Lot 301
Ornithology - Northumberland - Farne Islands Archive, comprising
Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photography
Auction: 31 August 2016 at 12:00 BST
Description
Document expressing agreement of Dean and Chapter Office Durham to sell the Farne Islands to The Ven. Archdeacon Thorp in 1853 for £404; Grant of the Reversion of Monk House & the Farne Islands from the Dean and Chapter of Durham to the Venerable Charles Thorp, 1861, with hand-drawn map; Lease of Inner Farne Islands, from J.F. Thorp to Mr John Raplph Carr-Ellison, 1881, on vellum; Indenture between Archdeacon Thorp and The Corporation of the Trinity House, of hereditaments and rights of way in the Great Farne Island, 27 Sept. 1861, including hand-coloured plan; Lease of the outer Farne Islands by Mrs J.F. Thorp to Mr John Ralph Carr-Ellison, on vellum, 3 Dec. 1881; Notebook of meetings of the Association to take the Farne Islands on lease for 6 years ending 1887, hand-coloured plan tipped in (torn without loss); Ephemeral Printed information of the Farne Islands Association, c. 1903-31; Farne Island Association: Original manuscript draft of the Rules ("approved subject to amendments at General Meeting to be held on 16 Sept. 1881)", notebooks, account books, lists of Members, Byelaws, Rules, Receipts & Expenditures, and typed reports; 4 Books of Common Prayer (dated 1844-51) inscribed Charles Thorp Farne Tower 1853; architect's drawing of Prior Castell's Tower, Inner Farne Island, dated 1949; Adamson's Studies of Birds, 1881, oblong 8vo, original wrappers; quantity of correspondence from members of the Thorp family relating Farne Islands, including their transfer to the National Trust c. 1925, including letters from Viscount Grey of Fallodon; hand drawn plan relating to proposed improvements to Inner Fern Lighthouse, [c.? 1920], a quantity of lithographed maps and plans of the Islands (many duplicates), Motions made to extend the period in which wild birds may not be killed as prohibited by the Wild Birds Protection Act of 1880, correspondence, reports and indictments of people caught stealing eggs, various dates; extensive correspondence with Members or potential members of the Farne Islands Association, some relating to ornithology, c. 200-300 items, some a little dusty, in a 19th century wooden chest
Footnote
Note: The Farne Islands are first recorded in 651, when they became home to Saint Aidan, followed by Saint Cuthbert who died there in 687, when Saint Aethelwold took up residence instead. Among other acts, Saint Cuthbert introduced special laws in 676 protecting the eider ducks, and other seabirds nesting on the islands; these are thought to be the earliest bird protection laws anywhere in the world.
The islands were used by hermits intermittently from the 7th century and a monastic cell of Benedictine monks was established on the islands circa 1255 which existed until dissolved in 1536 as part of King Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries.
Following the dissolution of the monastic cell on the islands, the islands became the property of the Dean and Chapter of Durham Cathedral, who leased them to various tenants. In 1861 the islands were sold to Charles Thorp, who was at the time Archdeacon of Durham. In 1894 the Outer Farne Islands were bought by the industrialist William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong, and in 1926 the Inner and Outer Farne Islands were purchased for the National Trust by public subscription.