An 18th-century collection of seashells from Captain James Cook’s third voyage, thought lost for more than 40 years, has been returned to English Heritage after being rescued from a “nothing short of a miracle” jump.
The collection, which includes more than 200 specimens including an extinct species and those believed to have been returned from Cook’s ill-fated voyage, will be put on public display for the first time in more than 100 years.
The pieces had been discarded by a university but were rescued from the landfill by a retired scientist.
The collection, which chronicles Britain’s role in global trade and colonial reach in the late 18th century, was the passion of Bridget Atkinson (1732-1814).
He never left Britain and rarely left Cumbria, but collected more than 1,200 cannonballs from around the world.
The collection was bequeathed to his grandson John Clayton (1792-1890) before being sold along with the Clayton estate in 1930.
Around 200 of the artefacts remained on display at Chesters Roman Fort and Museum in Northumberland and were later loaned to the zoology department of Armstrong College, now the University of Newcastle.
However, in the 1980s, bullets were fired during the evacuation of an office at the university.
It was feared they were lost forever, but now a passing lecturer, Dr. It turns out that John Buchanan saved them from the jump.
Donated to English Heritage by the Buchanan family, these pieces were returned to the museum, where they were previously reassembled with a giant clam, the only remaining piece in the collection.
Dr Buchanan’s family said: “Our father was a marine zoologist and senior lecturer at the Dove Marine Laboratory in Cullercoats from 1958 until his retirement.
“He saved the collection because he believed in conservation, and the shells remained in our family home for 35 years.
“Following our mother’s death, we learned that the shells belonged to the Clayton Collection. We were delighted to return the collection to English Heritage for future generations to enjoy.”
Among the shells is a spiny oyster (Spondylus americanus).
In a letter dated 1804, Mrs. Atkinson begged her son Matthew, who was living in Jamaica, to take the shell.
Found along the Atlantic coast from North Carolina to the Caribbean to Brazil, this plant is studded with spines about 2 inches (5 cm) long.
Others include the sunburst-shaped star turban or circular saw shell, Astraea heliotropium, native to New Zealand, returned to Mrs Atkinson by George Dixon when he served as an armourer under Cook during his third voyage on HMS Solution.
Another is the giant clam Tridacna gigas, the world’s largest bivalve and currently protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites).
The collection also includes the chambered nautilus (Nautilus pompilius) shell.
It is among the most coveted natural history items for collectors, according to English Heritage.
The animal that lived inside this shell had approximately 90 tentacles.
He lived in the outer chamber of the shell, creating larger chambers as he grew, each time covering up the empty one.
English Heritage’s Hadrian’s Wall and North East collection curator, Dr. Frances McIntosh said: “We always knew about Bridget Atkinson’s collection but believed it was completely lost.
“It is nothing short of a miracle to discover that the shells have not only survived, but have been kept safe and loved for so long.
“Bridget Atkinson was an extraordinary woman with a genuine interest in the natural world.
“At a time when women often collected seashells to decorate their furniture and caves, Bridget collected them for her scientific and geographical interests rather than for aesthetics.
“As well as being a testament to Bridget’s character and connections, this collection is an excellent record of Britain’s role in global trade in the late 18th century, not to mention man’s impact on the natural world.”
Dr Peters, chief curator of non-insect invertebrates at the Natural History Museum, who helped English Heritage identify and catalog the shells. Tom White said the collection contained many rare species, including the now extinct Distorsio cancellina and others.
He said: “These were extraordinarily sought-after in 18th-century Britain during the heyday of shell collecting, when single specimens could sell for thousands of pounds.”
– The collection will be on display at Chesters Roman Fort and Museum in Northumberland from Wednesday 13 March for the first time in more than 100 years.