Richmond Town Council: Collection Highlights

This silver bowl, known as a Monteith, was used to chill wine glasses. The scalloped rim of the bowl allows up to 8 wine glasses to be suspended in iced water. This particular example has a detachable rim (also called a collar) so that it may also function as a punch bowl.

It was presented to the Corporation of Richmond by Mayor Cuthbert Readshaw in 1754 for use by future Mayors. As a wine merchant he presumably enjoyed using the Monteith during his period in office while Mayor and as an Alderman.

The bowl is decorated with the Common Seal of the Corporation of Richmond on one side and on the other, a stags head holding an oak branch in its mouth, the crest of the Readshaw family.

The bowl, or Monteith, was made by Richard Timbrell (makers mark TI) of Sherborne Lane, London in 1699-1700. Like many goldsmiths at the time he was also a banker. Richard first began working as a goldsmith in 1697 and in the same year he petitioned against the work being produced by Huguenot (French Protestants) goldsmiths who moved to England after the Edict of Nantes in 1685. They brought new styles and skills with them but met resistance from some of their English counterparts.

A small, oak casket inlaid with delicate silver oak leaves on all sides. On the lid is the crest of the Merchant Tailors who presented the casket to Samuel Moulton Barratt MP in recognition of being granted the Freedom of Richmond. The casket contains the original sealed document granting Samuel this honour. The interior of the lid is lined with tortoiseshell inlaid with brass, called boulle work after the French cabinet maker André-Charles Boulle (1642-1732).

The Freedom of a borough, town or city is an honour granted by that town or city to an individual giving them rights and privileges. Freedom of the borough could be granted either by birth, by apprenticeship or by grant from the Council and once granted the individual was known as a Burgess. One of their rights was to sanction decisions, proposals and accounts made by the Mayor and Aldermen. During the 1830s there were approximately 50 free burgesses who were also residents. There were a further 15-20 who were non-resident.

Samuel was born in 1787 at Cinnamon Hill, an enslaved labour planation in Jamaica, which he eventually inherited from his brother Edward. Samuel also owned an estate in Britain at Carlton, near Richmond, and he represented the Borough of Richmond in the Houses of Parliament 1820-1827.

Legislation made the trade of enslaved people illegal within the British Empire from 1^st May 1807; however this did not grant enslaved people freedom. Emancipation was not achieved until 1838. Incredibly none of those who were freed received compensation while enslaved labour plantation owners did.

According to his biography in the History of Parliament, Samuel faced the contradiction of being an enslaver and a Whig who supported the abolition of slavery. There were 1100 enslaved people at his estates. Even though Samuel abolished the use of the whip, appointed a Black overseer and built houses, schools and churches, they remained enslaved.

When the difficulties of running the estates in Jamaica became more pressing, Samuel moved there, resigning his seat in Parliament in November 1827. Samuel died at Cinnamon Hill, Jamaica, in December 1837.

If you’ve ever been to court over a dispute, you’ll know how expensive that can be. Sir Mark Millbank of the Barningham Estate and John Hutton of Marske put their money to better use following a disagreement.

When a snowstorm disrupted a race in Richmond during the 1750s, Mark and John couldn’t agree who won the race. Rather than re-running the race, they agreed to spend the prize money on a piece of silver to be donated to the Corporation of Richmond.

The race was run at Richmond Racecourse, an oval shaped course which saw races as early as 1512. From the mid-18^th century onwards it included a stone-built grandstand which enabled spectators to view the entire course while protected from the unpredictable Yorkshire weather. As horses were bred to become stronger and faster, the Richmond racecourse, with its tight turns, eventually became unsafe to run and closed in the 1890s.

The tankard was made 1686-1687 by Marmaduke Best from the parish of St Michael’s, Spurriergate, York who is considered one of the finest goldsmiths from the city. It was not uncommon for pieces of silver to be repurposed and engraved with inscriptions at a later date.

High above Whitcliffe Scar, above the north bank of the River Swale, is Willance’s Leap. A bridle path follows the top of the Scar where, in 1606, Robert Willance was out hunting. As an unexpected fog closed in, the horse bolted, plunging with its rider over the cliff to fall 212 feet to the rocks below. The horse, killed in the fall, cushioned Robert’s landing although he suffered a terrible injury to his leg, which was later amputated. Robert Willance was the first Alderman of Richmond in 1608, he was also a prospector in the local lead mines, as well as a wealthy draper.

Robert gifted this silver cup to the Corporation of Richmond. The cup has a plain silver bowl above a knopped stem (globular ornament mid-way on the stem) decorated with 3 scrolls and a raised decorated foot. It was made 1595-1596 in London by an unidentified goldsmith (markers mark AB within a shield over a tun or wine cask). It was inscribed at a later date to mark the good fortune of his survival.

This silver cigar cutter represents the connection between the Green Howards regiment and its home town of Richmond. It was presented to the town on 3^rd July 1970 by Colonel John Forbes on behalf of the Green Howards.

It had originally been presented to the 3^rd Battalion The Princess of Wales’s Own The Yorkshire Regiment (a previous name for the Green Howards regiment) by Major John Lodge when he was promoted in 1891. The cigar cutter was made by William Gibson and John Langman of Regents Street, London in 1890, who co-owned a large jewellers and silversmith retailer from 1880-1898.

