A fascinating manuscript document, thanking Mitchell for his gift to Queen Victoria of his 'Work on Australia, and a Set of his Maps'.

A fascinating manuscript document, thanking Mitchell for his gift to Queen Victoria of his 'Work on Australia, and a Set of his Maps'.

The letter is dated December 1838 (that is, slightly prior to the actual publication of Three Expeditions into the Interior of Australia), and is undoubtedly a significant document relating to Mitchell's fervent desire to be knighted: the Australian Dictionary of Biography notes that during this period Mitchell was in London, where he was much occupied with 'a long correspondence with the Colonial Office to obtain a knighthood.' Lingering doubts about some of his earlier actions delayed the process, but he was duly given the award in 1839.

The letter reads: 'Sir Henry Wheatley presents his compliments to Major Mitchell, and begs to acknowledge the receipt of his letter of November 30, accompanied with a copy of his Work on Australia, and a Set of his Maps, which Sir Henry has not failed to submit to the Queen, and which Her Majesty was most graciously pleased to accept, and has directed Sir Henry to express Her Majesty's sense of Major Mitchell's attention on this occasion.'

Major-General Sir Henry Wheatley, Baronet (1777-1852), was the Keeper of the Privy Purse for King William the Fourth and Queen Victoria from 1830 to 1846. He had served with the Grenadier Guards in Holland, and was aide-de-camp to Sir Harry Burrard during the Battle of Copenhagen.