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BEADING DIRECTORY— 1914.

kt. som e tim e M .P . for B ea din g, and Justice o f the C om m on P leas, w ho
died on the B ench at Stafford, 13 M arch , 1854, w hile d eliverin g his charge
to th e G rand J u r y ; M r. Isaac H arrison, surgeon, late o f R e a d in g ;
and the late M r. W illiam Isaac P a lm er, w ell k n ow n as a tem perance
advocate and ph ilanthropist, w h o contributed a bout £ 2 5 ,0 0 0 tow ards
the n ew pu blic buildings.
T he m unicipal insignia include a mace,
mayor’s chain and b a dge, w arden’ s badges, tw o tipped staves, a lovin g
and oth er cups and b orou gh seals. T h e m ace, o f silver gilt, is 4ft. lj in .
long and has a plain staff w ith rich ly ornam ented knops and a large
spreading fo o t k n op, w ith an in scription and the date 1 7 7 0 ; four
brackets su p p o rt th e head, w hich is divided into four oval com partm ents
con tain ing the national em blem s, crow n ed, and th e cyp h er “ G . II I . R .” ;
a b ove is a circlet from w hich springs an open crow n w ith orb and
cross ; on th e flat to p are th e R oy a l A rm s in relief ; the chain o f gold
consists o f oblon g tablets united b y lin k s ; the badge presented by
M a yor Silverthorne in 1870, is a poin ted oval bearing a representation
o f th e borou gh s e a l; the warden’ s badges o f silver are oval in shape
and disp la y the borough arms w ith in a wreath o f la u r e l; one is dated
1688 and the other 1744 ; the lov in g cup dates from c. 1731; o f the
seals the earliest is o f th e 14th cen tu ry, the others are copies. The
m ayor and alderm en w ear black robes trim m ed w ith sables and the coun­
cillors sim ilar robes w ith velvet on ly. O ver the w in g o f the P u b lic
L ib ra ry and M useum buildings is a sculptured frieze representing the
arts, m anufactures and customs o f different periods. The L ib ra ry con­
sists o f lending, reference and juvenile departm ents, containing about
48,000 v o lu m e s ; it also includes spacious reading and news room s and
students’ room . There are also tw o branch libraries, presented b y
M r. Carnegie, o n e at Caversham road and the other at th e w est end
of the tow n , con tain in g about 11,000 volum es.
F rom the vestibule
a stone staircase leads to the Museum and A r t G alleries. T he M useum
con tain s the m agnificent Silchester collection , the result o f the exca va ­
tions carried out at Silchester, th e site of the R om an o-B ritish city
o f “ C alleva A treb atu m ,” w here n early the w hole o f the city of over 100
acres has been unearthed. T he collection is unique so far as B ritain is
concerned, and contains hundreds o f vessels in p ottery , iron w ork in
great variety, architectural rem ains, various household utensils, and
personal and oth er ornaments in gold , silver and bronze, illustrative of
the everyday life o f the peop le of “ Calleva ” in that b ygon e age of Rom an
rule. T he predom inant feature o f the General Museum is local archaeo­
logy. H ere w e see substantial evidence th a t R eadin g and im mediate
neighbou rhood has been the home o f man from very rem ote tim es, eacii
A g e , from the Palteolithic or E arly Stone A g e dow n t o th e N orm an,
being represented b y a series o f relics w hich have been found in the
locality. T he Natural H istory departm ent includes collection s o f British
birds, m oths and butterflies, chiefly from R eading and n eighbou rhood ;
and in the A r t G alleries may be seen exam ples of the W'orks of G ains­
borough, C u yp, W ilson , Z uccarelli, W olverm an , H oll, Burgess, and
oth er w ell-know n artists. Th ere are also exhibits o f pottery , porcelain,
metal w ork &c.
T h e Shire hall, in the F orbu ry, opened in 1911 at a cost of £ 2 5,000,
is a buildin g o f red b rick w ith B ath stone dressings.
The A ssize cou rts, in the F orb u ry, im m ediately a djoin in g the abbey
gatew ay, are in the Italian style and w ere bu ilt in 1861 ; th ey occu py
the site o f a hospital for p oor p ilgrim s, founded in connection w ith the