THE ASHFORD COLLECTION

Ludlow Museum Resource Centre holds a large collection of British and European bird’s eggs and related documents collected by Charles and John Ashford. In the collection are detailed handwritten collectors notes, egg lists and notebooks as well as a full hand written catalogue of the eggs in the collection. There are also a number of correspondences between John and Charles and various other egg collectors of the time.

The collection also contains a number of interesting lists and catalogues from the 19th century dealers Joseph Dunn and Thomas Cooke. These were examined by a private researcher in May 2006 and it appears that the 1867 edition of Joseph Dunn’s catalogue is of significant importance as it may be the oldest printed catalogue found of British Birds eggs. Cooke’s catalogue is also important, as it too is believed to date from around the same time. Ludlow Museum Resource Centre therefore appears to hold the two oldest known printed British Egg Sale catalogues in existence.
The collection was acquired from a private source in 1982 that had no connection with the Ashford family.

Ludlow Museum Resource Centre also holds copies of papers and works by Charles Ashford on Conchology.

The Ashford Collection of Birds Eggs

The Ashford Collection of Bird’s Eggs dates from between 1866 and 1893. It is housed in a wooden collector’s cabinet and comprises of nearly 2000 eggs from over 295 different species of British and European bird. The cabinet has 31 drawers of neatly packed eggs, many are boxed in clutches, each with its original handwritten collectors label inscribed with collector’s number, location and date. The collection includes many varieties of bird ranging from the common House Sparrow and Jackdaw to more interesting species such as the White-tailed Sea Eagle and Pine Grosbeak. It also contains some rare specimens, notably the egg of a Passenger Pigeon from 1871, 29 years prior to its extinction in the wild.

Many of the seabird eggs, particularly those of the Guillemot, Razorbill and Puffin, were collected from Flamborough Cliffs in Yorkshire, a favourite site for 19th century Oologists. Eggs from this area in particular were subject to collecting by groups of men who made their living from such activities. These groups specialised in collecting the eggs of seabirds and were known as the ‘Flambro’ Hill Climbers’. There is a list of this group of collectors amongst the Ashford documents. It was reported that up to 400 eggs were taken a day!

In the 19th century egg collecting was considered respectable but from about 1880 onwards Ornithologists became increasingly concerned with the quantity of eggs that were being taken. In 1954 the Wild Birds Protection Act made it illegal to collect the eggs of wild birds and in 2000 it was deemed an imprisonable offence to be in possession of wild bird’s eggs.
Most surviving collections are now held in museums. Such collections do not promote the collecting of wild bird’s eggs and should be seen as an aid to understanding birds and how environmental changes can affect their breeding habits.

Some of the specimens from the collection can be seen by clicking on the Album link on the left of the screen.