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PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY1 “NARRATIVE HISTORY” AMOUNTS TO FABULATION, THE REAL STUFF BEING MERE CHRONOLOGY 1. The arms of this notable family, five members of which had been knighted by King James I, are “Barry of Eight or and sable; crest a Saracen’s head proper, with a wreath around the temples, knotted behind or and sable” (nowadays when this family crest is presented, you are given only the eight bars of alternating gold and black and this politically incorrect Saracen’s head is elided): HDT WHAT? INDEX PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY 1788 July 23, Wednesday: Prideaux John Selby was born into the “Beal and Twizell House, Northumberland” branch of the Selby family in Bondgate Street, Alnwick, near Alnwick Castle in Northumberland (think Harry Potter), near the coast of the North Sea. HDT WHAT? INDEX PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY (This scion would be educated not at Hogwarts but at University College, Oxford.) On this day an acknowledgement document was being crafted in Cambridge, Massachusetts, testifying to the transfer of ownership of Bob and Patience, who had been the Negro slaves of John Manning, to Sinnickson Tuft, a dealer in slaves: Cambridge 23rd July 1788 Paid of Sinnickson Tuft his note of hand conditionally for sixty pounds dollars at seven shillings and six pence each payable in nine months from the date hereof, for the Negroes SOLD HIM known by the names of Bob and Patience, which Negroes I warrant to be in good health and perfectly sound and warrant Bob does not exceed forty three years of age and further warrant and defend them from any person or persons claiming or pretending to claim whatsoever. Witness James C. Bryan Signed John Manning NOBODY COULD GUESS WHAT WOULD HAPPEN NEXT Prideaux John Selby was educated at Durham School, where his fellow scholars included a future geologist, Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, 1st Baronet, and a future Bishop of Chester, John Graham. At an early age he became fascinated by natural history and in his teens he would begin to write on birds. Prideaux John Selby “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY 1804 Prideaux John Selby succeeded to the substantial Selby family estates at Beal, Northumberland, on the road to Lindisfarne a short distance inland from the coast of the North Sea. LIFE IS LIVED FORWARD BUT UNDERSTOOD BACKWARD? — NO, THAT’S GIVING TOO MUCH TO THE HISTORIAN’S STORIES. LIFE ISN’T TO BE UNDERSTOOD EITHER FORWARD OR BACKWARD. “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project Prideaux John Selby HDT WHAT? INDEX PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY 1806 May 2, Friday: Upon completion of the Durham grammar school plus a period of private tuition, Prideaux John Selby entered as a gentleman commoner at University College, Oxford (he would depart without a degree). THE FUTURE IS MOST READILY PREDICTED IN RETROSPECT “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project Prideaux John Selby HDT WHAT? INDEX PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY 1809 After being expelled from Yale College as the result of a junior-year prank, James Cooper had entered the merchant marines and gone on to become a midshipman in the United States Navy. At this point, however, his father died, bequeathing him a sum that would enable him henceforward to adopt the lifestyle of a gentleman of means and leisure. Leaving University College, Oxford without a degree, Prideaux John Selby went to occupy a 643-acre estate near Belford, Northumberland purchased for him by his father George Selby — a place known as Twizell House. THE FUTURE CAN BE EASILY PREDICTED IN RETROSPECT “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project Prideaux John Selby HDT WHAT? INDEX PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY 1810 December 17, Monday: Professor Carl Phillip Gottfried von Clausewitz got married with Countess (Gräfin) Marie Sophie von Brühl. Prideaux John Selby got married in Northumberland with Tabitha Lewis Mitford (AKA “Lewis Tabitha”), daughter of Bertram Mitford of Mitford Castle. This union would produce in about 1813 Lewis Marianne Selby in Bamborough, Yorkshire who would marry Major Luard Selby, R.A., in about 1816 Frances Margaret Selby who would marry the Reverend Edmund Antrobus, and in about 1818 Lady Jane Selby who would marry Sir Thomas Tancred, Bart. There never being any male issue, this branch of the Selby family, five members of which had been knighted by King James I, would become extinct upon his death and no-one any more would be able to make use of its distinctive coat of arms, with “Barry of Eight or and sable; crest a Saracen’s head proper, with a wreath around the temples, knotted behind or and sable” (lately truncated to only the eight bars of alternating gold and black minus this politically incorrect “Saracen’s head”): Friend Stephen Wanton Gould wrote in his journal: 2nd day 17 of 12 M // Read this evening in the journal of our Ancient friend David Hall, by