Image Gallery (Origins of the Lost Lord Keeper Project)

Gallagher Books on South Broadway, where I found and purchased the 1657 book "Lane's Reports".

With Sue, the owner of Gallagher's Books.

My copy of "Lane's Reports". This book was hand printed on Fleet Street, London in 1657. Sir Isaac Newton turned 15 that year...

Middle Temple Library's restored copy of "Lane's Reports"

Title page of Richard Lane's 1657 book. All of the clues that got me started are found on this page.

Page 1 of "Lane's Reports" begins with an interesting embellishment and the word "Michaelmas" - one of England's four historic legal "terms" (seasons)

Close up of the upper binding of my copy of Lane's Reports from above. You can see the groupings of pages that are the "gathers" stacked atop one another and sewn together to make up the book. If you look closely, you'll notice the bundles are not as uniform as I'd hoped they would be.

Example of page Regnal Dating within Lane's Reports. 8 Jac refers to the 8th year of the reign of King James I, and Hill indicates the "Hilary" term which concludes just before Easter.

This image maps the book's contents to the folded "gathers" of the original sheets. Each sheet contained a total of 8 pages of content (4 per side)

The extraction of a watermark from page 59-60 of Lane's Reports. On the left, you can see the ghostly watermark traced out in the middle image.

Table showing the pages containing watermarks (and their orientation) laid against the observed gathers in the book's binding. WM (A) and WM (B) are watermarks that appeared more than once.

An excellent reference recommended to me by the staff of the Middle Temple Archives regarding how paper was made.

This shows a unique sheet I discovered that was made from a deckle with a damaged (wire) "fleur-de-lis" watermark

The Gravell Pot2 record that helped me identify what the original page 69-70 watermark emblem looked like

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In this analysis image, the dotted green outline shows the emblem's original location from page 79-80 (background photograph) and the solid blue line shows that watermark rotated

These are the watermarks I extracted from my copy of Lane's Reports. The two on the right (MTA) were extracted from one of the copies at the Middle Tempe Archives (MTA)

My set of 1848 "Campbell's Lives of the Lord Chancellors" volumes bought from a library in England. Volume 2 includes the singular, slim biography of Sir Richard Lane gathered by Lord John Campbell.

Comparison of the internal artifacts of "laid" vs "wove" made papers

Volume 2 of Lord Campbell's 9-volume biographical history of the Lord Keepers of England. The chapter on Richard Lane is the last in this volume.

Portrait of Lord John Campbell, 1st Baron of St Andrews, by Thomas Woolnoth (courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery)

My work make me curious about this history of London and what it was like in the middle 1600's. I have overlaid this 1572 map of London with the location of the Temple area of modern London and the original Roman walls. More than 1300 years after the Romans withdrew from London, the city had barely grown beyond those original walls...

Integrating population data for the city of London from various sources, I plotted it against historical eras and events. Its fascinating to think that London was an abandoned city for as much of a hundred years...

King Alfred the Great ordered the abandoned city of London to be re-populated. Credit: Tony Baggett / Shutterstock.com

This is the symbol of Middle Temple. It is the "Lamb of God", carrying the banner of the Templar Knights

The garden and grounds of Middle Temple

The Temple Church was the home church of the Templar knights. It is in hte care of the Middle Temple Inn of Law

This fascinating statue stands at the top of a tall column in the courtyard of the Temple Church. It depicts two templar knights riding a single horse.

The Temple church was built by warrior monks, so its no surprise that the rotunda has slit windows above for archers. The effigy tombs of templar knights are in the floor.

The working room of the Middle Temple Archives

The hallway from the Middle Temple offices to the Hall

In the library of Middle Temple, holding another copy of Lane's Reports

Middle Temple Hall

My Mom and I on the only big travel we've ever done together--my first research trip to England. This is from the Middle Temple Hall, and I am pointing to the armorial plaque of Sir Richard Lane.

The armorial plaque of Richard Lane for being a Lenten Reader

With my Mom and Leslay, the (then) Archivist of Middle Temple in Middle Temple Hall, London

Middle Temple Hall was hit by bombs during the blitz. Fortunately, preparations had been made and the windows and artwork were safely stored away. The wooden "screen" at the back of the room was blown into matchsticks, but was painstakingly restored.

Common armor (ca 1600's) displayed at Middle Temple Hall

The upper windows at Middle Temple Hall containing Richard Lane's updated arms

Richard Lane's Armorial glass in the windows of Middle Temple Hall. This is different than his Readership armorial panel on the walls below - it was the updated with the Lion by Charles II. The word "miles" means he was a Knight.

This dragon statue in the middle of the street marks where the city walls and the Temple Bar (gate) originally stood.

Mom and me at the Temple Bar, now near St Paul's Cathedral

Reference map of southern England and Jersey

At a Meet & Greet event with the historical chapter of the Société Jersiaise (Saint Helier, May 2017)

The library of the Societe Jersiaise

Elizabeth Castle, Jersey

The Elizabeth Castle from a jetty on the seaward side

Elizabeth Castle, Jersey

Captain's House, Elizabeth Castle

Cannons at Elizabeth Castle, from my first visit there

A cannon firing demonstration at the Elizabeth Castle, May 2017

This sketch shows the Elizabeth Castle in 1650, the year Sir Richard Lane died there. The Priory and "Hyde's House" were destroyed during a Parliamentary siege in 1651. A mortar round hit the powder magazine in the priory's basement, causing a devastating explosion.

Modern parish church of St Hellier, Jersey

Altar and chancel of the St Helier Town church. Sir Richard Lane's lost grave is likely still under the floor in this area.

The tombstone of Maximillian Norreys in the, St Helier Town Church

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My analysis of the floor plan of the St Helier Town Church

This is a photograph of an old archaeological dig under the floor of the parish church of St Helier, likely within about15 feet of Sir Richard Lane's grave.

Analysis of this old image of an excavation in the South nave captured the prior locatoin where Maximillian Norreys' tombstone was displayed. It was originally in the floor (likely in the chancel)

One of Jersey's most significant historical treasures: Jean Chevalier's diary, as displayed in the Jersey Museum, Saint Helier. Its pages are similar to 8x10 sheets

Being presented a 1913 fasicule of Jean Chevalier's Diary in St Helier, Jersey

The cover page of Major Rybot's translation of Jean Chevalier's Diary. The original diary was handwritten in patois french--a nearly lost language today.

Jean Chevalier's sketch of Richard Lane's arms from his funeral procession

This is the passage in Chevalier's Diary that describes the burial of Richard Lane (referencing the tomb of Maximillian Norreys) and the honors he was given.

Jean Chevalier, Diarist of Jersey 1643-1651.

A book about Jean Chevalier, author of Jersey's most precious historical artifact

1691 map of St Helier showing original shoreline, stream paths and roads.

Conceptual illustration of Richard Lane's funeral procession

Satellite view of St Helier and the Elizabeth Castle overlaid with the street plan and shoreline in the 1600s (which I compiled and integrated from multiple sources). Also shown is the path of the 1650 funeral procession of Sir Richard Lane

My analysis of church elevation above highest tide levels (along with reports of chalk-dry soil in church excavations) indicates that Sir Richard Lane's grave is likely in well preserved condition.