Bridget Atkinson

Bridget Atkinson(néeMaughan) (1732–1814) was an English farmer andshell collectorwho amassed a collection from around the world. She was recognised at the end of her life by theSociety of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne.In 1813 she was made the Society's first honorary member, for her extensive coin collection.
The daughter of Dorothy (née Lowthian) and Michael Maughan, Bridget Maughan was born inWolsinghamin 1732. When her father died, her mother raised her and her sister Jenny inKirkoswaldand she was educated at Mrs Paxton's Academy in Durham.
On 7 January 1758, Bridget married George Atkinson (1730–81) ofTemple Sowerbyin secret, fearing her mother would disapprove.This would appear not to have been the case, asThe Gentleman's Magazineannounced their marriage shortly afterwards. Atkinson's dowry enabled improvements to Temple Sowerby House. The couple had ten children, six sons (of whom two are thought to have died young), and four daughters (of whom one died young and two married). George, like his father Matthew, began work as atanner, and became abroker(what would later be called a bill-broker, dealing inbills of exchange); he was ultimately a government official,receiver-generalforCumberlandandWestmorland.
George's youngest brother wasRichard Atkinson(1738–1785), Member of Parliament forNew Romney, a slave-owner and a government contractor forrumwho made a fortune.Bridget was left an annuity of £200 on his death.George and Bridget's second son George II (1764–1814) was a wealthy West Indian merchant and Island Secretary of Jamaica.His son, George III (1795–1849) is identified on theUCL Legacies of British Slaverysite as a supplier of the contract labour of enslaved people to the British government.
Bridget Atkinson had friends and relatives collect shells for her from around the world.She amassed a collection of around 1200 from every continent except from Antarctica.
In 1776, Atkinson received a letter from the armourer on one ofCaptain Cook's voyages showing that he had been seeking shells for her.Her brother-in-law, sons, and grandchildren also sought shells when on journeys made whilst conducting colonial business for theEast India Companyor relating to family plantations inJamaica.
In addition to shells, Atkinson collected coins and jewellery. She greatly valued afibulafound when the fields were being ploughed.
In 1813, Atkinson was appointed the first honorary member of theSociety of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyneat its inaugural meeting, more than 60 years before the first woman was elected a full member.To the society's collection, Atkinson donated a celtic hammer, a silver penny ofHenry II, a silver penny from the reign ofEdward Iand one fromEdward II, and aSwedish copper dollarofCharles XII.
Atkinson also collected recipes for dishes and medicines, including two forShrewsbury cakes. She passed these to her daughter, Dorothy Clayton and some of her manuscript cookery books are extant.
On her death in 1814, Atkinson left her shell collection and her coin collection to her youngest daughter, Jane (1775–1855). Jane then left this, and material she had collected from excavations atKirby Thorefort, to her niece Sarah Clayton (1795–1880), daughter of her oldest sister Dorothy with her husband Nathaniel Clayton, a Newcastle lawyer.Sarah's brother was the antiquarianJohn Clayton. Sarah and John lived together for their whole lives and when Sarah died, "Bridget's" collection (as it was still called by the family) was absorbed into the wider Clayton Collection.
Atkinson's collecting influenced her grandson John Clayton, who went on to become anantiquarianand preserveHadrian's Wall.After his death in 1890 "Bridget's" collection formed part of the Clayton Estate, mentioned as "Shells" in Clayton's will, where he made provision for the major Clayton Collection, mostly Roman antiquities, and a museum for those to be built atChesters Roman Fort.
In the 1930s, around 1000 shells that were kept in the Temple Sowerby house were sold in an estate sale. Apart from agiant clam shell, the remains of Atkinson's collection were on long term loan to theZoologydepartment atArmstrong College, later part ofNewcastle University.There this part of the collection was de-accessioned in the 1980s, and was taken into private hands. It was feared that these shells were lost, but they had been kept safe by Dr. John Buchanan and were returned to the Clayton Collection Trust in 2023. Bridget Atkinson's shell collection was then the subject of a 2024 exhibition atChesters Museumafter the scientific interest of part of the collection was realised through its connection with thethird voyage of James Cook.One of the species isDistorsio cancellina, from the sea snail genusDistorsio, described in 1803 by Lamarck, and believed to be extinct.
Atkinson's membership certificate from the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne forms part of the Blair papers, which were acquired by the society in 2019.