which my mind was a little quickened with life ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS HDT WHAT? INDEX PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY 1812 Prideaux John Selby ran for Parliament to represent the borough of Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland, as a reformer, but lost to Henry Heneage St Paul. DO I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION? GOOD. Prideaux John Selby “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY 1817 Prideaux John Selby became deputy lieutenant of Northumberland. HDT WHAT? INDEX PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY 1821 The initial volume of Prideaux John Selby’s ILLUSTRATIONS OF BRITISH ORNITHOLOGY (its 19 parts would not be completed until 1834), amounted to the 1st set of life-sized illustrations of British birds (many of the illustrations were drawn from specimens in the author’s own collection). BRITISH ORNITHOLOGY HDT WHAT? INDEX PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY 1823 Prideaux John Selby became High Sheriff of Northumberland. HDT WHAT? INDEX PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY 1833 Prideaux John Selby joined the Berwickshire Naturalists’ Club (he would be, twice, the group’s president). He joined with Dr. Robert Graham, Professor of Medicine and Botany in the University of Edinburgh, Dr. Robert Kaye Greville, and others touring Sutherlandshire. Volume II, “Water Birds” of Selby’s ILLUSTRATIONS OF BRITISH ORNITHOLOGY: BRITISH ORNITHOLOGY CHANGE IS ETERNITY, STASIS A FIGMENT Prideaux John Selby “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY 1834 The final volume of Prideaux John Selby’s ILLUSTRATIONS OF BRITISH ORNITHOLOGY (begun in 1821). The previous year’s tour through Sutherlandshire had been so productive of information on the fauna and flora of the north of Scotland that Dr. Robert Kaye Greville, Mr. James Wilson, Sir William Jardine, and Selby organized a more extensive expedition. HDT WHAT? INDEX PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY 1835 Prideaux John Selby, Esq. of Twizell House’s THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PIGEONS: ILLUSTRATED BY THIRTY- TWO COLOURED PLATES AND NUMEROUS WOODCUTS for Sir William Jardine, Bart. F.R.S.E., F.L.S., &c. &c’s THE NATURALIST’S LIBRARY (Edinburgh: W.H. Lizars, Volume 9 of 40). HDT WHAT? INDEX PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY 1836 Prideaux John Selby’s volume on THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PARROTS, illustrated by Edward Lear, for Sir William Jardine, Bart. F.R.S.E., F.L.S., &c. &c’s NATURALIST’S LIBRARY (Edinburgh: W.H. Lizars). HDT WHAT? INDEX PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY 1837 In conjunction with Sir William Jardine, Bart. F.R.S.E., F.L.S., &c. &c and with Dr. George Johnston, Prideaux John Selby founded a Magazine of Zoology and Botany. HDT WHAT? INDEX PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY 1838 Prideaux John Selby became one of the editors of the Annals of Natural History, Or Magazine of Zoology, Botany, and Geology (new name for the Magazine of Zoology and Botany). HDT WHAT? INDEX PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY 1839 The University of Durham conferred on Prideaux John Selby an honorary degree of Master of Arts. HDT WHAT? INDEX PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY 1840 Prideaux John Selby expended some £14,000 to add land to his family’s estates at Beal in Northumberland, on the road to Lindisfarne near the coast of the North Sea. HDT WHAT? INDEX PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY 1841 June 6, Sunday: Waldo Emerson and Henry Thoreau went boating on the Concord River. Prideaux John Selby and Lewis Tabitha Mitford appeared in the census in Twizell House, Adderstone, Northumberland, England. HDT WHAT? INDEX PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY 1842 Prideaux John Selby, F.L.S., M.W.S., Etc.’s A HISTORY OF BRITISH FOREST-TREES: INDIGENOUS AND INTRODUCED ... ILLUSTRATED BY NEARLY 200 ENGRAVINGS (London: John van Voorst, Paternoster Row). HDT WHAT? INDEX PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY BRITISH FOREST-TREES HDT WHAT? INDEX PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY 1850 Prideaux John Selby sold the Selby family’s landholdings at Beal, Northumberland, on the road to Lindisfarne near the coast of the North Sea, some 1,450 acres in extent, for £47,000. HDT WHAT? INDEX PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY PRIDEAUX JOHN SELBY 1851 March 30, Sunday: Prideaux John Selby and Lewis Tabitha Mitford appeared in the census in Adderstone House, Lucker Village, Adderstone, Northumberland, England. It is clear from the content of Henry Thoreau’s journal that he has been reading in Thomas De Quincey’s THE CÆSARS (Boston: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, 1851, one in an extended series of volumes of DE QUINCEY’S WRITINGS that would not to be complete for any number of years): THE CÆSARS March 30: Spring is already upon us.

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