Henry Lynch was N M Rothschild and Son's representative in Brazil from 1919 until his retirement in 1957. Palin, an employee of the bank in London, describes Lynch in his memoirs Rothschild Relish (1970):
"This great character, a member of an old-established Anglo-Brazilian family, was a partner in an import and export business but more importantly for us he was the agent and representative in Brazil of NMR. He was a bachelor, tall, with a complexion which deepened during the years I knew him from pink to purple, fond of good living, and occupying a unique position in Rio, where he was sometimes said to be more the British Ambassador than the British Ambassador was. Knowing and known to everybody who was anybody in governmental, political, financial, commercial and social circles, he always seemed to me to be supremely well fitted for his job."
Lynch became indispensable to the bank, and was dedicated to the promotion of British interests in Brazil. He sent the bank regular and detailed information and advice on commercial, political, and economic matters, and was a conduit to the very highest levels of Brazilian government. His correspondence files for the years 1919-1940 discuss inter alia proposed loans; loans being sought and issued elsewhere; and developments at the Banco do Brasil. Henry Lynch's files can be found in the Archive's special correspondence series.
