On arrival at Norton Conyers with a new exhibition to put on display, the project archivist found Sir James and Halina Graham in the kitchen, poring over a new discovery they had recently made in one of the attic rooms.

Sir James and Halina Graham with their new discovery [© North Yorkshire County Record Office]

As can be seen in the photograph above, they had found a brown, leather Gladstone bag containing a variety of letters, photos and legal documents.  From the contents, it appears that the items belonged to Sir Reginald Guy Graham, 9th Baronet (1878-1940), although some had belonged to his father, Sir Reginald Henry Graham (1835-1920).

Those of particular interest included a letter written by General Louis Botha regarding the Boer War; one of Sir Guy and Katherine’s wedding souvenirs, complete with portrait images and a press report, plus an account of a ghostly encounter from a weekend visitor. There was also a letter of reprimand written to Sir Reginald Henry concerning the conduct of one of his sons, who actually appears to have been an imposter given the nature of his behaviour. The fact that the letter remains shows it was a likely source of amusement. The writer was particularly outraged by the non-payment of borrowed monies, and the use of notepaper from expensive hotels, whilst the gent in question stayed in much cheaper lodgings.