Sunday 18 August 2013

A MAGICAL HISTORY TOUR


At first I didn't know what had made me buy this oil painting. He looks quite kindly, but he's not exactly Johnny Depp (or Benedict Cumberbatch, depending on your taste). He didn't cost me much - the lovely Georgian frame alone was worth the price.


The Reverend B. Richardson - when I got home his name rang a bell. I'd recently read Simon Winchester's excellent book, "The Map That Changed The World" which tells the story of William "Strata" Smith, 1769 to 1839, a surveyor with a bright and enquiring mind but only a rudimentary education, who became fascinated by the fossils he found in different layers of rock, deducing how these might date the strata. When he tried to present his ideas to learned society he was subjected to a snobbish and dismissive attitude. It was in these circumstances that the Reverend Benjamin Richardson (see above), also a keen fossil collector, befriended him and gave him support.

 

In 1815 Smith published the first geological map of Britain, from which modern maps hardly differ. Smith's life was not easy; at one point he was imprisoned for debt and his wife suffered from recurring mental breakdowns throughout her life. After his experience in the debtors' prison he and his wife lived in Scarborough in Yorkshire for two years, from 1826 to 1828, under the patronage of Sir John Johnstone, a member of the Scarborough Philosophical Society. The Society raised funds to build the Rotunda Museum in the town, to Smith's design. You can visit this wonderful building and its treasures today.






A few miles down the road from Scarborough is another location which excited Georgian geologically-inclined minds - it is a field behind The Wold Cottage in Wold Newton where a meteorite fell in December 1795.
     

More importantly, it was witnessed falling from the heavens - at the end of the 18th century there was great controversy over the origins of these "stones from the sky". Many did not believe this phenomenon was possible, a French scholar Guillaume Deluc describing it as "a peasant's fable". On this occasion, in Wold Newton, one of the peasants who actually saw and heard the meteorite was George Sawdon, a carpenter - and Mr N's many times great grandfather.



Here is his evidence...


"George Sawdon, carpenter, above mentioned, deposes he was walking with James Watson at the time, heard noises in the air like the reports of a pistol, and was about 50 yards from the place when the rock fell; was certain that there was no lightning at the time. Went up to the spot, and there saw the stone sticking in the chalk which the above John Shipley saw fall. Helped to dig it out, and assisted in weighing it in Merlin's balance - weight about 56 lb. It smelt very strongly of sulphur on being dug up.
(Signed) George Sawdon."
Besides the three who saw the meteorite fall, other locals heard the loud noise and felt the vibrations it created. The event proved to be instrumental in the acceptance of the fact that stones did indeed fall from the sky and this one is the earliest surviving example seen to land in the UK. You can see it yourself in the Natural History Museum - it looks like this...


A monument was built on the spot where the meteorite fell.
It is on private property, but we have sometimes glimpsed it across the fields as we search for rare objects of a different kind.


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17 comments:

  1. Dear Nilly - I think that you enjoy the pursuit of the hunt as much as the actually purchasing. Anybody buying one of your little gems not only gets a slice of history but an essay too.
    I haven't read "The Map That Changed The World" but H has, and he thought that it was a marvellous book - perhaps I had better retrieve it from the bookcase.

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    1. You would enjoy the book too Rosemary, you've mentioned yourself that this was a fascinating period with so many new ideas and advances in knowledge.

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  2. Billy, I learn something new each time I visit here. What an interesting painting and story to go with.

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    1. Pleased to meet you Elizabeth and thank you for having a look!

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  3. ~ Nilly you really do your 'home work' on your blog posts! ~ Again I have learnt some thing new about some one else...Hugs Maria x

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    1. I'm a bit of a geek, aren't I Maria!

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  4. Excellent literary detection! Thanks for offering to look out for Dora Billington's tapestry "The Park". I would love to see it.

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    1. I'll keep looking. Thank you too for introducing me to art potters I'd not encountered before.

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  5. What a story Nilly, fancy Mr N's great, great, ditto, ditto, grandfather seeing the meteorite fall.

    Life moves in mysterious ways.

    You tell a good yarn, interesting and informative as well.

    LLX

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    1. Don't get me started on family history! It is my belief that if everyone delved into their ancestor's stories - so easy with the internet - they'd come up with similar interesting tales. Spend an evening online with The British Newspaper Archive for just £6.95 and you'll find out things about them you might wish you hadn't!

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  6. You're right ... he's no Johnny Depp, but he provides an interesting story!

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    1. I think everything & everyone has an interesting tale to tell, don't you?
      Just look beneath the surface...

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  7. I start smiling before your post even opens on my screen. Today has been an absolutely delight! And I now know exactly which book I have to read!! You are quite magical, Nilly - thank you!
    Axxx

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    1. Mr N said that nobody would believe this one, but it is true. If you scratch the surface, there are so many interesting stories. I thought our ancestors would be poor, worthy but boring when I started looking at genealogy. Nothing could be further from the truth - except for the "poor" bit!

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  8. You should have been a detective not an antique dealer... Your investigative skills are brilliant.
    Might catch up with you at New college, Durham if you can make it,
    Julie x

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    1. Thank you Julie - of course Miss Marple is my hero. Love her style as well!
      Might see you Monday - have a good fair!

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  9. Another great find, and another great story to go with it. Wonderful stuff Nilly, I look forward to your next find. Jx

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