Book hidden in fireplace returned to Australian library 150 years overdue
A library book on Greek architecture, borrowed 150 years ago by an apprentice stonemason, has been returned to a library in Kiama, Australia. The book was discovered by the descendant of the original borrower during home renovations.
Why it matters
This human-interest story provides a unique historical connection between 19th-century British infrastructure and modern Australian family history.
Image source, Kiama Council Image caption, A former apprentice stonemason who helped build the Houses of Parliament is thought to have borrowed the book in the late 1800s
A book borrowed 150 years ago has finally been returned to an Australian library, with the culprit linked to the Houses of Parliament in London.
Antiquities of Athens was borrowed from a local library in Kiama, a seaside town about 120km (75 miles) south of Sydney, some time in the mid-1870s.
The book on classic Greek architecture was stored in a tea chest hidden behind a boarded-up fireplace for decades before it was recently discovered by a family member.
Ross Simmons, 77, thinks his great-grandfather, John Simmons, might have borrowed the book to help with his career, having worked as an apprentice stonemason in Westminster in the mid-1800s before becoming an architect in Australia.
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