He has his own dedicated memorial plaque and Corner in Blandford but is now almost a forgotten man. His name is Henry Durden and he was the founder of the town’s first museum.
Henry Durden was born in 1807 and in 1859
was listed as a grocer and seller of wines and spirits. The Durdens were a
respected Blandford family and they played an active part in the town’s life.
There is a Durden listed in a 1791 trade directory as a Blandford grocer.
Henry’s father, John was Mayor in 1837. Henry held this role on three occasions
while his son, another John, was Mayor in 1893.
In his shop, he opened a highly
regarded museum. On display were 60 urns which were over 2,000 years old and
all found within eight miles of Blandford. Most exhibits in the museum were
from Dorset including prehistoric items from Hod Hill and various local
barrows. There were also flint arrowheads, bracelets and coins including a ten
shillings piece of Elizabeth I’s reign. So respected were his acquisitions that
in the archives of the British Library in London there is a book entitled ‘Catalogue of the Museum of Local Antiquities
collected by Mr Durden of Blandford’ (George Payne 1892). Many of the items
found at Hod Hill were as a result of ploughing and he would frequently buy
items discovered by the locals.
For many years later, the shop was a
prime wine & spirits outlet for Hall & Woodhouse/Badger Beers and Stan
Smith was the manager. He recalls being told the original shop was much bigger.
It included what were Hepworths and Horne & Banfield’s cake shop in
Salisbury Street. There was also a large store at the back of Boots the
chemist. Above the shop was a flat which is still there today.
Henry Durden was little known outside
of his home county until his work was discovered by Charles Roach Smith who was
co-founder of the British Archaeological Society. In addition to items from
Dorset, Durden acquired artefacts from Ireland, Denmark and the USA. He also
purchased some items from Kent.
In
November 1880, Roach Smith wrote:
‘These
thoughts have been excited by a very recent visit to the collection of local
antiquities made by Mr Henry Durden of Blandford under most favourable
circumstances. I had for many years known them and by the kind sanction of Mr
Durden had repeatedly drawn attention to and commented on them in my
Collectanae Antiqua but more than ever am I now impressed with their surpassing
interest.’
Henry Durden died in 1892 with his son, John taking over the grocery business. Over 2,000 of his items were sold by John to the British Museum. He had a large coin collection which was also sold while some other artefacts were sold to the Pitt-Rivers Museum. Appropriately, the blue plaque dedicated to Henry Durden can be found at the corner of Salisbury Street and the Market Place in a place known as Durden’s Corner.
(Illustrations: courtesy of Goadsby, Estate Agents & Stan Smith, formerly Durden's Manager)
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