John Conyers (apothecary)
Encyclopedia
John Conyers was an English apothecary and pioneering archaeologist.
Conyers had a shop in Fleet Street
, near St Paul's Cathedral
during the period of construction of Sir Christopher Wren
's new cathedral to replace Old St Paul's after the Great Fire of London
, and collected the medieval and Roman artefacts unearthed, recording the finds in notebooks, including a Roman kiln found 26 feet below surface level in the 1670s. According to his younger friend John Bagford
, Conyers "made it his chief Business to make curious Observations and to collect such Antiquities as were daily found in and about London". His antiquarian collection was praised by the Athenian Mercury, and there was talk of opening it to the public, although this does not seem to have happened.
He was present at the excavation in 1679 of the remains of a supposed elephant
at Battlebridge (King's Cross) in a gravel
bed; the site was near Gray's Inn Lane, opposite "Black Mary's", and the remaining tooth was later thought to be of a mammoth
or straight-tusked elephant
. A flint handaxe was found nearby, now famous as the Gray's Inn Lane handaxe and on display in the British Museum
's Enlightenment Gallery. Conyers was the first to argue that it was a human artefact. John Bagford then somewhat later argued for an origin of the assemblage in the Roman presence under the Emperor Claudius; this was in a letter of 1715, in which Bagford accepted the human origin of the handaxe. With other items from Conyers' collection, the handaxe passed to the collection of Sir Hans Sloane, whose own collection was one of the founding collections of the British Museum
. Conyers' notes on his discoveries are now in the British Library
as Sloane manuscripts Ms 959 and Harley manuscripts Ms 5953.
Conyers married a niece of Francis Glisson
. A celebrated shield
, bought by Conyers from a London ironmonger, was sold after his death by one of his daughters to John Woodward
. Dr Woodward's Shield, also now in the British Museum, is now recognised as a classicising French Renaissance
buckler
of the mid-16th century, perhaps sold from the Royal Armouries
of Charles II, but was thought by Woodward and others to be an original Roman work.
Conyers had a shop in Fleet Street
Fleet Street
Fleet Street is a street in central London, United Kingdom, named after the River Fleet, a stream that now flows underground. It was the home of the British press until the 1980s...
, near St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
during the period of construction of Sir Christopher Wren
Christopher Wren
Sir Christopher Wren FRS is one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history.He used to be accorded responsibility for rebuilding 51 churches in the City of London after the Great Fire in 1666, including his masterpiece, St. Paul's Cathedral, on Ludgate Hill, completed in 1710...
's new cathedral to replace Old St Paul's after the Great Fire of London
Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman City Wall...
, and collected the medieval and Roman artefacts unearthed, recording the finds in notebooks, including a Roman kiln found 26 feet below surface level in the 1670s. According to his younger friend John Bagford
John Bagford
John Bagford was a British antiquarian, writer, bibliographer, ballad-collector and bookseller.-Life:...
, Conyers "made it his chief Business to make curious Observations and to collect such Antiquities as were daily found in and about London". His antiquarian collection was praised by the Athenian Mercury, and there was talk of opening it to the public, although this does not seem to have happened.
He was present at the excavation in 1679 of the remains of a supposed elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
at Battlebridge (King's Cross) in a gravel
Gravel
Gravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. Gravel can be sub-categorized into granule and cobble...
bed; the site was near Gray's Inn Lane, opposite "Black Mary's", and the remaining tooth was later thought to be of a mammoth
Mammoth
A mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus. These proboscideans are members of Elephantidae, the family of elephants and mammoths, and close relatives of modern elephants. They were often equipped with long curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair...
or straight-tusked elephant
Straight-tusked Elephant
The Straight-tusked Elephant is an extinct species of elephant closely related to the living Asian Elephant. It inhabited Europe during the Middle and Late Pleistocene . Some experts regard the smaller Asian species E...
. A flint handaxe was found nearby, now famous as the Gray's Inn Lane handaxe and on display in the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
's Enlightenment Gallery. Conyers was the first to argue that it was a human artefact. John Bagford then somewhat later argued for an origin of the assemblage in the Roman presence under the Emperor Claudius; this was in a letter of 1715, in which Bagford accepted the human origin of the handaxe. With other items from Conyers' collection, the handaxe passed to the collection of Sir Hans Sloane, whose own collection was one of the founding collections of the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
. Conyers' notes on his discoveries are now in the British Library
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom, and is the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is a major research library, holding over 150 million items from every country in the world, in virtually all known languages and in many formats,...
as Sloane manuscripts Ms 959 and Harley manuscripts Ms 5953.
Conyers married a niece of Francis Glisson
Francis Glisson
Francis Glisson was a British physician, anatomist, and writer on medical subjects. He did important work on the anatomy of the liver, and he wrote an early pediatric text on rickets...
. A celebrated shield
Shield
A shield is a type of personal armor, meant to intercept attacks, either by stopping projectiles such as arrows or redirecting a hit from a sword, mace or battle axe to the side of the shield-bearer....
, bought by Conyers from a London ironmonger, was sold after his death by one of his daughters to John Woodward
John Woodward (naturalist)
John Woodward was an English naturalist, antiquarian and geologist, and founder by bequest of the Woodwardian Professorship of Geology at Cambridge University...
. Dr Woodward's Shield, also now in the British Museum, is now recognised as a classicising French Renaissance
French Renaissance
French Renaissance is a recent term used to describe a cultural and artistic movement in France from the late 15th century to the early 17th century. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that many cultural historians believe originated in northern Italy in the fourteenth century...
buckler
Buckler
A buckler is a small shield, 15 to 45 cm in diameter, gripped in the fist; it was generally used as a companion weapon in hand-to-hand combat during the Medieval and Renaissance, as its size made it poor protection against missile weapons but useful in deflecting the blow of...
of the mid-16th century, perhaps sold from the Royal Armouries
Royal Armouries
The Royal Armouries is the United Kingdom's National Museum of Arms and Armour. It is the United Kingdom's oldest museum, and one of the oldest museums in the world. It is also one of the largest collections of arms and armour in the world, comprising the UK's National Collection of Arms and...
of Charles II, but was thought by Woodward and others to be an original Roman work.