Notes on the History of the Driffield Museum of Antiquities and Geological Specimens

Abstract

It was the Great London Exhibition of 1851 that first decided my taste for scientific inquiry. Afterwards, Mr. Edward Tindall’s geological and archaeological collections at Bridlington fired me with a strong desire to make a similar collection. A curious chalk cast was the first specimen I obtained, whilst a small Ammonite, which I bought of Mr. Tindall, was the first of its kind I possessed. My brother, the late Robert Mortimer, of Fimber, had a like love for collecting. For the first ten or twelve years the late Edward Tindall, of Bridlington, and the late George Pycock, of Malton, were almost our only rivals; yet we accumulated specimens but slowly. We had, however, during this period, trained many of the farm servants in this neighbourhood to distinguish, and keep for us any geological and archaeological specimens they could find. The small collection we then made mainly consisted of chalk fossils and a very few stone and flint tools. These we exhibited in cases in my offices at Fimber. Small though this display was it seemed to stimulate others to indulge in the same hobby, and soon our neighbourhood was more or less periodically visited by the thirteen competitors hereinafter named, and their agents, during a period of about 35 years, ranging from 1861 to 1896. None, however, of these enthusiasts, except Mr. Tindall and Mr. Chadwick, collected geological specimens, though all of them were active competitors for stone, flint, and bronze weapons. They constantly visited the district, and not infrequently ...