John came from a prominent family who lived at The Rookery Bishopdale near Aysgarth. He joined the Yorkshire Regiment in 1881. During World War I John returned to military service and was appointed command of a Garrison Battalion. Outside of his military career John was a Justice of the Peace, a skilled angler and marksman. He never married or had children. John died at home on 23^rd August 1917 aged 60, not long after Rowland Henry Hill completed his portrait which now hangs in The Green Howards Museum.

William Wetwange was the first Mayor of Richmond following the charter issued by King Charles II in 1668. The Corporation was made up of 12 Aldermen, one of whom became the Mayor and served for one year. Each year, two Aldermen would be selected to be potential mayoral candidates. The Freemen of the Borough, mostly members of the 13 trade companies or guilds, would vote for their preferred Mayor. William took office on 23^rd May 1668 and he presented this silver Peg Tankard to commemorate his appointment.

Peg tankards were used to play a drinking game. Eight equally distanced pegs inside the tankard measure the amount that each person was to drink as the tankard was passed around. Peg tankards often rest on pomegranate-shaped feet and have a thumbpiece at the top of the handle, also shaped like two pomegranates. William’s peg tankard is also decorated with a tulip, a daisy and a rose, with two figures each emerging from flower heads to fight monstrous creatures. The figures are arranged in fighting pairs: a man fights a stylised wolf with a spear, while a woman defends herself with a shield from a satyr.

The designs featured on the tankard find inspiration from Scandinavia, where examples also feature the pomegranate feet and beautifully balanced botanical engravings. The close cultural connection between the North of England and Scandinavia is evident in the local taste for the Scandinavian drinking style. Very often the tankards feature the arms of the families purchasing from him. This example features William’s arms which includes a porcupine.

The earliest and finest examples of these tankards were made by John Plummer (makers mark IP), a goldsmith from Coney Street, York who made this example in 1664-1665. He specialised in making peg tankards and examples may be found in other museums including the V&A. John was also paid £26 2s 6d in 1674-1675 for making a new mace for Richmond Corporation as well as adding a crown to the earlier Commonwealth mace which had originally been created by his father.

One of the smallest objects in Richmond Town Council’s collection is this bronze medal in a blue leather box. It represents the incredibly brave actions taken by local man John Weller Brown on the 4^th February 1944 when ammunition being loaded onto a train exploded.

John, aged 24, was an army haulage contractor, who had just delivered a lorry containing ammunition to Catterick Bridge Railways Station. The explosion threw John a considerable distance, killing 12 people including 6 civilians and injuring 102. The explosion was felt for miles around with the windows of buildings within a ½ mile radius being blown out. The cause of the explosion is believed to be mishandling of ammunition, although at the time speculation was rife as wartime censorship limited reporting.

When John came to, he and another man immediately began to help the injured before assisting the Fire Brigade, at great risk to himself. Fires had broken out around the explosion crater within 50 yards of at least three further lorries full of grenades.

John was recommended for the Edward Medal by the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Northern Command, Lieutenant General Sir Ralph Eastwood. There are two versions of the medal, for mining and for industry; the latter of which John was awarded.

The First Boer War (1880-1881) and the Second Boer War (1899-1902) were fought between Great Britain and the two Boer (or Afrikaner) republics; the South African Republic and the Orange Free State. Afrikaners are descended from Dutch settlers who arrived in South Africa from 1652 onwards.  Although outnumbered, the Boers were highly skilled and determined to resist British expansion.

This war was the first time British people across society took up arms and volunteered, in great numbers, to serve. Many of them, like Corporal Walker and Trooper Barker, joined the newly created Imperial Yeomanry. Corporal Todd and Privates Stevenson and Brooksbank joined a Volunteer Company of the Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards).

Captain Gerald Walker was serving as Mayor when five local men volunteered for service in the Second Boer War in South Africa. He commissioned and presented this silver cup to the Corporation of the Borough of Richmond to mark their safe return in 1901. It was made in London by Mappin Bros.

The Corn Cup is used during the First Fruits Harvest which takes place on the second Saturday in September. The event is led by the Mayor and takes place on the curtilage around Trinity Church (now The Green Howards Museum). A local farmer will bring a sample of grain to weigh using the Corn Cup. The inspector examines the corn and declares the harvest good or bad. If the harvest is good, the group drink a toast.

The First Fruits Harvest, or something similar features in almost every religion around the world, where thanks are given to God, gods or deities for the food grown in preparation for winter. Unusually, the event in Richmond is of a civic rather than religious nature. The Corporation of Richmond made income from tolls when the harvest was brought to market to be sold. The corn trade in the 1830s was economically vital, with a large proportion of farming land ploughed to produce corn for flour. This corn cup is brass and takes a measurement of volume called a Quart (a little more than 1 litre). It was made by J Warner & Sons, London and used from 1835 onwards.

Each time farmers came to market, they were expected to pay a toll from the goods they brought. Toll collectors with large bags measured out the required toll using tin scoops according to the amount being transported. Farmers would often bring surplus grain in a separate sack so that they did not have to open the weighed and tested bags.

Corn harvesting required a vast amount of labour with men, women and children assembling at 7am at Frenchgate Head to form yans (teams) of four people; three shearers and one binder. Once gathered the corn was hung in every nook and cranny to dry it before it was prepared for milling. The vast stores of flour produced allowed householders to make it through the winter when work was scarce and wages small.