, including financial ones, the Pioneer Honour Board was not seen by the Warrnambool public until the 1920s but today it is one of Warrnambool’s great treasures.

Significance

This letter is original and is of the utmost importance as it gives personal information about the life of Peter Adam, a person on Warrnambool’s Pioneer Honour Board and it refers to the submission of a photograph for placement on the board. This is one of only two letters that we know of that refers to the sending of a photograph and the fee charged for its inclusion on the Pioneer Board. The recipient of the letter, Edward Vidler, is important in Warrnambool’s history as the person most responsible for producing the Warrnambool Pioneer Honour Board, one of Warrnambool’s historical treasures.

Physical description

This is a letter on a piece of paper folded to make four pages with three of these pages containing handwriting in black ink. The paper has been torn and mended with adhesive tape.