Case history throws light on the life and death of a leading Quaker

The documents were among material put together for display at the former Friends' School in Great Ayton, founded by prominent Quaker Thomas Richardson in 1841.

Jane Campbell, a former pupil and teacher at the school, which closed in 1997, is salvaging items and restoring them for a collection at the Friends' Meeting House in the village.

Having rediscovered the case, she took it to Stokesley Gallery for Graham Jolly to open and restore.

It has taken him six months to ease the lock open, but when he started to look at its contents, he was amazed at what he found.

There is a Richardson family tree, dating back to 1655 when another Thomas Richardson was excommunicated by the Church, prosecuted by the Ecclesiastical Courts as a Quaker and imprisoned in York Castle.

There are also letters from John Pease, of Eastmount, Darlington, to a doctor in London, discussing Thomas Richardson's health and whether he was fit to travel in 1851.

The envelope containing the letters still has an old penny red stamp attached.

In the letters, Peas refers to Richardson's "sudden attacks on two recent occasions" and "sudden seizures".

He is asking if it would be wise for his cousin to travel to London to see his doctor, as he fears the excitement of such a journey could bring on more attacks.

Mr Jolly said: "It would appear that Mr Pease was right about Richardson's health, as these were written in 1851 and in another envelope we found all the invoices from various local firms for his funeral in 1853 - he was 82."

The invoices are in pristine condition, as Mr Jolly and Mrs Campbell both believe they have not been exposed to daylight for possibly 100 years.

The firms involved in the funeral arrangements include some which will be remembered today, or even still exist.

The King's Head in Darlington, which continues to trade in Priestgate, is among the firms which provided transport for the funeral.

The invoice is on headed paper with the words: "The King's Head Family Commercial Inn and Posting House most respectfully collects a share of your favours."

The bill for a horse and ostler came to £1 and 16 shillings.

Perhaps the quirkiest invoice came from E Brown, a gravedigger who charged seven shillings - one shilling per foot - and was tipped three shillings for his work.

The funeral director was John Harbottle, whose old sign is still visible in Great Ayton on Station Road. He charged £5 and six shillings for the pine coffin.

There was some dispute over the final bill for the funeral, which is discussed in correspondence from Joseph Nevin to John Pease, as he says a carriage and pair included in the bill were ordered by a George Fossick and not Mr Pease, and should therefore be paid for by Fossick.

Mr Jolly struggled to read the handwriting on another invoice, dated 1852, the year before Richardson's death, from Frederick Walters of London Anatomical Machinist Manufacturer.

But after studying the invoice it became clear that Richardson had paid 15 shillings for a portable or prosthetic railway urinal.

"This must have been something gentlemen took on the train with them, before the days toilets were installed," he explained.

"The letters from Pease to the doctor were written in 1851, this was ordered in 1852, and he died in 1853, so perhaps Richardson did go to London in the end to see his doctor - or at least was planning to make the trip."

Mr Jolly thinks the display case the documents were found in dates back to the early twentieth century, as it is made from straight grained oak, which was expensive to cut and was rarely used after the First World War, and also hand drawn glass.

"I think it may have been put together in 1903 as a memorial on the 50th anniversary of Richardson's death. Inside there are these old fashioned drawing pins, they're brass, flat-headed pins," he said.

"Everything about the box is early 1900s, but at the moment the things in the box are throwing up a lot of questions."

Mrs Campbell agrees that the collection of Richardson memorabilia was probably put together for the anniversary of his death by the school.

As well as the documents from Richardson's funeral, there is a cheque book, which still has stubs detailing things like the housekeeper's £10-a-month wages.

"That was a lot of money, she was well paid, some people at that time were paid that amount a year," explained Mr Jolly.

Another cheque has been paid to Richard Mitchell, and in brackets it says "poor rate", while Richardson would appear to have cashed himself a cheque for £1,000.

"You could have bought the whole of Stokesley for that amount in 1849, it was an awful lot of money," said Mr Jolly.

The invoices from Richardson's funeral in 1853 totalled £53 and 14 shillings. "This is an awful lot of money, that would have bought you a cottage property back then, so Mr Richardson was obviously very wealthy and very influential," he added.

There is also a letter to Mr Richardson from his brother, William, dated 1808, sending him £10 and asking him to use it to carry out a variety of errands and pay off some debts.

"It's just incredible to think that this letter is written just three years after the Battle of Trafalgar and yet here it is, in this condition," said Mr Jolly.

"The list of errands is amazing, I can't believe what you could get done in London for £10 in those days."

A diary from 1827, or memorandum book as it was known, is another mystery from the collection, as it includes the death bed statements from Elizabeth Fletcher, who died aged 16.

She was from Castleton in the Esk Valley, but there is nothing to indicate what relationship she had to Richardson.

There are other references in the cheque book to payments of £5 for Fanny Cross at Libford School.

Mr Jolly says this could be an indication that Richardson was maintaining these youngsters, something Mrs Campbell believes is a possibility.

"I think there was probably a Quaker connection," she said. "The leading Quakers like Thomas Richardson were often very generous men who supported a lot of people, but very quietly.

"He was married, but had no children, so I think he was of a mind to support others. He was certainly of a mind to help children of Quakers who had married outside the Quaker society, that's why he founded the school, to ensure these children had a Quaker education."

Mr Jolly added: "The whole thing is intriguing. The paperwork will be taken to the county archive and I'm sure they will want a record of all this.

"We will probably photograph the documents and keep the originals preserved and put the copies on show. It's 150 years since Richardson died, so much has happened since then, but this gives a wonderful insight into that time.